Chen Meng (Chinese: 陈梦; born 15 January 1994) is a Chinese professional table tennis player and Olympic champion. She joined the provincial team when she was 9 and joined the national team when she was only 13 in 2007. She is the women's singles champion of the ITTF Women's World Cup in 2020, the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and also at the inaugural WTT Singapore Smash. She is also the silver medalist of women's singles in the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships and a double gold medalist in the 2020 Summer Olympics. She obtained her second gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Career
2020
After competitive table tennis resumed following the pandemic, Chen swept the world cup, ITTF pro tour finals, and 2020 All China National Championships.[6]
2021
In May, Chen was selected to represent China in the women's singles and team event at the Tokyo Olympics. Chen won the first leg of the Chinese Olympic Scrimmage but lost to Wang Manyu in the finals of the second leg.[6] Chen again lost to Wang in a closed-door scrimmage in June.[7]
In an interview in July, Chen revealed that she had been in close contact with Ma Lin and Li Xiaoxia regarding mental preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.[8]
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Chen competed in the women's singles event, winning her semifinals match against Singapore's Yu Mengyu 4–0 and her quarterfinals match against Hong Kong's Doo Hoi Kem 4–2 after trailing 2–0.[9] In the finals match, she defeated compatriot Sun Yingsha 4–2 to win the gold medal.[10] After the match, Chen noted that both she and Sun were both very nervous but played okay, and that Chen's extra experience helped push her over the top.[11] In the women's team event, Chen, along with Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu, defeated Japan 3–0 in the finals to win the gold medal, continuing China's undefeated streak in the event.[12][13]
In August 2021, Chen remarked that the level of play at the China National Games was harder than the Olympics.[14] At the National Games of China in September, Chen placed fourth, but her bronze-medal-match opponent Liu Shiwen remarked that Chen was injured and playing far below her normal level.[15]
On August 3, 2024, Chen Meng won the gold medal in the women's singles table tennis final at the Paris Olympics, defeating Sun Yingsha 4-2. On August 10, she won the women's table tennis team title at the 2024 Paris Olympics. [16]
Chen Meng and actor Huang Xiaoming are second cousins; their paternal grandmothers are sisters. He congratulated her on Weibo right after she won the women's singles title.[17]
^Li Wenwu (18 May 2013). "黄晓明表妹止步世乒赛16强 佟大为主动请求合影". Chongqing Times (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
