Mary Jollimore WHEN Lijuan Geng sought permission to leave China in 1988, the Communist authorities was not just keen to give her petition. It had spent years in her training in a state-run sports college. And, although she would recently stop playing ping pong, Geng was training the national junior best ping pong paddle.
"I did not tell them I wished to leave. When I told them before I left, they would not allow me to depart," said Geng, ranked No. 5 among China's women players at 1988. "I employed to study languages in France. I didn't say I was planning to play ping pong. They made a contract with me, for a couple of years' research. I said 'Alright, I will return' When I said no, I am not going back that they would not give me a passport. I knew I wouldn't return."
Permission granted, Geng left China in November, 1988, and worked in France as a trainer for 3 months. She'd fulfilled Horatio Pintea, a part of Canada's 1988 Olympic table-tennis group, four years before. They had been married and Geng transferred to Ottawa in February, 1989.
"After Lijuan arrived to Canada we had a meeting with her and stated we'd open the door for her when she was interested in playing," said Adham Sharara, director general of the Canadian Ping pong Association (CTTA).
He reminded Geng of other freedoms. " (In China) they were not permitted to talk publicly to the media and if they did they said only pleasant things. We promised her she could talk freely and that we are not going to fire her or anything." Between 1989 and 1994, Geng and Pintea spent half of annually established in Germany, travelling through Europe playing at a professional league of table-tennis clubs. They settled in Ottawa in 1994. They finally have a 13-month-old kid and have two fast-food restaurants.
Geng was closed from the 1988 Olympics because every state is limited to 3 players to every occasion. After she left China, the Chinese federation persuaded the International Ping pong Foundation to adopt a new rule forbidding ex-Chinese from acting for other nations' teams for six decades. That supposed Geng couldn't play for Canada in the 1992 Olympics.
She's since become a Canadian citizen and has been the most-decorated associate of Canada's 1995 Pan American Games team. Geng won gold in all four table-tennis occasions - girls singles and doubles, mixed doubles (with Pintea) along with the group event. Back in May, 1995, Geng returned to China for the first time because she'd left seven decades before. She finished fifth in the world championships in Tianjin, supporting four Chinese girls. "They were pleased to see me," said Geng, 33. "However, when I arrived to Canada in 1989 they had been mad. No, they weren't happy when I left. They shipped me a significant letter stating that I'm finished. They desired me to remain, for a trainer, to work for them. I believe they've accepted it. They got used to it"
=> Choose best ping pong table: https://github.com/pingpongsport/bestpingpong/wiki/Best-Ping-Pong-Tables-&-How-To-Choose
Geng has qualified for the singles' event at the summer's Olympics in Atlanta. She probably will the No. 4 seed, supporting a trio of Chinese. Because ping pong became an Olympic sport in 1988, China has won eight of 12 awards in women's events. Last berths for the Atlanta Games will be determined in the North American tournament in Edmonton, from March 29 to 31. Geng and Vancouver's Barbara Chiu, a native of Canton, China, who came to Canada in 1988, expect to be eligible in women's doubles. Chiu, 31, was 33rd in singles in the 1992 Olympics. Canada's greatest Olympic table-tennis end result was in 1988 when Toronto's Gideon Joe Ng and Pintea were 13th in men's doubles.
Geng started playing with ping pong when she was seven. At 13, she transferred into one of China's state-run sports colleges, 800 kilometres from her family house in Hebei, in northern China. "In Canada, (athletes) need to cover their own meals, their own transport. In China everything is ready for you. They provide you with somewhere to sleep, to prepare, to consume. It is professional. You do not need to worry about college, or meals, or lease. I lived in the school. My parents didn't see me. Perhaps once a year I would go home," said Geng, that likens China's enthusiasm for ping pong into Canada's penchant for hockey. "Every college in China includes a dining table. It is the national game."
With Geng's sponsorship, her parents and younger brother, Hai Tao, emigrated to Ottawa in 1992. Hai Tao Geng is also a part of Canada's nationwide table-tennis team. 1 sister plays to get a German team, others stay in China. Conceding ping pong has "an image issue" in Canada which has some folks writing it off as only cellar ping pong, Sharara said the game's profile might find a boost if Geng does nicely in Atlanta.
"Very few people in Canada understand ping pong is an Olympic sport," Sharara said. "However, the CTTA has over 5,000 registered members in Quebec alone, that represents approximately 40 to 45 percent of the Canadian membership. We sanction roughly 100 to 120 championships throughout the nation every year and possess a computerized-ranking of 5,000 players in Canada."
Geng questions if victory in Atlanta will make the game popular in Canada. "So much I do not think so. I have been in Canada six decades and I really don't believe it's improved very much," said Geng, with a plan which might help. "Ping pong isn't common. If you would like to help it become hot you need to attend each faculty and show them the way to perform ping pong robot review. I am hoping that I could do so following the Olympics."
"I did not tell them I wished to leave. When I told them before I left, they would not allow me to depart," said Geng, ranked No. 5 among China's women players at 1988. "I employed to study languages in France. I didn't say I was planning to play ping pong. They made a contract with me, for a couple of years' research. I said 'Alright, I will return' When I said no, I am not going back that they would not give me a passport. I knew I wouldn't return."
Permission granted, Geng left China in November, 1988, and worked in France as a trainer for 3 months. She'd fulfilled Horatio Pintea, a part of Canada's 1988 Olympic table-tennis group, four years before. They had been married and Geng transferred to Ottawa in February, 1989.
"After Lijuan arrived to Canada we had a meeting with her and stated we'd open the door for her when she was interested in playing," said Adham Sharara, director general of the Canadian Ping pong Association (CTTA).
He reminded Geng of other freedoms. " (In China) they were not permitted to talk publicly to the media and if they did they said only pleasant things. We promised her she could talk freely and that we are not going to fire her or anything." Between 1989 and 1994, Geng and Pintea spent half of annually established in Germany, travelling through Europe playing at a professional league of table-tennis clubs. They settled in Ottawa in 1994. They finally have a 13-month-old kid and have two fast-food restaurants.
Geng was closed from the 1988 Olympics because every state is limited to 3 players to every occasion. After she left China, the Chinese federation persuaded the International Ping pong Foundation to adopt a new rule forbidding ex-Chinese from acting for other nations' teams for six decades. That supposed Geng couldn't play for Canada in the 1992 Olympics.
She's since become a Canadian citizen and has been the most-decorated associate of Canada's 1995 Pan American Games team. Geng won gold in all four table-tennis occasions - girls singles and doubles, mixed doubles (with Pintea) along with the group event. Back in May, 1995, Geng returned to China for the first time because she'd left seven decades before. She finished fifth in the world championships in Tianjin, supporting four Chinese girls. "They were pleased to see me," said Geng, 33. "However, when I arrived to Canada in 1989 they had been mad. No, they weren't happy when I left. They shipped me a significant letter stating that I'm finished. They desired me to remain, for a trainer, to work for them. I believe they've accepted it. They got used to it"
=> Choose best ping pong table: https://github.com/pingpongsport/bestpingpong/wiki/Best-Ping-Pong-Tables-&-How-To-Choose
Geng has qualified for the singles' event at the summer's Olympics in Atlanta. She probably will the No. 4 seed, supporting a trio of Chinese. Because ping pong became an Olympic sport in 1988, China has won eight of 12 awards in women's events. Last berths for the Atlanta Games will be determined in the North American tournament in Edmonton, from March 29 to 31. Geng and Vancouver's Barbara Chiu, a native of Canton, China, who came to Canada in 1988, expect to be eligible in women's doubles. Chiu, 31, was 33rd in singles in the 1992 Olympics. Canada's greatest Olympic table-tennis end result was in 1988 when Toronto's Gideon Joe Ng and Pintea were 13th in men's doubles.
Geng started playing with ping pong when she was seven. At 13, she transferred into one of China's state-run sports colleges, 800 kilometres from her family house in Hebei, in northern China. "In Canada, (athletes) need to cover their own meals, their own transport. In China everything is ready for you. They provide you with somewhere to sleep, to prepare, to consume. It is professional. You do not need to worry about college, or meals, or lease. I lived in the school. My parents didn't see me. Perhaps once a year I would go home," said Geng, that likens China's enthusiasm for ping pong into Canada's penchant for hockey. "Every college in China includes a dining table. It is the national game."
With Geng's sponsorship, her parents and younger brother, Hai Tao, emigrated to Ottawa in 1992. Hai Tao Geng is also a part of Canada's nationwide table-tennis team. 1 sister plays to get a German team, others stay in China. Conceding ping pong has "an image issue" in Canada which has some folks writing it off as only cellar ping pong, Sharara said the game's profile might find a boost if Geng does nicely in Atlanta.
"Very few people in Canada understand ping pong is an Olympic sport," Sharara said. "However, the CTTA has over 5,000 registered members in Quebec alone, that represents approximately 40 to 45 percent of the Canadian membership. We sanction roughly 100 to 120 championships throughout the nation every year and possess a computerized-ranking of 5,000 players in Canada."
Geng questions if victory in Atlanta will make the game popular in Canada. "So much I do not think so. I have been in Canada six decades and I really don't believe it's improved very much," said Geng, with a plan which might help. "Ping pong isn't common. If you would like to help it become hot you need to attend each faculty and show them the way to perform ping pong robot review. I am hoping that I could do so following the Olympics."
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