Ariel Hsing (born November 29, 1995) is an American table tennis player. Hsing became the youngest U.S. table tennis national champion in history in 2010 at age 15. She repeated as champion in 2011. She was a member of the U.S. team that won team bronze at the 2011 Pan American Games.
In 2012, Hsing won the singles titles at the ITTF North American Cup and the United States Junior and Cadet Open.[3] She qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and was seeded 46th in women’s singles.[4]
Hsing is acquaintances with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, referring to them as "Uncle Warren" and "Uncle Bill". She met Buffett at age 9 when one of Buffett’s friends retained a table tennis coach for Buffett at his seventy-fifth birthday party and it was decided to have the 9-year-old Hsing play Buffett as a joke.[5] Gates was present during Hsing's Round of 32 loss during the 2012 Olympics and hugged her as she left the court.[6]
On July 9, 2012, she appeared on an episode of the Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out. She stumped panelists Ciara Bravo, Alex Heartman, Leon Thomas III and Stephen Kramer Glickman, for one round.
Hsing entered the Olympics as the 46th seed [4] and ranked 115th in the world.[6]
In the round of 128 Hsing defeated Yadira Silva in 4 games (11-9, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5) in a match where she never trailed by more than 2 points. In the round of 64 Hsing defeated Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg 4-2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10), In the round of 32 Hsing lost to the #2 seed and eventual gold medalist Li Xiaoxia of China 4-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9) with the longest rally of 18 occurring in game 6.
After the loss Hsing said it has best she had ever performed at a tournament giving herself a "10 out of 10, or maybe 9.9 as I wasn't quite there."[6]
Hsing was born in Fremont, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her mother, Xin Jiang, is a Chinese immigrant and her father Michael Hsing was born in Taiwan.[7]
Hsing started playing table tennis when her parents could not find a babysitter one night and brought the then seven-year old to the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club with them.[8]
She is a student at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, and she will be a high school senior in the fall as a member of the class of 2013.[8]
In 2012, Hsing won the singles titles at the ITTF North American Cup and the United States Junior and Cadet Open.[3] She qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and was seeded 46th in women’s singles.[4]
Hsing is acquaintances with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, referring to them as "Uncle Warren" and "Uncle Bill". She met Buffett at age 9 when one of Buffett’s friends retained a table tennis coach for Buffett at his seventy-fifth birthday party and it was decided to have the 9-year-old Hsing play Buffett as a joke.[5] Gates was present during Hsing's Round of 32 loss during the 2012 Olympics and hugged her as she left the court.[6]
On July 9, 2012, she appeared on an episode of the Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out. She stumped panelists Ciara Bravo, Alex Heartman, Leon Thomas III and Stephen Kramer Glickman, for one round.
Hsing entered the Olympics as the 46th seed [4] and ranked 115th in the world.[6]
In the round of 128 Hsing defeated Yadira Silva in 4 games (11-9, 11-8, 11-3, 11-5) in a match where she never trailed by more than 2 points. In the round of 64 Hsing defeated Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg 4-2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10), In the round of 32 Hsing lost to the #2 seed and eventual gold medalist Li Xiaoxia of China 4-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9) with the longest rally of 18 occurring in game 6.
After the loss Hsing said it has best she had ever performed at a tournament giving herself a "10 out of 10, or maybe 9.9 as I wasn't quite there."[6]
Hsing was born in Fremont, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her mother, Xin Jiang, is a Chinese immigrant and her father Michael Hsing was born in Taiwan.[7]
Hsing started playing table tennis when her parents could not find a babysitter one night and brought the then seven-year old to the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club with them.[8]
She is a student at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, and she will be a high school senior in the fall as a member of the class of 2013.[8]
