Hend Zaza
Personal information
Full nameHend Abdul Rauf Zaza
NationalitySyrian
Born (2009-01-01) 1 January 2009
Hama, Syria
Sport
CountrySyria
SportTable tennis
ClubAl-Muhafaza Club
Medal record
Women's Table Tennis
Representing  Syria
Pan Arab Games
Bronze medal – third place 2023 AlgeriaTeam

Hend Zaza (Arabic: هند ظاظا; born 1 January 2009) is a Syrian table tennis player. She qualified to play in the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo, through the West Asia Olympic qualifying tournament held in Jordan in 2020.[1][2][3] At the age of 12, she was the youngest person to compete in Olympic table tennis, and the fifth-youngest person to compete in the modern Olympics.[4] She was the youngest competitor at the 2020 games,[1] and the youngest Olympic competitor since Beatrice Huștiu, a Romanian figure-skater who competed in 1968.[2]

Biography

Zaza was born on 1 January 2009 in Hama, Syria,[4][5] and started to play table tennis in 2014. In 2016, she attended an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) "Hopes Week and Challenge" event in Qatar with her older brother, and her potential was noticed. She plays for the Al-Muhafaza Table Tennis Club in Damascus and has won national titles at all levels: hopes, cadets, junior and senior.[4]

Olympics 2020

Zaza is the first Syrian to compete in the Olympic table tennis through qualification,[6] although some sources report incorrectly that she is the first Syrian to compete in table tennis at the Olympics.[1] Her compatriot Heba Allejji competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics after being invited by the Tripartite Commission.[7] In order to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, 12-year-old Zaza beat 42-year-old Lebanese player Mariana Sahakian in the finals of the West Asia Olympic Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan.[8]

Zaza carried the Syrian flag in the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympics, along with equestrian competitor Ahmad Hamcho.[9]

In the table tennis women's singles she was defeated in the preliminary round on 24 July 2021 by Liu Jia, a Chinese-born Austrian player aged 39 who had previously competed in every Summer Olympics since 2000.[10] The score was 11:4, 11:9, 11:3, 11:5.[11][12] After the match Zaza said:

I will not stop playing. Table tennis is my whole life. I spend all my time playing it, other than table tennis I study. I’m working towards the future, to be the world champion and an Olympic champion, and to be a pharmacist or lawyer with my studies.[13]

The Chinese Olympic Committee invited Zaza to train in China after qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hend Zaza, 11-year-old Syrian table tennis player, qualifies for Olympics". The Guardian. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Singles and Mixed Doubles contenders confirmed for Tokyo 2020". www.ettu.org. European Table Tennis Union. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Tokyo 2020:List of qualified athletes" (PDF). ITTF. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Nagpal, Kabir (10 March 2020). "Introducing Hend Zaza: Syria's 11-year-old star, bound for Tokyo 2020". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Women's Singles - 11 Entries" (PDF). ITTF. February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Table tennis-Five to watch at the Tokyo Olympics". Reuters. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  7. ↑ Tepper, Glenn (19 May 2016). "Marcelo Aguirre and Heba Allejji Awarded Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tripartite Places". ITTF. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Table Tennis ZAZA Hend - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Hend Zaza, youngest Tokyo Olympian from war-ravaged Syria, living her dream". Deccan Herald. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  10. ↑ Carayol, Tumaini (24 July 2021). "'Fight for your dreams' – Hend Zaza, 12, makes history at Tokyo Olympics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Table Tennis - LIU Jia vs ZAZA Hend - Preliminary Round Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  12. ↑ Wagner, James (24 July 2021). "The youngest athlete at the Games, a 12-year-old Syrian, goes out in a loss in table tennis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  13. ↑ Butler, Matt (24 July 2021). "The Syrian star who sought refuge in table tennis - and now she's Tokyo's youngest Olympian". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Zhang, Rachel (3 August 2021). "Syrian table tennis prodigy Hend Zaza, 12, will train in China". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
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