Lin Shidong, nicknamed “Little Stone”, was born on April 18, 2005 in Danzhou, Hainan Province. He is a leading player of China National Table Tennis Team and the first table tennis athlete from Hainan to join China’s national team. He holds the title of International Master of Sport and studies at Hainan University. He plays right-handed shakehand grip with loop-and-attack aggressive style. His head coach for singles is Wang Hao, while Xiao Zhan oversees his doubles training.

Early Career

Lin Shidong started formal table tennis training at age 7 under coach Guan Yan, later training at the National Table Tennis Training Base in Zhengding, Hebei. In 2015, he joined Hainan Provincial Table Tennis Team as its youngest member.

In 2016, 11-year-old Lin became the youngest athlete at the National Table Tennis Championships, earning his nickname “Little Stone”.

He claimed the U13 men’s singles title at the National Junior Competition in 2018 and was selected for the national youth training squad. He competed in ITTF World Junior Circuit events in Croatia and Hungary, collecting multiple gold and silver medals.

In December 2020, 15-year-old Lin won the National Youth Table Tennis Championships men’s singles title and was admitted to the national second team.

At the 2022 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, he swept four gold medals (men’s team, singles, doubles, mixed doubles), becoming the 5th Chinese player to achieve this grand slam at the junior worlds. He was promoted to the national first team in the same year. He served as a practice partner for China’s team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Playing Style & Technical Analysis

His backhand is his signature weapon. His backhand flick delivers explosive power, heavy spin and fast speed, enabling him to launch attacks right from the receive. His close-table backhand fast rip to wide angles and middle is seamless. In long-table rallies, he can sustain heavy, powerful backhand shots. As commented by Deng Yaping, it is rare in men’s table tennis to maintain high-quality backhand confrontation far from the table.

His early weakness was over-reliance on backhand; his forehand usage rate was lower than the average of top elite players. He tended to step back from the table, which reduced his table coverage against fast attackers. He has invested heavily in forehand training from 2024 to 2026, improving consistency, placement variation and stability of forehand loops.

For short table skills, his backhand flick is his primary point-winning weapon on receive. He excels at short push, long chop and varied placement to disrupt opponents’ serve attack.

Blessed with great physical strength and endurance, he can compete in four events (singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, team) simultaneously. He reads matches well and adjusts tactics according to opponents. His mental toughness has improved greatly after numerous top-level tournaments.

World Ranking (Sep 2026)

Men’s Singles: No.8

Men’s Doubles (partner Huang Youzheng): They reached No.1 in June 2026 and were ranked No.2 before the Nagoya Asian Games.

In February 2025, aged 19, Lin Shidong won the WTT Singapore Grand Smash men’s singles title and became the youngest men’s singles world No.1 in table tennis history. After that, he experienced a long title drought in singles and dropped to No.8.

Major Tournament Results

• 2022 World Junior Table Tennis Championships: 4 gold medals; promoted to national first team
• 2023 World Table Tennis Championships Durban: Mixed Doubles bronze; National Championships men’s singles & doubles champion; WTT Star Contender Lanzhou men’s singles winner
• 2024Sep: WTT Macao Champion Men’s Singles champion, beat Tomokazu Harimoto, Lin Yun-Ju and Wang ChuqinOct: WTT China Grand Smash men’s singles champion (beat Ma Long 4-3 in final), plus mixed doubles goldDec: Mixed Team World Cup gold medalist, became China’s 118th world champion
• 2025Feb: WTT Singapore Grand Smash men’s singles champion, reached world No.1, also won men’s doubles & mixed doubles gold (triple crown)
• 2026World Table Tennis Team Championships men’s team goldNagoya Asian Games: 3 gold medals (men’s singles, men’s doubles with Huang Youzheng, mixed doubles), plus men’s team silver

Equipment

Blade: Butterfly Viscaria Special Edition (custom ALC, not commercial Gold Label Vis)

Forehand rubber: Butterfly Dignics 09C

Backhand rubber: Butterfly Dignics 05

Quotes & Evaluation

Deng Yaping: Lin’s backhand is outstanding; he can sustain high-quality long-table backhand rallies, which is rare in men’s table tennis.

Ma Long: Lin has incredible talent, solid technique and mature mentality.

Liu Guoliang: Lin is one of the core players for China in the new Olympic cycle.