Top 10 facts you didn't know about Ma Long

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Ma Long is one of he most respected and admired table tennis players of our time. Aside from being one of the greatest table tennis players ever, he is admired for his down the earth, kind and humble personality. In this article we go through 10 facts you didn't know about Ma Long.


Here are 10 of the most interesting facts about the Chinese table tennis star.


01) Ever wondered how Ma Long got his nickname dragon? Ma Long was born in the year of the dragon and his parents were also born in the year of the dragon.


02) Ma Long’s recent 2017 World Championship victory put him on the same level as Jan Ove Waldner and Zhang Jike in terms of major championship wins. Each player has won:

2 World Championships
1 Olympic Games

malongwttc2017win.jpg

Ma Long - Photo by: Remy Gros


03) Ma Long drives a BMW! I'm afraid we don't have any photos of Ma Long driving his BMW however check him out in a recent Audi commercial!

malongaudi2017.jpg



04) Ma Long was born in Anshan, Liaoning Province where he started to play table tennis at the age of 5. 10 years later Ma Long entered the Chinese National Team at the age of 15. Here's Ma Long receiving an award for hard work and dedication in his primary school.

malongawardprimaryaward.jpg



05) Not only is this man an incredible table tennis player, Ma Long graduated in June this year at the Shanghai University studying Economics and Management! Degrees usually take 4 years but due to his ridiculously busy training and competition schedule Ma Long did his degree over 6 years. Ma Long's thesis was about marketing strategies for the Chinese Super League.

malonggraduate2017.jpg



06) Ma Long’s biggest rivalry in table tennis has been Zhang Jike. Throughout the course of their careers Ma Long has won 39 of the 53 encounters.

malongvszhangjike2017.jpg



07) From 2010 to 2012 Ma Long hit an unbelievable winning streak where he won 51 consecutive table tennis matches on the International stage over the course of 560 days!



08) Ma Long is so dominant he didn't drop any sets in 5 separate tournaments including the Swedish Open 2011, WTTC 2012, World Team Classic 2013, World Team Championships 2014 and 2016.


09) Ma Long was voted best male athlete of the year winning the CCTV Sports Personality Awards in 2016, this award is the highest achievement a Chinese athlete can win. It's the Oscars of sport in China!

malongmalesportsaward2016.jpg

Photo by: SportsPhoto.cn


10) In 2016 Ma Long announced he has a girlfriend, for 8 years in fact! Sorry ladies!

malonggirlfriend2017.jpg


That's it folks, theres 10 interesting facts you didn't know about Ma Long. Have we left any out? Post below.
 
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