Cal Sports Report

NBA Star ‘Beats’ U.S. Table Tennis Champ and Cal Grad in Ping-Pong Challenge

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards took on two Cal alumni – Marshawn Lynch and four-time table tennis Olympian Lily Zhang – in ping-pong matches, and a video of Edwards’ ‘victory’ over Zhang is included
Jake Curtis|
Lily Zhang during a round of 16 singles match at the 2024 Olympics
Lily Zhang during a round of 16 singles match at the 2024 Olympics | Yukihito Taguchi-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

Cal graduate Lily Zhang gained fame in the table tennis world last month when she became the first woman to claim the No. 1 spot in the Major League Table Tennis official power rankings. But she gained more attention in the general sports world when she accepted a challenge from Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards to play a game of table tennis as part of an Amazon streaming series.

And she lost. Well, sort of.

The idea of Edwards playing Zhang, a six-time U.S. table tennis champion, was born during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which was Zhang’s fourth Olympics appearance and Edwards’ first. Stephen Curry introduced Edwards to some members of the U.S. table tennis squad, including Zhang, telling Edwards – with Zhang’s blessing – that Edwards could not a win a single point against these Olympians in a table tennis match to 21.

Edwards, who prides himself at being proficient at nearly every sport, could not believe it, and wanted to play Zhang. The match never materialized in Paris, although Edwards became a fan by attending one of Zhang’s matches in the Olympics.

But the notion was revived when Amazon began a series called Serious Business, in which Edwards tries to prove he can be competitive with virtually every top athlete in any sport.  The first episode in the series ran this week and featured Edwards facing Zhang, a 29-year-old pro table tennis athlete who graduated from Cal in 2018 with a degree in psychology and won the last of her six U.S. championships in 2022.

She plays for the Bay Area Blaster in Major League Table Tennis competition, but this was a very different challenge, as captured in the steamed episode.

She and Edwards initially did some rallying with Zhang providing some pointers to Edwards.

But the serious competition began later.

Edwards warmed up for Zhang by facing Lynch in a game to 11. Although Lynch provided interesting banter, he was no match for Edwards, who won that match with ease.

But then came the match against Zhang, who announced that she would spot Edwards 10 points in a game to 11. So essentially Edwards began the match with a 10-0 lead needing only to win one of the next 10 points to claim victory.

Zhang won the first five points to close to within 10-5, but on the sixth point Edward let loose with a forehand smash that caught the edge of the table and so startled Zhang that she could not return it.

Edwards claimed an 11-5 victory, and let everyone within sight know about it during a long celebration. He also let Curry know about it.

Zhang got a hug from Lynch as she admitted she was surprised by Edwards’ slam.

Zhang was obviously taking it easy on Edwards while winning the first five points before the decisive blow, but now she will have to go back and explain this to other professional table tennis athletes.

A number of Major League Table Tennis matches have been televised nationally, so you wonder whether this exhibition against Edwards will make Zhang a bigger star and increase viewership of pro table tennis.

Zhang, who is from Redwood City, has not confirmed whether she will compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but she's considering it. If she does, you know the match against Edwards will be mentioned when she hits her first ball in her fifth Olympics.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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