Matthew Syed

{{short description|English writer and former table tennis player}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Matthew Syed

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name = Matthew Philip Syed

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1970|11|2}}

| birth_place = Reading, Berkshire, England

| death_date =

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| employer = {{ubl|The Times; The Sunday Times|Matthew Syed Consulting}}

| known_for =

| alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford

| occupation = {{hlist | Author | columnist | sportscaster}}

| spouse = Kathy Weeks

| children = 2

| website = {{URL|http://www.matthewsyed.co.uk/}}

| module = {{infobox sportsperson

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| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country|{{ENG}}}}

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Matthew Philip Syed (born 2 November 1970) is an English 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.

Syed is a three-time men's singles champion at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships{{cite web |url=http://www.personallyspeakingbureau.com/speaker/matthew-syed/ |title=Matthew Syed – Award Winning Journalist, Best-Selling Author, & Broadcaster|website=Personally Speaking|access-date=11 March 2016}} (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and also competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games: at Barcelona in 1992 and at Sydney in 2000.{{cite web |title=Matthew Syed |url=http://www.olympics.org.uk/athleterecord.aspx?at=2964 |work=olympics.org.uk |publisher=British Olympic Association |access-date=23 August 2008}}

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

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.{{cite news |last=Syed |first=Matthew |title=My father, the immigrant |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/my-father-the-immigrant-6twsmpfpvs6 |url-access=limited |work=The Times |date=30 November 2013 |access-date=10 October 2015}}{{cite news |last=Jacobson |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Jacobson |title=Matthew Syed: An unlikely hero |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matthew-syed-an-unlikely-hero-184779.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |location=London |date=17 July 2002 |access-date=13 January 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matthew-syed-an-unlikely-hero-184779.html |archive-date=12 May 2022}}{{cite news |title=The death of my father has taught me the real meaning of gratitude |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/article/the-death-of-my-father-has-taught-me-the-real-meaning-of-gratitude-92cplnl9c |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Sunday Times |first=Matthew|last=Syed|date=26 September 2021 |access-date=9 October 2022}}

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 in 1995.{{Cite web|url=https://www.director.co.uk/2392-matthew-syed-analysing-mistakes-is-key-to-success/|title=Matthew Syed: 'Analysing mistakes is key to success'|date=31 August 2015}}

Sporting career

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."{{cite news |last=Syed |first=Matthew |title=Should people accept that pressure is a fact of life? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17874450 |publisher=BBC News |date=1 May 2012 |access-date=7 April 2019}}

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

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 in 2008.

Syed's style has been mocked by satirical magazine Private Eye.Private Eye, "Hackwatch", issue 1287, April 2011.

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.[https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/matthew-syed/black-box-thinking/9781473613775/ "Black Box Thinking"], Hachette UK.

Syed is the co-founder of Matthew Syed Consulting. He was one of the co-founders of TTK Greenhouse, a sports-related charity.{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/goldman-s-big-hitter-on-the-credit-crunch-and-his-passion-for-a-small-london-charity-6859497.html|title=Goldman's big hitter on the credit crunch - and his passion for a small London charity|newspaper=Evening Standard|date=13 April 2012}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08fr7t1|title=Flintoff, Savage and the Ping Pong Guy|publisher=BBC Radio 5 Live|access-date=12 March 2021}}

In 2016, Syed was awarded an honorary doctorate in Liberal Arts by Abertay University in Dundee.{{cite web|url=https://www.abertay.ac.uk/news/2016/abertay-announces-honorary-graduates/|title=Abertay announces honorary graduates|date=12 January 2017|website=Abertay}}

His book You Are Awesome was published in 2018. The publisher describes it as "a positive and empowering guide to help children build resilience".{{cite book|url=https://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk/titles/matthew-syed-2/you-are-awesome/9781526361332/|title=You Are Awesome|date=15 May 2019|isbn=9781526361332 |via=hachettechildrens.co.uk|last1=Syed |first1=Matthew|publisher=Hachette Children's }} A follow-up, Dare to be You, was released in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.hachette.com.au/matthew-syed-matthew-syed-consulting-ltd-toby-triumph/dare-to-be-you-defy-self-doubt-fearlessly-follow-your-own-path-and-be-confidently-you|publisher=Hachette Australia|access-date=5 August 2021|title=Dare to be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and be Confidently You! By Matthew Syed - Books}}

In 2021, Syed began presenting a new programme on BBC Radio 4, Sideways, about "the ideas that shape our lives".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p095yk1q|title=Sideways, See The World Differently|publisher=BBC|date=3 February 2021|access-date=11 February 2021}} In 2022, he published his third children's book, What Do You Think? (2022).{{cite book|url=https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/matthew-syed-2/what-do-you-think/9781526364937/|title=What Do YOU Think? by Matthew Syed|date=26 April 2022 |publisher=Hachette UK|isbn=978-1-5263-6493-7 |access-date=16 June 2024}}

Politics

Syed stood as the Labour Party candidate in the 2001 UK General Election in Wokingham, coming third in a safe Conservative seat.{{cite news |title=Vote2001 Results & Constituencies |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/639.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=23 August 2008 }} He won a place on the Labour shortlist to succeed Ashok Kumar for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the 2010 UK General Election, but the party selected Tom Blenkinsop, who had worked in Kumar's constituency office for six years.{{cite news |url= http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7984771.Candidate_chosen_to_replace_late_MP/ |title=Tom Blenkinsop, a campaign manager with steel union Community, chosen |date=5 April 2010 |access-date=5 April 2010 |work=The Northern Echo |location= Darlington |first=Graeme |last=Hetherington}}

In the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Syed endorsed Jeremy Hunt.{{cite news |url= https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/jeremy-hunt-battles-michael-gove-to-be-top-challenger-to-boris-johnson-1415660 |title=Jeremy Hunt battles Michael Gove to be top challenger to Boris Johnson |first=Paris |last=Gourtsoyannis |newspaper=The Scotsman |location= Edinburgh |date=10 June 2019}}

Personal life

Syed is married to Kathy Weeks. They have a son and a daughter.{{cite web|url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kathy-weeks-b0510267|title=Kathy Weeks – Founder – Matthew Syed Consulting|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=24 September 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.matthewsyed.co.uk/about-me/|title=About Mathew Syed|work=Mathew Syed's website|access-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401192332/https://www.matthewsyed.co.uk/about-me/|archive-date=1 April 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/when-teddy-bit-evie-we-turned-to-tough-love-0z55zwmjf|title=When Teddy bit Evie, we turned to tough love|date=3 October 2016|first=Matthew|last=Syed|work=The Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/kids-must-be-willing-to-fail-if-they-want-to-succeed-bsps69wkw|title=Kids must be willing to fail if they want to succeed|first=Matthew|last=Syed|date=24 March 2018|newspaper=The Times}}

Books

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}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.matthewsyed.co.uk/}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100217040632/http://www.outpost81.com/sears/Sears_Challenge_Matthew_Syed_vs_Erick_Lindh_loud.htm Erik Lindh vs. Mattew Syed – Sear's International Challenge – Video]
stephen Jones, [https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/matthew-syed-cant-box-tick-real-diversity/food-for-thought/article/1674612 "Matthew Syed: You can't box-tick your way to real diversity"], Management Today, 2 March 2020.

Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford

Category:BBC Radio 5 Live presenters

Category:British sportsperson-politicians

Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England

Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in table tennis

Category:English male journalists

Category:English male table tennis players

Category:English non-fiction writers

Category:English people of Pakistani descent

Category:English people of Welsh descent