Xu Xin first reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 in January 2013. He has won 17 World Tour Singles titles and has won the World Championships in men’s doubles 3 times, mixed doubles 2 times, and fives times in the team event.
Xu Xin Information:
- Nationality: Chinese
- Born: 8 January 1990, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China
- Playing-style: left-handed, penhold grip
- Highest Ranking: #1
- Height: 5 ft 11 in
- Weight: 165 lbs
Xu Xin Playing style
Xu Xin is one of the few penhold grip players in China, especially among the younger generation who are mostly shakehand players. He follows the footsteps of other penhold champions such as Wang Hao and Ma Lin.
With his long arms and frame, he is able to more easily reach balls hit wide. His long arms enable a graceful, unique forehand loop, with his arm almost fully outstretched. He has also adopted the reverse penhold backhand grip (RPB), a recent development for China’s penholders, allowing a two-winged attack. He still uses a traditional penhold (Chinese) backhand to lob and push the ball with the forehand side of his racket. More recently, Xu Xin has been more willing to counter with his RPB, allowing him to maintain aggression in the points on his backhand side.
Xu Xin’s main strength is his shot variation and blazing fast forehand loops, often stepping very deep into his backhand corner to use his forehand. He sets these shots up with his extremely spinny and deceptive serves, and has some of the best footwork in table tennis. He is also something of a ‘crowd entertainer’, often coming up with wild, and sometimes inappropriate, shots. He has been dubbed the ‘show man’ in recent years. This is perhaps due to his playful nature and confidence in playing. He admitted that he hopes to try to be more efficient and effective with his shot selection as he matures and carries more responsibilities. More recently, Xu Xin has been called “XUperman”, referring to his many “superman-like” moments. These names have been widely popularized by the use of Adam Bobrow, an ITTF commentator.
Xu Xin highlight
Xu Xin Titles
Games | Event | Winner | Year |
World Cup | Single | 1 | 2013 |
World Team Cup | Team | 6 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018 |
World Championships | Double | 3 | 2011, 2015, 2017 |
World Championships | Mixed Double | 2 | 2015, 2019 |
World Championships | Team | 5 | 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 |
ITTF World Tour | Single | 18 | 2010 – 2020 |
ITTF World Tour | Double | 28 | 2009 – 2019 |
ITTF World Tour | Mixed Double | 6 | 2018 – 2019 |
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Champion | Single | 2 | 2012, 2013 |
Olympic Games | Team | 1 | 2016 |
Asian Games | Single | 1 | 2014 |
Asian Games | Mixed Double | 1 | 2010 |
Asian Games | Team | 2 | 2010, 2014 |
Asian Championships | Single | 1 | 2019 |
Asian Championships | Double | 2 | 2009, 2015 |
Asian Championships | Mixed Double | 2 | 2012, 2019 |
Asian Championships | Team | 6 | 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 |
Asian Cup | Single | 4 | 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 |
Xu Xin Equipment
- Blade: STIGA Dynasty Carbon Chinese Penhold
- Forehand: DHS NEO Skyline TG2
- Backhand: DHS Hurricane 3
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