<p>Australia has secured a genuine shot at breaking its Olympic <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/table-tennis">table tennis</a> duck, with China-born paddler Yangzi Liu successfully overturning an international ban that threatened to sideline her until 2029.</p> <p>The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled in Liu's favour, clearing her to represent Australia at the <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/events/olympic-games">2028 Los Angeles Olympics</a> and all international competitions moving forward. The decision ends a nearly two-year legal battle that Liu admits left her questioning whether she'd ever wear the green and gold on sport's biggest stage.</p> <h2>The Road to Eligibility</h2> <p>Liu's journey to this breakthrough has been anything but straightforward. After relocating to Australia at age 17 in 2019, she obtained citizenship three years later in 2022. But the International Table Tennis Federation hit her with strict nationality change restrictions that would have kept her ineligible until 2029, well beyond the LA Games timeframe.</p> <p>The Australian star challenged the seven-year waiting period, successfully arguing her ban should be recalculated based on her 2019 arrival rather than her 2022 citizenship date. That argument proved decisive at CAS.</p> <p>"We had this going on for almost two years, and we were not in a positive position," Liu revealed. "The ITTF really strongly disagreed with me representing Australia for the international tournaments. I just couldn't believe we won in the end."</p> <h2>Why This Matters for Australian Sport</h2> <p>Table tennis remains one of Australia's Olympic blind spots. Despite competing in the sport at every Summer Games since its 1988 Olympic debut, Australia has never claimed a medal of any colour.</p> <p>Liu offers genuine hope of changing that narrative. As Australia's top-ranked player, she's reached world No.25 and has already proven she can compete with the elite, recently pushing world No.1 Sun Yingsha to a fifth set in a contest that showcased Liu's ability to challenge China's dominance.</p> <p>The Chinese powerhouse swept all five table tennis golds at Paris 2024, continuing their stranglehold on the sport. But China can only select two players per event at each Olympics, creating openings for athletes like Liu who've developed their skills within the Chinese system before representing other nations.</p> <p>Liu has already delivered hardware for Australia, claiming historic bronze medals at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in both singles and team events. Those achievements marked the first time Australia had medalled in table tennis at Commonwealth level.</p> <p>The Commonwealth Games operates under more lenient naturalisation rules than the Olympics, allowing Liu to compete there while her Olympic eligibility remained in limbo. Now that the CAS has removed that barrier, Liu can set her sights on replicating that success at the highest level.</p>