Lily Zhang Player Page
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Date of Birth: Jun. 16, 1996 Residence: Palo Alto Education: 5th Grader at Hoover Elementary School Ethnicity: Chinese Rating: 1825 Style: Shakehand All-Around Offensive Equipment: Joola Feth Cross with Mambo C on both sides Sponsor: Joola Clubs Played: Palo Alto |
"Man, that kid is good!" That is a likely response when the casual recreational player watches a 11-year old who is rated 1000 play. How about being twice as good at the same age?...Welcome to the world of Lily Zhang! Lily Zhang and teammate Ariel Hsing are the two highest-rated 11-year olds in US table-tennis history. Outside of Ariel who accomplished the feat in 2005, Lily is the only 10-year old to make the US National Cadet Girls Under 15 Years Old National Team. She had this accomplishment at the December 2006 US Nationals, finishing second in the trials to Ariel Hsing. No girl was close to taking a game off Lily on her way to the 10 and under girls title at the same Nationals.
Lily trains 14 hours a week plus plays challenge matches at the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club which has been her home club from day one. Her coaches at the Palo Alto club have been Judy Liu, Dennis Davis, Andy Lian, and Stefan Feth. During the week, she trains 8 hours/week under her coach Stefan Feth and plays 4 hours/week on the weekends during the Palo Alto junior training. Lily's favorite player is current world #1 Zhang Yining who has been World and Olympic Champion many times. She likes making new friends at tournaments and traveling to different places through her favorite sport. When not hitting a little white ball, Lily enjoys reading, playing the violin, and riding her bike.