'Dream come true' for 58-year-old Olympic debutant despite loss

Zeng represented China, the country of her birth, as a young player but retired at 20 and moved to Chile, where she has lived for the past 35 years.

She did not touch a table tennis bat for decades until she began playing again during the pandemic, and she quickly rose through the ranks to become one of South America's best players.

Her comeback has taken her all the way to Paris, where she lost 4-1 to Lebanon's Mariana Sahakian - herself 46 - in the preliminary round.

Playing in front of a full house and with extra support from a small but noisy group of Chilean fans, Zeng said the experience had been a rewarding one.

"After 30 years I came back to table tennis, and now that I have been able to play at the Olympics, my dream came true," Zeng said, in comments translated from Spanish, which she speaks with a Chilean accent.

"I gave my best in every competition and that's how I managed to get here."

Zeng was born in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and began playing from an early age under the tutelage of her table tennis coach mother.

She was chosen for China's national team at 16 but her career hit the skids before table tennis made its Olympic debut in 1988 and she quit the sport.

She moved to Chile to coach schoolchildren but then drifted away from table tennis and stopped playing to focus on her business.

Sedate pace

Now she is back on the scene and refuses to rule out another Olympic appearance after getting her first taste of the big time.

"It will be a little difficult but I will always keep playing until my body says stop," said Zeng, who will be 62 by the time of the next Games, in Los Angeles.

Zeng's match against Sahakian, another veteran, played out at a noticeably more sedate pace than the other matches being played at the South Paris Arena.

Zeng took the first game but then fell out of contention as her opponent began to take control of the match.

"My opponent was very patient," said Zeng.

"In the first game she was a bit anxious but she settled down as the match went on and it was quite hard to beat her from then on.

"I gave everything in the game. Of course there are regrets, but it's fine that I didn't manage to win."

Zeng is not even the oldest player in the women's tournament at the Paris Games - Luxembourg's 61-year-old Ni Xialian takes that title.

Ni was also born in China before switching allegiance to another country.

Zeng believes the nation of her birth will continue to produce champions.

"The system of repetition and timing is unique," she said.

"What makes the difference is how many times the young players play – all day, every day, over and over."