A 58-year-old table tennis player representing Luxembourg at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been dubbed the “Shanghai auntie” by the Chinese Internet. Ni Xialian was born and raised in Shanghai and is the oldest athlete to compete in table tennis in Olympic history. As Ni’s profile grew, cyber-sleuths discovered that she was once a top athlete for China’s national table tennis team. At her peak, she helped China win the team championship at the 37th World Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo in 1983. She retired from China’s national team in the late 1980s and started playing table tennis in clubs in Europe.

Source: The Star August 04, 2021 05:15 UTC