Zhang Yining, born in Beijing on October 5, 1981, is a Chinese table tennis player, world champion, Olympic champion, and currently the assistant to the president of the China Table Tennis Academy.
Zhang Yining started playing basketball when he was 6 years old. He joined the Beijing team in 1991 and the national team in 1993. In 2000, Zhang Yining won the women's team championship and women's singles runner-up at the 45th World Table Tennis Championships. In 2001, Zhang Yining won the women's team championship at the 46th World Table Tennis Championships. In the same year, Zhang Yining also won the women's singles championship at the Table Tennis World Cup and the women's team championship at the Ninth National Games. In 2004, Zhang Yining cooperated with Wang Nan to win the women's doubles championship and the women's singles championship at the Athens Olympics. In 2005, Zhang Yining won the women's singles championship at the 48th World Table Tennis Championships, achieving individual grand slams in the World Championships, Olympic Games and World Cup. In 2006, at the World Table Tennis Championships in Germany, Zhang Yining led the Chinese team to win the Cobilun Cup for the 16th time. At the end of the year, Zhang Yining ranked first in the world. In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, Zhang Yining teamed up with Guo Yue and Wang Nan to win the women's team championship, and then successfully defended the title by defeating Wang Nan in the women's singles final. Four years later, he won the double championship again.
On March 31, 2011, Zhang Yining officially announced his retirement.