Matthew Syed | ||||||||||||
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| Born | Matthew Philip Syed (1970-11-02)2 November 1970 (age 54) | |||||||||||
| Nationality | English | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford | |||||||||||
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| Spouse | Kathy Weeks | |||||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Website | www | |||||||||||
Matthew Philip Syed (born 2 November 1970) is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and formertable 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 theCommonwealth Table Tennis Championships[1] (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and alsocompeted for Great Britain in twoOlympic Games: atBarcelona in 1992 and atSydney in 2000.[2]
During his sporting career, Syed entered journalism, and later became a writer. He has worked forThe Times newspaper since 1999, and has published several books.
Syed was born inReading, Berkshire, England. His father, Abbas Syed, was aPakistani immigrant to Britain who converted from Islam to Christianity, and his mother is Welsh.[3][4][5]
Syed attended theMaiden Erlegh School inEarley near Reading, then studied atBalliol College, Oxford, where he graduated withfirst-class honours inPhilosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)[4] in 1995.[6]
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 toDmitry 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 the1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, but failed to reach the second knockout stage each time. He says that he "choked" at theSydney 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 consecutiveCommonwealth 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 the2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
Syed has worked as a commentator for theBBC andEurosport, and as a journalist forThe Times since 1999. He is a regular pundit on radio and television, commentating on sporting, cultural and political issues. His filmChina and Table Tennis, made for the BBC, won bronze medal at the Olympic Golden Rings ceremony inLausanne[1] in 2008.
Syed's style has been mocked by satirical magazinePrivate Eye.[8]
In his second book,Black Box Thinking, which was published byJohn 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 aBBC Radio 5 Live podcast calledFlintoff, Savage & The Ping Pong Guy. Alongside him on the podcast are ex-England cricketerAndrew Flintoff and former Blackburn Rovers captainRobbie Savage. Current sporting topics are discussed on the podcast.[11]
In 2016, Syed was awarded an honorary doctorate in Liberal Arts byAbertay University inDundee.[12]
His bookYou 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 onBBC 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]
Syed stood as theLabour candidate in the2001 UK General Election inWokingham, coming third in a safe Conservative seat.[17] Syed won a place on theLabour Party's shortlist to succeedAshok Kumar for theMiddlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the2010 UK General Election. However, the party selectedTom Blenkinsop, who had worked in Kumar's constituency office for six years.[18]
In the2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Syed endorsedJeremy Hunt.[19]
Syed is married to Kathy Weeks. They have a son and a daughter.[20][21][22][23]
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