Rio 2016

Rio 2016 venue: Riocentro – Pavilion 3 (Barra Zone)
Competition dates: Aug. 6-17
Medal events: 4 (men’s and women’s singles and doubles)
Olympic introduction: 1988 (Seoul, Korea)

Preview
Making its Olympic debut in 1988, the U.S. table tennis squad has yet to win an Olympic medal, but will seek a trip to the podium this summer in Rio. Although China is expected to be the heavy favorite after sweeping all four gold medals at the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Games, Team USA could surprise the field with individual and team podium finishes.

Yue “Jennifer” Wu was among the first American athletes to secure a berth for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by virtue of her gold-medal-winning performance in women’s singles at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

Joining Wu on the women’s team is Lily Zhang. The 20-year-old California native is the top-ranked female table tennis player in the United States, and one of the most decorated players in U.S. table tennis history. In 2014, she became the first U.S. table tennis athlete to medal on an Olympic stage, earning bronze at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. Now, she will look to make history again and become the first American to medal at the Olympic Games.

Jiaqi Zheng, the 2015 U.S. women’s table tennis national champion, earned the third and final roster spot available to U.S. table tennis women for the Rio Games on the final day of competition at the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Markham, Ontario. Set only to participate in the team event, her addition reunites the U.S. women’s trio that won team gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games last summer. The U.S. women’s team hopes to reach the medal round in the 16-team Olympic field to build on its 2015 Pan American Games title.  

Representing the U.S. men are Yijun Feng, Kanak Jha and Timothy Wang. Feng earned the men’s singles title At the 2015 U.S. National Championships to advance directly to the North American Olympic Trials, where he punched his ticket to Rio. Meanwhile, Jha and Wang will return to represent the red, white and blue after earning top-20 finishes at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. At age 16, Jha is the youngest member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team – in any sport – and in 2014, became the youngest participant ever to compete at an ITTF World Cup. 

The Olympic table tennis competition is organized by seeds, with placement based on world ranking at the start of the tournament. All matches are single elimination, and the losers of the semifinals compete for bronze medals. The service changes every two points, or at each point when the score is level at 10-10. In doubles, players take turns at each rebound.

Throughout the years, several changes have been made to help the sport become more balanced. Games have changed from five individual sets with 21 points to the best of seven sets with 11 points. In team events, each match consists of a best of five sets: four played by single players and one by doubles. In order to slow down the match and make it more attractive to the audience, the ball increased in size, from a 38- to 40-millimeter diameter. 

Athletes To Watch
Kanak Jha 
At age 16, Jha has been one of Team USA’s top table tennis stars for the past few years. In 2014, he won the North America Cup. Then, a few months later, he competed at the world cup as the youngest participant ever. Jha made the Pan American Games team in 2015. Jha overcame 2014 Youth Olympian Krishnateja Avvari in the last final of the three-day Olympic Trials.

Timothy Wang
Wang, 24, was Team USA’s sole male table tennis competitor at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he went out in the first round of play. A member of the past four world championships teams, he won the 2012 and 2013 national championships, and finished ninth in men’s singles at the 2015 Pan American Games. He recently moved to Atlanta to train under former NFL player Corey Bridges.

Lily Zhang 
Zhang became the first U.S. table tennis athlete to medal at the Youth Olympic Games, when she won bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. Now, she will look to make history again and become the first American to medal at the Olympic Games. Having also competed at the London 2012 Games, she became the only U.S. athlete ever to compete at an Olympic Games before a Youth Olympic Games.

Storylines

• Zhang became the first U.S. table tennis athlete to medal at the Youth Olympic Games, when she won bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. Now, she will look to make history again and become the first American to medal at the Olympic Games. She had a strong season in 2014, helping the U.S. women earn bronze at the 2014 World Junior Team Championships. She dominated the women’s events at the 2014 U.S. National Championships, led the U.S. women to gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and won the women’s singles title at the 2015 North American Championships. In 2016, she added her third national titles in both singles and doubles.

• Kanak Jha continues to be the youngest at the table. Jha is the youngest member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, in any sport, having recently turned 16. He will compete in both singles and team events in Rio. Jha is also the youngest male table tennis player as reported by the ITTF. Kanak represented the U.S. men at the 2015 Pan American Games and at age 15, became the youngest male to ever compete at a world cup event in 2014.

• Team USA is seeking its first Olympic medal in table tennis. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, the U.S. women’s team reached the quarterfinals, losing to Korea, and American Chen Wang reached the quarterfinals in women’s singles. Lily Zhang earned a bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, while also helping the U.S. women’s team to junior world bronze medals in 2014 and 2015.