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Matthew Syed

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Matthew Syed
Born
Matthew Philip Syed

(1970-11-02) 2 November 1970 (age 54)
Reading, Berkshire, England
NationalityEnglish
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Occupations
Employers
SpouseKathy Weeks
Children2
Sports career
Medal record
Men's Table Tennis
Representing  England
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester Men's – Team
Websitewww.matthewsyed.co.uk

Matthew Philip Syed (born 2 November 1970) is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and former table tennis player. He competed as an English table tennis international, and was the English number one for many years.

He is a three-time men's singles champion at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships[1] (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and also competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games: at Barcelona in 1992 and at Sydney in 2000.[2]

During his sporting career, Syed entered journalism, and later became a writer. He has worked for The Times newspaper since 1999, and has published several books.

Early life

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Syed was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. His father, Abbas Syed, was a Pakistani immigrant to Britain who converted from Islam to Christianity, and his mother is Welsh.[3][4][5]

Syed attended the Maiden Erlegh School in Earley near Reading, then studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated with first-class honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)[4] in 1995.[6]

Sporting career

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A right-handed table-tennis player, Syed was the top-ranked player in England for nearly 10 years. He won many titles with his usually defensive style. He reached his top world ranking of 25 at the end of 1998.

He reached the final of the European Youth Championships in 1985, losing to Dmitry Mazunov. Syed was a member of the English team that won the European title in 1986.

He represented Great Britain in the men's singles at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, but failed to reach the second knockout stage each time. He says that he "choked" at the Sydney Olympics: "when I walked out into the mega-watt light of the competition arena, I could hardly hit the ball."[7]

He was English champion four times: in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001. He also won the men's singles event at three consecutive Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (in 1997 in Glasgow, 2000 in Singapore and 2001 in Delhi), and also won three titles as a member of the English men's team in 1994, 1997 and 2000. He was a member of the England men's team that won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Author and commentator

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Syed has worked as a commentator for the BBC and Eurosport, and as a journalist for The Times since 1999. He is a regular pundit on radio and television, commentating on sporting, cultural and political issues. His film China and Table Tennis, made for the BBC, won bronze medal at the Olympic Golden Rings ceremony in Lausanne[1] in 2008.

Syed's style has been mocked by satirical magazine Private Eye.[8]

In his second book, Black Box Thinking, which was published by John Murray in 2015, he argues that the key to success is a positive attitude to failure.[9]

Syed is the co-founder of Matthew Syed Consulting. He was one of the co-founders of TTK Greenhouse, a sports-related charity.[10]

Syed hosts a BBC Radio 5 Live podcast called Flintoff, Savage & The Ping Pong Guy. Alongside him on the podcast are ex-England cricketer Andrew Flintoff and former Blackburn Rovers captain Robbie Savage. Current sporting topics are discussed on the podcast.[11]

In 2016, Syed was awarded an honorary doctorate in Liberal Arts by Abertay University in Dundee.[12]

His book You Are Awesome was published in 2018. The publisher describes it as "a positive and empowering guide to help children build resilience".[13] A follow-up, Dare to be You, was released in 2020.[14]

In 2021, Syed began presenting a new programme on BBC Radio 4, Sideways, about "the ideas that shape our lives".[15] In 2022, he published his third children's book, What Do You Think? (2022).[16]

Politics

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Syed stood as the Labour candidate in the 2001 UK General Election in Wokingham, coming third in a safe Conservative seat.[17] Syed won a place on the Labour Party's shortlist to succeed Ashok Kumar for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the 2010 UK General Election. However, the party selected Tom Blenkinsop, who had worked in Kumar's constituency office for six years.[18]

In the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Syed endorsed Jeremy Hunt.[19]

Personal life

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Syed is married to Kathy Weeks. They have a son and a daughter.[20][21][22][23]

Books

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  • Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success (HarperCollins, 2010), ISBN 978-0-06-172375-9
  • Black Box Thinking: Why Most People Never Learn from Their Mistakes – But Some Do (Portfolio, 2015), ISBN 978-1591848226
  • The Greatest: What Sport Teaches Us About Achieving Success (John Murray, 2017), ISBN 978-1473653665
  • You Are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything (John Murray, 2018), ISBN 978-1492687535
  • Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking (John Murray, 2019), ISBN 978-1473613942
  • Dare to Be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and Be Confidently You! (Hachette Children's Group, 2020), ISBN 978-1526362377
  • What Do YOU Think?: How to agree to disagree and still be friends (Hachette Children's Group, 2022), ISBN 978-1526364937

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Matthew Syed – Award Winning Journalist, Best-Selling Author, & Broadcaster". Personally Speaking. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Matthew Syed". olympics.org.uk. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  3. ^ Syed, Matthew (30 November 2013). "My father, the immigrant". The Times. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b Jacobson, Howard (17 July 2002). "Matthew Syed: An unlikely hero". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. ^ Syed, Matthew (26 September 2021). "The death of my father has taught me the real meaning of gratitude". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Matthew Syed: 'Analysing mistakes is key to success'". 31 August 2015.
  7. ^ Syed, Matthew (1 May 2012). "Should people accept that pressure is a fact of life?". BBC News. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ^ Private Eye, "Hackwatch", issue 1287, April 2011.
  9. ^ "Black Box Thinking", Hachette UK.
  10. ^ "Goldman's big hitter on the credit crunch - and his passion for a small London charity". Evening Standard. 13 April 2012.
  11. ^ "Flintoff, Savage and the Ping Pong Guy". BBC Radio 5 Live. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Abertay announces honorary graduates". Abertay. 12 January 2017.
  13. ^ Syed, Matthew (15 May 2019). You Are Awesome. Hachette Children's. ISBN 9781526361332 – via hachettechildrens.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Dare to be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and be Confidently You! By Matthew Syed - Books". Hachette Australia. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Sideways, See The World Differently". BBC. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  16. ^ What Do YOU Think? by Matthew Syed. Hachette UK. 26 April 2022. ISBN 978-1-5263-6493-7. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Vote2001 Results & Constituencies". BBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  18. ^ Hetherington, Graeme (5 April 2010). "Tom Blenkinsop, a campaign manager with steel union Community, chosen". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  19. ^ Gourtsoyannis, Paris (10 June 2019). "Jeremy Hunt battles Michael Gove to be top challenger to Boris Johnson". The Scotsman. Edinburgh.
  20. ^ "Kathy Weeks – Founder – Matthew Syed Consulting". LinkedIn. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  21. ^ "About Mathew Syed". Mathew Syed's website. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  22. ^ Syed, Matthew (3 October 2016). "When Teddy bit Evie, we turned to tough love". The Times.
  23. ^ Syed, Matthew (24 March 2018). "Kids must be willing to fail if they want to succeed". The Times.
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