The U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame is honored to share a special congratulatory message for Lily Yip from Atsuko Sasaki, wife of the late Chinese table tennis legend Zhuang Zedong.

In the video, Sasaki congratulates Yip on receiving the 2026 Mark Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award and reflects on the lasting importance of Ping-Pong Diplomacy.

Zhuang Zedong was a three-time World Men’s Singles Champion and one of the most influential figures in table tennis history. During the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, American player Glenn Cowan unexpectedly boarded the Chinese team bus. Zhuang welcomed Cowan, shook his hand and presented him with a silk-screen image of China’s Huangshan Mountains.

That spontaneous gesture of friendship became a defining moment in Ping-Pong Diplomacy. It helped open the door to renewed communication between China and the United States, followed by the American table tennis team’s historic visit to China and President Richard Nixon’s visit in 1972.

More than five decades later, table tennis continues to bring people together across cultures and national borders. Lily Yip has carried that spirit forward throughout her extraordinary career as an Olympian, national champion, coach, club leader and ambassador for the sport.

The Hall of Fame sincerely thanks Atsuko Sasaki for sharing this meaningful message and helping us celebrate Lily Yip’s lifetime of service to table tennis.

The video is spoken in Mandarin and includes English subtitles.