“She has already retired from competition twice”, Slate magazine noted in 2012.

Apparently the breaks have not dimmed her skills. As of this writing, Ni, who plays left handed, was ranked 71 in the world (out of more than 1,000 players) by the International Table Tennis Federation.

During the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships, representing China (she was born in Shanghai), she won the women’s team and mixed double gold medals, and a women’s doubles bronze medal. Following the 1985 World Championship in Gothenburg, she hung up her racquet.

After marrying a Swede, Ni moved to Luxembourg in 1991 and started playing for the Grand Duchy national squad (as well as professionally with several Dutch and German clubs).

Ni Xialian (right) during the 2016 ITTF Europe Top 16, in Gondomar, Portugal, on 5 February 2016. Photo: International Table Tennis Federation

Ni has qualified to compete in five Olympic games. She made it into the women’s singles and women’s doubles fourth round at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, women’s singles third round at the 2008 Beijing games, and women’s singles second round at the 2012 London Olympics. She passed on playing in the 2004 Athens games.

In fact, following the European Championships in 2002--where she won the women’s singles--Ni stopped participating in international tournaments altogether for five years, according to the ITTF.

“At first I thought I’d just play for the Luxembourg team to help them”, she told the ITTF website in November 2007. “However, table tennis is in my blood and if I don’t play now, I’ll never know whether I can or cannot still play at a good level.”

At last year’s World Championships in Suzhou, she made it to the second round of the women’s singles and doubles. After losing her singles match, China’s official news agency, Xinhua, quoted her as saying: “I might have won this game if I’d had a bit extra strength left”.

Ni, a mother of two, owns a hotel with her husband and coach, Tommy Danielsson.

Ni Xialian in an official portrait provided by the Luxembourg Olympic and Sports Committee (COSL)

In Luxembourg, she is a member of the Wincrange Table Tennis Club. According to her official team profile (in French), Ni’s favourite sportsperson is Roger Federer.