Wáng Hào (born December 15, 1983 in Changchun, Jilin) is a Chinese table tennis player. He became the World Champion in Men's Singles in Yokohama, Japan in May 2009, defeating 3-time World Champion Wang Liqin 4-0. Other notable accomplishments are the 3-time World Cup Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2010, Singles Silver medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics Games.
Having won both the World Cup and World Championship titles, Wang Hao still needs an Olympic Gold medal in order to earn a Grand Slam, which would place him within the league of such legendary players as Jan-Ove Waldner and Liu Guoliang. In January 2010, Ma Long replaced him as the #1 rank on the official ITTF world rankings. Previously he has been ranked #1 on the official ITTF world rankings for 27 consecutive months from October 2007 to December 2009.
As of April 2011 he is again the top ranked male player in the world. Wang Hao currently uses a DHS Hurricane Hao blade with a DHS Skyline III Blue Sponge (Black) for his forehand and a Butterfly Sriver topsheet on a Bryce Speed sponge (Red) for his backhand.
Wang uses a pen hold grip. He is representative of a new wave of penhold players, having good attacking and defensive skills off both wings of the table. The greater freedom of the wrist involved in a penhold grip allows Wang Hao to generate large amounts of spin on the forehand side. As a result he is capable of high percentage attacking play well within the range of the table.
His reverse-sided backhand, popularly known as Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB), is a standout stroke because he does not need to step around the table to use his forehand, unlike most penhold players who need to step around to cover up a relatively weaker backhand. The use of the reverse-side of the racquet was originally pioneered by former champion Liu Guoliang, but was largely unknown before Wang's domination since it was considered to be unorthodox and was rarely used by players in the professional scene.
Compared to most pen-hold players on the professional circuit, Wang Hao uses the reverse-side for almost all shots on the backhand side, with the small exception of balls placed very slow and deep within the table during serves. This style of using the reverse-side exclusively for the backhand was considered to be improper, and when he first joined the national team most players did not think highly of him.
Regardless of Wang Hao's future performance, his rise to the top of the world table tennis rankings has convincingly demonstrated the viability of this new style, and his contribution to the table tennis community will forever cement his place in table tennis history.
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