Junior Spotlight: Grant Li

photo by Gerry Chua

Grant Li, born in November 1994, is the second child of Wei Li and Weixin Xu. He is currently ranked sixth in boys under 14 with a rating of 2024.
Grant started the sport by playing in his parent’s basement with paddles bought at K-Mart. The first training class he took was at his Chinese school, where an after classes table tennis program was provided for kids for fun. He was one of the best kids at that class so he and two other kids were asked to play at an annual MIT junior’s tournament in 2004. Although his team did not get any tournament title, this tournament did become a turning point for Grant— his matches were observed by Tian Gao, one of the popular and well-known table tennis coaches in the Chinese community in the Boston area.

Gao saw potential in Grant and told his parents that he would like to train a young penhold player and Grant was the choice; but Grant would have to wait for an available spot because his class was full. When that day came, at the first formal training class, Gao immediately pointed out many problems that Grant had— and Grant recognized that he was experiencing a new level of table tennis. The training started in the spring of 2005, and rapid improvements were noticed on almost monthly basis. In less than a year, Grant became one of the best players among Gao’s students.

A year later, Grant was encouraged to go to his first USATT tournament, the 2006 New Hampshire Round Robin. Registered as unrated, he was put in the U1100 group and came out with 987 as his first rating. At the one-year anniversary, he played the NHRR again, but in the open group and won the third place with a rating of 1947.
Table tennis is a good part of Grant’s life and has given him emotional and physical strength, and self esteem. Last summer, he went to the city of Chongqing, China, where both the coaches and the young Chinese players were excellent. He devoted his full summer vacation there and practiced very hard with his coach Zhou, Qiang. In the U.S., in addition to his regular training from Tian Gao, he also got additional training from Mozart Francois, the coach of the Waltham club.

When Grant is behind the table, he lets go of all his worries and plays his best for a better outcome. He likes the style of the famous Chinese player Wang, Hao, and aims for a spot on the 2008 cadet team and hopes to be on the Juniors’ Team soon.

Grant has made many acquaintances in not only Massachusetts, but throughout the U.S. In additional to table tennis, Grant plays soccer, piano, and computer games... But, he is also a good student with high honors for the last semester (grade seven). Grant currently plays at the Waltham club in Massachusetts and at times goes to the surrounding clubs, including the Boston Club.