Eating Chinese food will keep you young. And living in southern Spain helps.
That’s how China-born He Zhiwen explains being 51 and still qualifying for table tennis at the Olympics.
He has lived for 25 years in Spain — now in the southern city of Granada, where he’s known exclusively as “Juanito.” He’s one of dozens of China-born players in these games playing ping pong for an adopted country.
“I take care of myself, I eat Chinese food, I don’t smoke and I get lots of rest,” He said, replying in Spanish.
This is his third Olympics, and he says he’s unlikely to attempt qualifying for Rio de Janeiro in four years. “I think that would be very difficult.”
Now the bad news. He lost Monday to Romanian Adrian Crisan 4-2 and was eliminated in the third round.
“I had my chances and it was close,” he said. “I have the serve, other players have the speed.”
— Stephen Wade — Twitter http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP
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