Many fans think that Fan Zhendong is really born at the wrong time, because he met Ma Long in the middle and early stages of his career, and now the competitor he meets in the middle and late stages is Wang Chuqin. Needless to say, since winning the singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships in 2015, Ma Long has won the singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships for three consecutive years. If Ma Long continues to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in 2021, it is not certain who will win the championship in the end.
Because after the end of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the national table tennis coaching staff did not let Ma Long participate in the World Table Tennis Championships that year. In the end, Fan Zhendong successfully won the men's singles championship and won the first World Table Tennis Championships singles championship in his career. You must know that Fan Zhendong has been participating in the World Table Tennis Championships since 2013, and only won the World Table Tennis Championships singles championship for the first time eight years later, and Ma Long won the World Table Tennis Championships in 2017 and 2019.
Until the 2023 Asian Championships, Ma Long met Fan Zhendong in the final, and no one expected Ma Long to win the championship again. Ma Long's winning rate against Fan Zhendong in the tournament is very high, and in the men's singles final of the 2021 Olympic Games, Ma Long also narrowly defeated Fan Zhendong in the deciding game, and last year's Asian Championships replicated this process again.
Fans feel that Fan Zhendong's ball path still lacks changes compared with Ma Long, and Fan Zhendong is also trying to carry out technical transformation, but how easy is it to achieve the effect? Fan Zhendong, who originally had a sharp style of play, has now indeed added some flexible technical transformation factors. In the face of players with average strength, Fan Zhendong's technical transformation does have a certain effect.
But against a tactical player like Ma Long, in fact, the best way to limit it is to be tough. It will be better to play the tactics with a simpler one. In his own service round, he is to score as many points as possible, in fact, Fan Zhendong has played against Ma Long many times in his career, and the change in competition tactics is not only that there is a gap between Fan Zhendong and Ma Long, but also that of other national table tennis players and Ma Long.
Ma Long is also a tactical master player in the entire world table tennis arena, and he directly swept his opponent in the championship against Moregaard. Many fans have said that Malone is a hexagonal warrior before, and there is no doubt about this. It should be said that each player has his own advantages in competition and playing style, and Ma Long's advantage cannot be replaced by other players.
In the men's singles final of the Tokyo Olympics, Ma Long once fell behind and finally overtook Fan Zhendong in the deciding game. It can only be said that the strength of the two sides in that game was closer, and Ma Long's performance in the Olympic men's singles final was indeed more in place. It is also a blessing for Fan Zhendong to have a competitor like Ma Long, because he can learn a lot from Ma Long's side.
Because Ma Long is not only admired by one player, but by many players. Ma Long's self-discipline is the goal of many young players to learn, and many young players also know that if they play to Ma Long's age, it will be difficult to maintain such a high level of competitiveness. Obviously, the vast majority of young players have a hard time doing it, because there is only one Ma Long in table tennis.
Fan Zhendong should show his advantages in playing style to limit his opponents, but the better the players, the closer the strength. The closer the strength of the players are competing for some details, as a Grand Slam player Ma Long actually wins on the details, sometimes this requires the accumulation of experience and the precipitation of time.
Malone did not achieve a Grand Slam until he was 27 years old, and he also suffered a setback in the middle and early stages of Malone's career. Because Ma Long faced Wang Hao throughout his career, it was difficult to find a victory in the World Table Tennis Championships. The glory period of Ma Long's career came very late, but it is precisely because of the many detours he took before that Ma Long's career is long enough.
Today's Fan Zhendong is also experiencing a downturn, but getting rid of this downturn, he will also break out in the second spring of his career like Ma Long. Compared with Ma Long, Wang Chuqin is already the one who challenges Fan Zhendong the most among the post-00 players. However, Wang Chuqin's achievements against Fan Zhendong in the first two years were not outstanding, but the advantage against Fan Zhendong in the last year has increased.
The previous Wang Chuqin also had a lack of ability to resist pressure in key events, and was defeated by Japanese table tennis player Yutai Tanaka at the Asian Championships last year. Wang Chuqin has also been in an unstable state, but once Wang Chuqin maintains his offensive focus, his overall strength is still very online. Compared with Ma Long, Wang Chuqin is not Fan Zhendong's strongest competitor.
It's just that Wang Chuqin is younger than Fan Zhendong, and he has an age advantage in terms of playing style and impact. Judging from the match between the Busan team World Table Tennis Championships and the South Korean men's team at this year's Busan Team World Table Tennis Championships, Fan Zhendong still showed a strong ability to resist pressure at critical moments. This is Fan Zhendong's advantage in the competition, and it is also where Wang Chuqin should learn.
It's not that Wang Chuqin defeated Fan Zhendong once, and then Fan Zhendong couldn't defeat Wang Chuqin. Competitive sports are very suspenseful, and the results of the last meeting between the two sides cannot be fully replicated to the next time. Fan Zhendong's hard power is still there, and the competition between the main forces of national table tennis is some soft power.
Which player has stronger adaptability in the game, which player has better tactical use, and which player has recently practiced new serve and attack tactics will all become important factors affecting the direction of the game. Every national table tennis player will encounter a career rival, including Zhang Yining, as a Grand Slam player, who also met a career rival like Jiang Huajun.
So it's not that Fan Zhendong was born at the wrong time, even if there is no Ma Long and Wang Chuqin, he will meet other powerful competitors in his career. There is no player who will not meet competitors, and only with competitors can they appear to be better.