# Bettine Vriesekoop

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.
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, 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. 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. She retired from competition in 1997, 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. 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.

## 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 byAnnie Borckink | Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 1981 | Succeeded byAnnemarie Verstappen |
| Preceded byRia Stalman | Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 1985 | Succeeded byNelli Cooman |