Wang Hao (Chinese: 王皓; pinyin: Wáng Hào; born December 15, 1983) is a retired Chinese table tennis player and multiple-time Olympic medallist. He is the current head coach of the Chinese Men's Table Tennis Team.
Wang became the world champion in men's singles in 2009, defeating three-time World Champion Wang Liqin 4–0. Wang was also a three-time World Cup Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2010, as well as a three-time singles silver medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was ranked #1 on the official ITTF world rankings for 27 consecutive months from October 2007 to December 2009. In January 2010, he was surpassed by Ma Long. In April 2011, Wang reclaimed his #1 ranking. He is known to execute the Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB) with exceptional skill.
During his career, he appeared a record twelve times in major world competition finals. In men's singles, he won the Asian Championship, Asian Cup, Asian Games, and Chinese National Games at least once.
Wang retired from the national team at the end of 2014. As of 2023, he is the head coach of the Chinese Men's Table Tennis Team.
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Equipment
Wang used a DHS Hurricane Hao blade (a special blade for Wang called N656) with a DHS Neo Skyline III Blue Sponge for forehand and Butterfly Sriver topsheet on Bryce sponge for his backhand.
Playing style
Wang uses a penhold grip. He is representative of a new wave of penhold players, having good attacking and defensive skills off both wings of the table. The greater freedom of the wrist involved in a penhold grip allows Wang to generate large amounts of spin on the forehand side.
Compared to most pen-hold players on the professional circuit, Wang uses the reverse-side for almost all shots on the backhand side, with the small exception of balls placed very slow and short within the table during serves. This style of using the reverse-side exclusively for the backhand was considered to be improper, and when he first joined the national team most players did not think highly of him.
Personal life
Wang and Yan Boya met in 2010 and they married in 2013. The same year, they had a son, Wang Ruiting. Wang Hao stated he would prefer his son to not pursue table tennis.
Achievements
1996: joined Jilin Provincial Table Tennis Team
1998: joined National Team and turned pro
1999 World Club Championships: Champion, team
1999 Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships: Champion, team; runner-up, men's singles and men's doubles
2000 World Club Championship: Runner-up, men's team
2001 Ninth National Games: Champion, men's team
2002 ITTF Pro Tour, Netherlands: Champion, men's singles; third, men's doubles
2002 ITTF Pro Tour, Egypt: Champion, men's singles; third, men's doubles
2003 47th World Table Tennis Championships: Runner-up, men's doubles : third, mixed doubles
2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Croatia: Champion, men's singles
2003 ITTF Pro Tour, China: Runner-up, men's singles and men's doubles
2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Denmark: Champion, men's doubles
2003 ITTF Pro Tour, Sweden: Champion, men's doubles
2003 Asian Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team and men's singles; third, men's doubles
2004 47th World Team Table Tennis Championships: Champion, men's team