Hend Zaza Photo: VCG

Syria's 12-year-old table tennis athlete Hend Zaza will come to China for professional training, China Central Television (CCTV) said in a report on Tuesday. The young athlete just finished her first trip to the Olympic Games after losing a match in Tokyo. 

At the invitation of the Chinese Olympic Committee, the youngest table tennis Olympian in history will come to China for training in September, according to China's national TV station.

"I'm looking forward to training abroad. I want to make progress and take the championship one day," Zaza told CCTV, while talking about her trip to China. 

"I want to reach the same level as the Chinese team does, and I'm looking forward to having the same training as the Chinese team."

On July 24, the young Zaza lost her match to Chinese-­Austrian athlete Liu Jia 4-0 during the preliminaries. 

In 2011, complaints about high unemployment and corruption led to severe violence inside Syria. As the violence rapidly escalated, the country descended into a civil war that still rages today. Zaza said as long as she can remember she found it difficult to go to school or play outside, let alone train for her chosen sport. 

Zaza has previously told media that Chinese world champion table tennis athlete Ding Ning is her idol. Ding once posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo in 2020 that she was looking forward to meeting Zaza in China soon.

"Table tennis has taught me to be strong and confident. I've learned to be patient, and be a better person," Zaza said.