Picture courtesy of the ITTF

The world of table tennis has lost one of it’s greatest stars as former three-time World Champion Zhuang Zedong (also known as Chuang Tse-Tung) has passed away in Beijing at the age of 73.

Zedong, famous for his unique ability with the penhold style, was also made infamous for his meeting with American Glenn Cowan during the 31st World Table Tennis Championships which led to the ‘Ping Pong Diplomacy’ between China and the U.S.

Zedong had been battling colon cancer since 2008 and finally passed away on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Below are a couple of selected obituaries from around the world:

The Daily Telegraph

The ITTF

BBC News

The Metro