Born: October 5, 1981 in Beijing
Credentials: Gold at Athens 2004 (singles and doubles), and at 2005 world championships
Why she'll win: Because she will have all of Beijing behind her. No athlete is going to feel more at home than Zhang, who grew up less than 20km from Peking University Gymnasium where she will compete. Zhang lacks the profile of Liu Xiang and Yao Ming, but success will set her on the road to superstardom and a role as Beijing's sporting ambassador. A product of China's table tennis cult fed by decades of international domination, Zhang's career started thanks to a fanatical uncle, who introduced her to a friend and youth coach. Her breakthrough came in 2000 aged 19 when she won silver at the world championships. Going into Athens 2004, however, she was expected to play second fiddle to Wang Nan, but gleefully cashed in after Wang crashed out. Many began drawing parallels between Zhang and Deng Yaping, who took almost every major title on offer in the mid-1990s, including four Olympic golds. But the talk seemed premature as she slumped and suffered a nine-month title drought in 2007. 'My game is in total chaos,' Zhang said after her 4-2 defeat by Singaporean Feng Tianwei in the Asia Cup last year. 'The lighting in the arena looked dim. And it was like my legs had weights attached to them.' Luckily, she has rediscovered her touch and won the Volkswagen Open in Japan in May - her 28th ITTF Pro Tour title.
Who can stop her: Guo Yue and Wang Nan (China), Li Jiawei and Feng Tianwei (Singapore)
Final: Friday 22nd