Multiple table tennis Olympic and world champion Kong Linghui has decided to hang up his bat and will take up a coaching role in the Chinese national team.

Kong, who turns 31 on Wednesday, announced his retirement Thursday afternoon after playing his last competitive match in the Chinese national championghips in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

"Frankly speaking, I can't live without playing table tennis. It is an anguishing decision to quit. I had planned to play until after the 2008 Olympics, but it now seems unrealistic," said Kong, who weeped when delivering his farewell speech.

"As a player, I am not in my prime any longer, so I hope to continue to make contributions to my motherland by taking up a coaching role," he added.

Kong started to play table tennis at the age of six and joined the Heilongjiang provincial team in 1986 and the national team in 1991. Playing in the handshake style, Kong jumped out of oblivion by nabbing two gold and one silver medals in the 1995 world championships held in north Chinese city Tianjin.

Most popular with Chinese supporters, Kong is dubbed the Prince of Table Tennis. He is the third grand slam winner of Olympic, world championships and World Cup singles titles after Swedish evergreen Jan-Ove Waldner and Liu Guoliang, the current head coach of the Chinese men's team.

Source: Xinhua