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Bettine Vriesekoop
	Bettine Vriesekoop in 1979
Personal information
Born	13 August 1961 (age 63); Hazerswoude, the Netherlands
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Table tennis
Medal record
Representing the Netherlands
European Championships

Hubertina Petronella Maria "Bettine" Vriesekoop (born 13 August 1961) is a former table tennis player from the Netherlands. She was European champion in 1982 and 1992 individually and in 1982 in mixed doubles. She competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics in singles and women doubles with the best achievement of seventh place in both events in 1988.^[1]

Vriesekoop started playing table tennis in 1972, and between 1977 and 2002 played at top level in Europe. She won the European Championship twice and was a Dutch Champion fourteen times in the singles and sixteen times in the doubles. Until 1989 she worked with coach Gerard Bakker,^[1]^[2] and then worked with Jan Vlieg.

Biography

Vriesekoop was the youngest of nine siblings in a farmers family. Her father died of cancer when she was ten years old.^[2]^[3] In 1995 she appeared on the cover of Playboy Europe, and the issue contained an unprecedented 12-page interview with her. The money she received from Playboy helped her solve financial problems.^[4] She retired from competition in 1997,^[5] and in 1999 gave birth to a son, but her husband died shortly before that. While training in China she became interested in the culture and then studied Chinese language and philosophy in Leiden. Between 2006 and 2009 she worked in Beijing as a freelance correspondent for several Dutch newspapers including NRC Handelsblad.^[4] She was selected as the "Dutch Table Tennis Player of the Century" in 2000 and as the Dutch Sportsman of the year in 1981 and 1985.^[1]

Career highlights

Summer Olympic Games: 1988, Seoul, women's singles, 7th; 1988, Seoul, women's doubles, 7th; 1992, Barcelona, women's singles, last 16; 1992, Barcelona, women's doubles, quarter final; 1996, Atlanta, women's singles, 1st round; 1996, Atlanta, women's doubles, 1st round
World Championships: 1979, Pyongyang, women's singles, last 16; 1979, Pyongyang, women's doubles, last 16; 1979, Pyongyang, mixed doubles, last 16; 1981, Novi Sad, women's singles, last 16; 1983, Tokyo, women's singles, last 16; 1983, Tokyo, women's doubles, last 16; 1983, Tokyo, mixed doubles, quarter final; 1983, Tokyo, team competition, 8th; 1985, Gothenburg, women's singles, last 16; 1985, Gothenburg, women's doubles, last 16; 1985, Gothenburg, team competition, 4th; 1987, New Delhi, team competition, 4th; 1995, Tianjin, women's doubles, last 16; World Doubles Cup:; 1992, Las Vegas, women's singles, quarter final; World Team Cup:; 1994, Nîmes, 3rd
Pro Tour Grand Finals: 1996, Tianjin, women's singles, last 16
Pro Tour Meetings: 1996, Kettering, women's singles, quarter final; 1996, Kitaku-Shu, women's singles, quarter final; 1996, Kitaku-Shu, women's doubles, quarter final; 1998, Beirut, women's doubles, quarter final
European Championships: 1980, Bern, women's singles, semi final; 1982, Budapest, women's singles, winner; 1982, Budapest, women's doubles, runner-up; 1982, Budapest, mixed doubles, winner; 1984, Moscow, women's singles, quarter final; 1984, Moscow, women's doubles, semi final; 1984, Moscow, mixed doubles, semi final; 1986, Prague, women's singles, quarter final; 1986, Prague, women's doubles, runner-up; 1988, Paris, mixed doubles, runner-up; 1990, Gothenburg, women's doubles, quarter final; 1992, Stuttgart, women's singles, winner; 1992, Stuttgart, women's doubles, semi final; 1992, Stuttgart, team competition, 2nd; 1996, Bratislava, women's doubles, runner-up; 1998, Eindhoven, women's singles, quarter final
European Youth Championships: 1977, Vichy, women's singles, winner (juniors); 1978, Barcelona, women's singles, semi final (juniors); 1979, Rome, women's singles, winner (juniors)
European Top-12 Championships: 1978, Prague, 2nd; 1979, Kristianstad, 8th; 1980, Munich, 2nd; 1981, Miskolc, 2nd; 1982, Nantes, 1st; 1983, Cleveland, 3rd,; 1984, Bratislava, 2nd; 1985, Barcelona, 1st; 1986, Södertälje, 5th; 1987, Basel, 4th; 1988, Ljubljana, 2nd; 1991, Den Bosch, 3rd; 1992, Vienna, 9th; 1993, Copenhagen, 5th; 1994, Arezzo, 7th; 1995, Dijon, 5th; 1996, Charleroi, 3rd; 1997, Eindhoven, 5th; 1999, Split, 11th

Books

Bettine Vriesekoop; 弗里斯科普 (2008). 想念北京. 安徽教育出版社. ISBN 978-7-5336-5092-6.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2009). Het Jaar van de Rat. Bezige Bij b.v., Uitgeverij De. ISBN 978-90-6005-889-3.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2009). Bij de Chinees. Bezige Bij b.v., Uitgeverij De. ISBN 978-90-6005-969-2.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2011). Duizend dagen in China. Nijgh & Van Ditmar, Uitgeverij. ISBN 978-90-388-9399-0.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2013). Heimwee naar Peking. Nijgh & Van Ditmar, Uitgeverij. ISBN 978-90-388-9670-0.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2015). Dochters van Mulan, Hoe Vrouwen China Veranderen. Brandt, Uitgeverij. ISBN 9789492037008.
Bettine Vriesekoop (2021). Het China gevoel van Pearl S. Buck, Brandt, Uitgeverij, ISBN 978 94 93095 44 1

Awards
Preceded by Annie Borckink	Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 1981	Succeeded by Annemarie Verstappen
Preceded by Ria Stalman	Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 1985	Succeeded by Nelli Cooman