Qian Yang has long stood on top of the Para Table Tennis world and 2024 was no different.

The year was a gold rush for Yang as she finished on top of the podium twice at the Paris Paralympic Games. She won gold in the Class 10 Women’s Singles and partnered with Lina Lei to win the Women’s Doubles Class WD20 discipline.

Her winning ways were fine-tuned in the lead-up to the Games as she won the qualifying event, the 2023 ITTF Oceania Para Championships in the Solomon Islands, and the Class 10 Women’s Singles title at the 2024 ITTF Slovenia Para Open in Laško, Slovenia.

Yang maintained her number one world ranking for the entirety of 2024 and, to further illustrate her dominance, has won every international Para tournament she has competed in since the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Yang’s ability to stay calm and focused under the highest pressure, including when she is behind in matches, is the reason she continues to be so successful at benchmark events. It is this behaviour on the court that has her leading by example for other team members.

Yang always displays impeccable behaviour and respect on and off the court and is a great role model for teammates and for aspiring and elite athletes.