Rong Guotuan
Guotuan Rong (Chinese容 国 团/容 国 团, Pinyin Rong Guótuán, Jung Kuo- tuan; born August 10, 1937 in Zhuhai, † June 20, 1968 ) was a Chinese table tennis player. It was in 1959 in Dortmund, he was the first Chinese world champion in men's singles, 1961 in Beijing World Champion with the team.
When he got into the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in the hands of the Red Guards, he was convicted of espionage. The humiliation, torture and re-education methods he withdrew in 1968 by suicide.
Career
Rong Guotuans family lived in Hong Kong. When Japan occupied Hong Kong in 1941, the family moved in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. In 1945, she returned to Hong Kong. With 7 years Rong Guotuan began with the table tennis. When his father became unemployed Rong Guotuan left school to earn money themselves. He also made progress in table tennis. The World Championship of Hong Kong in 1957, he won the title in singles, doubles and team competition. In the same year he defeated the Japanese champion Ichirō Ogimura.
World Championships
In the Table Tennis World Championships 1959 in Dortmund Rong Guotuan surprisingly won the title in the men's singles when he beat the Hungarians Ferenc Sido in the final and also the favored Japanese to Ichirō Ogimura and Toshiaki Tanaka left behind. He was the first athlete from China to win a world title.
Two years later he won in Beijing at the side of Zhuang Zedong and Li Furong also the first time the title with the men's team for China. In the world rankings in 1960, he took first place.
Activity as a trainer
Rong Guotuan 1964 coach of the Chinese women's team. Under his leadership, this team won in 1965 in Ljubljana for the first time the women's title for China against the previously dominant Japanese women who had decided from 1957 to 1963 for the World Championships.
Private
Rong Guotuan was married and had a daughter.
Honor
In his native city of Zhuhai Rong Guotuan is available as a bronze statue.
Results from the ITTF database
Philately
From the post in Yueyang / People's Republic of China is a red machine slogan cancel was used on April 5, 2009. Text: 50th anniversary of victory in table tennis men's singles of Rong Guotuan at the Table Tennis World Championships 1959 in Dortmund.
Figure: Table tennis players at the smash.