He Zhili (Chire Koyama)
Native name何智丽
Nationality China, then  Japan
Born (1964-09-30) 30 September 1964 (age 59)
Shanghai, China
Medal record
Women's table tennis
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Hiroshima Singles
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Kallang Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Osaka Singles
Representing  China
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Gothenburg Team
Gold medal – first place 1987 New Delhi Singles
Gold medal – first place 1987 New Delhi Team
Bronze medal – third place 1987 New Delhi Doubles
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 1986 Seoul Singles
Silver medal – second place 1986 Seoul Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1986 Seoul Team
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 1984 Islamabad Singles
Gold medal – first place 1984 Islamabad Team
Gold medal – first place 1986 Shenzhen Singles
Gold medal – first place 1986 Shenzhen Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1986 Shenzhen Team
Gold medal – first place 1988 Niigata Singles
Silver medal – second place 1984 Islamabad Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Niigata Doubles

He Zhili (simplified Chinese: 何智丽; traditional Chinese: 何智麗; pinyin: Hé Zhìlì; born 30 September 1964 in Shanghai),[1] also known by her married name Chire Koyama (小山 ちれ, Koyama Chire), is a former table tennis world champion from China[2] who later naturalized as a Japanese citizen and represented Japan under her married name.

Career

Asian Games

Representing China as He Zhili, she was the runner-up in both singles and doubles at the Seoul Games in 1986. Koyama won the 1994 Asian Games singles title in Hiroshima, Japan playing for her adopted country.[2]

Asian Championships

She won gold in singles and silver in mixed doubles at the 7th Asian Championships held in 1983 in Islamabad, Pakistan.[2]

World Championships

Representing China, she won the singles and team gold[3][4] during the 1987 World Championships in New Delhi, India.[2] However, she left the national team soon after as a result of her decision to not throw away matches to her teammates.[5] The 1987 world championship semi-finals featured 3 Chinese women and the Korean Yang Young-Ja. In the first semi-final, China's Dai Lily led 18–12 in the final set but she blew the lead and lost 21–18 to Yang Young-Ja. It is alleged that the Chinese coaches (Zhang, Xielin) thought that Guan Jianhua had a better chance of beating Yang Young-Ja in the final, and ordered He Zhili to lose the semi-final. She refused to obey the order and won the match. The Chinese coaches had no option but to support her in the final to increase the country's tally of medals. Though He Zhili beat Yang Young-Ja, she left the team because of the incident and migrated to Japan.

Olympic Games

Koyama represented Japan at the 1996 Atlanta Games and 2000 Sydney Games.[2] She reached the quarter final stage (singles) in both games.[1]

Marriage

He Zhili married and later divorced, Hideyuki Koyama, a Japanese national and settled in Japan.[5] She adopted her husband's surname (her given name “Chire” is the Japanese pronunciation of the same Chinese characters of “Zhili”).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Chire Koyama Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 March 2011
  2. ^ a b c d e Koyama Chire Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved 9 March 2011
  3. ^ "1987 Swaythling Cup results" (PDF). Table Tennis England.
  4. ^ "a Special Correspondent, Delhi. "Chinese win yet again." Times, 25 Feb. 1987, p. 37". Times Digital Archive.
  5. ^ a b c Should we pardon Koyama Chire? by Hu Ziwei Danwei 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2011
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