Spirit of Ping-Pong Diplomacy lives on

ONTARIO, California — The Ontario Convention Center buzzed with excitement on Saturday as hundreds of players competed in the 2023 US Open Table Tennis Championships.

The tournament attracted players from around the world to the southern Californian city of Ontario. Among them were Wu Bohan and Zhang Yuwen, representing Peking University.

Donning vibrant red jerseys, the pair teamed up in the mixed doubles competition. For the young students, however, the tournament was more about fostering goodwill than winning titles.

The Chinese pair will participate in a series of events to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, being held in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

As Dell Sweeris, now a sprightly 78-year-old, watched the intense action at the championship, fond memories came flooding back.

His wife, Connie Sweeris, was an athlete who visited China with the US table tennis team in 1971. A year later, he participated in the official reception for the Chinese team's return visit.

With a smile playing on his lips, he reflected on how a simple game of ping-pong had once bridged political chasms and brought nations closer together.

"I was so fortunate to be on the US national team in 1972 when the Chinese team came here," Dell recalled. "They sent legends here, including Zhuang Zedong, Li Furong, Zhang Xielin and Zheng Huaiying ... We were so fortunate to have these people and we were able to travel with them.

"I totally agree that ping-pong is a bridge to help people know the world and know people from different communities."

Having got to know the legendary players of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy era, Sweeris became friends with Liu Wei, a former world champion and now a professor at Peking University. Through table tennis, he witnessed the changes that have taken place in China over the past decades.

As the coach of Peking University table tennis team, Liu said the team was on a mission to pass on the spirit of Ping-Pong Diplomacy. By recounting the stories of that period, she hopes to extend the legacy of Ping-Pong Diplomacy.

In Liu's eyes, the essence of Ping-Pong Diplomacy lies in "friendship first, competition second".

"It is about the continuity of friendship," she said. "It will be passed on to the next generation through the medium of table tennis. One of the driving forces behind this continuity is the shared love for this sport by the people of both China and the United States."

Brooke Leonard, a 32-year-old table tennis enthusiast, has been playing the sport for a decade. He is a member of the Los Angeles Table Tennis Association and runs his own social media channel called "Ping-Pong Weekend".

Leonard hopes Ping-Pong Diplomacy can continue to foster friendship between China and the United States.

"Table tennis allows me to meet more Chinese people. Just being in this sport, I met a lot of Chinese people that I probably wouldn't have met (ordinarily)," Leonard told Xinhua.

He envisions a future where table tennis can deepen mutual understanding and enhance cooperation between the two nations.

Leonard believes that promoting the sport in the US is essential, and his YouTube channel aims to contribute to this cause.

"That's part of the reason why I have my YouTube channel, just to help ping-pong grow in America. Some of the members of my group are Chinese, so we all love to see it around the whole world," he added.

The legacy of Ping-Pong Diplomacy lives on — not only in the fierce rallies on the table but also in the camaraderie shared by athletes across borders.

As Wu Bohan, Zhang Yuwen, Leonard and the Sweerises continued their matches, they carried forward the spirit of cooperation and friendship that began over half a century ago.

The Ontario Convention Center, with its rhythmic echoes of bouncing balls, became a microcosm of global unity — a place where table tennis transcended mere competition and became a symbol of hope and understanding.

Xinhua