Bojun "Bryan" Zhangliang - Full-time Since Five
By Larry Hodges
Bojun - "Bryan" to most locals - was born in the Hunan Province of China in 1997. When he was three, his dad, a semi-professional table tennis player, gave him a ping-pong ball to play with. He'd throw it against a well over and over. That began his nineteen years - so far - in the world of table tennis. Later he'd move up to using a racket and a table.
When his dad saw that he had talent, he sent him to the local table tennis club for serious training. From age 5-8 he was training 4-5 hours/day. When he was eight he was chosen by head coach Liu Wen Hua for the Hunan Provincial Team. To join the team, he had to leave his family behind and go out on his own - at age eight. This is surprising to Americans, but is somewhat common in China for those who aspire to athletic heights.
From there on he was a full-time player - though in reality, he had essentially been full-time since age five. During his eight years on the Hunan Provincial Team he was selected to the Chinese Teenage National Team twice (2010 and 2012) and made the "A" Division in 2012. He was a member of the Chinese Super League in 2011 and 2012. Along the way he won a number of local and national titles.
When he was sixteen he was invited to the U.S. to join the Maryland Table Tennis Center as a player/practice partner/coach. And from that point on, as he put it, "My life in the U.S has definitely become more interesting and productive."
When he first arrived, the only English words he knew were "thank you." Coaching was difficult because of the language problem, except when coaching Chinese players, which fortunately made up a lot of his coaching, plus he couldn't really communicate with other players when he trained unless they were Chinese. So he decided that he needed to go to school to learn English. As he put it, "I hope I can contribute to the table tennis field with my playing." His English is now somewhat fluent - and it needs to be, as he hopes to become a U.S. citizen, and maybe represent the U.S. at the Olympics and world competitions.
He now coaches part-time as a volunteer at the Northern Virginia Table Tennis Club, and on weekends at the Maryland Table Tennis Center, where he is one of the coaches for the Talent Development Program, which trains at MDTTC. "I enjoy it very much when I see people are improving with my help." A student of his, Michelle Kang, won the Maryland Regional Hopes Girls' Title in March, 2019.
He says that he has noticed that players in the U.S. do not train efficiently. He said, "I think that Chinese are the best in table tennis not because they are the most talented ones, it is because the way we train that is different from the rest of the world."
He was also a bit out of practice when he first came to the U.S., and acted as a training partner for others at times when he would have preferred to train. And yet, he's won quite titles during his USA years:
- 2018 Smash Winter Open semifinalist
- 2018 America Championships 1st
- 2017 U.S Open Adult Teams semifinalist
- 2017 Triangle Summer Teams tournament 3rd
- 2016 Potomac Fall Open 3rd
- 2016 Cassel’s Giant RR Open 2rd
- 2015 Butterfly MDTTC Open semifinalist
- 2015 Virginia State Championships 1st
- 2015 XIOM Open RR single 1st
- 2014 Potomac Spring Open semifinalist
- 2013 Butterfly MDTTC Open semifinalist
Outside of table tennis he likes to go to gym and hiking. He likes outdoor activities, which is ironic for a table tennis player.
What are his plans for the future? "Eventually, I want to open my own table tennis club to help develop table tennis in the USA. I want to bring Chinese table tennis training method to the U.S."
