It was an era when the pen-hold grip was the tradition for Asian players, Liang Geliang was a right handed shake-hands grip player; furthermore, watching him play he was just as comfortable in defence as in attack. If ever there was an all-rounder, it was Liang Geliang.

Success in the men’s team event alongside Guo Yuehua, Huang Liang, Li Zhenshi and Wang Jun but it is in the men’s singles event where my memory is the most vivid. After beating West Germany’s Peter Stellwag and Czechoslovakia’s Milan Orlowski, he faced Yugoslavia’s Dragutin Surbek.

After losing the opening two games, he won the next three (16-21, 12-21, 21-9, 21-16, 21-18); the recovery underlined his tactical skills and his very complete style of play. Defend all the time he would have lost, continually attack it would have been the same outcome; find a balance he succeeded.

Later he was to experience defeat at the semi-final stage against the champion elect, Japan’s Mitsuru Konno but he did leave with a further gold medal. He won the men’s doubles title in partnership with Li Zhenshi.

Good players adapt; never was the phrase more true than in the career of Liang Geliang; furthermore, he was one of the first to use a racket with different surfaces, the smooth rubber on the forehand, the pimpled rubber on the backhand, a high level of skill, the variations in spin caused opponents headaches.

Later he competed in the German Bundesliga and also in the World Veteran Championships. In 1990 in Baltimore and in 1992 in Dublin, on both occasions he won the men’s singles 40 years title. Eight years after his Dublin appearance he was present in Vancouver, he emerged the men’s singles 50 years champion.

In Shenzhen he is eligible to compete in the men’s singles 65 to 69 years category.