"Sorry that I have won both the awards tonight!" he joked.

"This award does not belong to me; it belongs to all the table tennis people across the globe.

"Let's all keep on playing this sport we love and I look forward to more success in the future."

Last year saw Li add a World Championship singles and doubles title to the Olympic gold she won at London 2012.

She is one of just three female players to win gold in the ITTF World Cup, ITTF World Championships and the Olympic Games and finished the year third in the world rankings.

"Thank you everyone for their support, especially Chinese table tennis," said Li.

"I am very honoured to win this prestigious award, especially as it is the first one in history.

"I will try my best in the future to bring more success."

Li Xiaoxia was awarded the 2013 ITTF Female Table Tennis Star award following her singles and doubles victories in last year's World Championships ©ITTF

The Male and Female Table Tennis Stars awards were nominated by the ITTF Athletes' Commission with the winners selected by the ITTF Star Awards Selection Commission which comprised of a representative from the ITTF Athlete's Commission, ITTF Para Division and ITTF President Adham Sharara.

China's Ma Lin capped off a memorable 2013 by becoming the 2013 Para Male Table Tennis Star.

Lin claimed singles gold in the Asian Championships before helping his team to gold at the Korean Open.

Sweden's Anna-Carin Ahlquist took the female Para table tennis award having won singles gold at the European Championships before taking both singles and team gold in Argentina, Slovenia, Germany, and Italy.

Joining Zhang as a firm fan favourite was China's world number one Liu Shiwen, who picked up the Fan's Female Table Tennis Star award.

A solid season for the Chinese athlete saw her claim gold at the Women's World Cup cementing her place atop the world rankings table.

In addition to awarding the worlds best players for their achievements in 2013, the awards also raised $246,000 (£150,000/€180,000) for ITTF's corporate social responsibility program, Dream Building, which will be used for Para Table Tennis, Development and Junior Table Tennis initiatives.

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