The national table tennis men's singles is in crisis, Fan Zhendong is fighting alone, who can break through?
In the just-concluded Saudi Arabia Grand Slam Table Tennis Tournament Men's Singles Round of 16 Battle, only Fan Zhendong was left among the national table tennis players to fight alone. Other teammates such as Ma Long, Lin Gaoyuan and other veterans have stopped in the top 32, while Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong advanced to the top 16, but their strength is slightly inferior, and it is difficult to qualify. Fan Zhendong is alone in the national table tennis men's singles hopes, and he will face German powerhouse Francesca in the round of 16, which is undoubtedly a tough test.
Fan Zhendong, a "chubby" player born in Guangzhou in 1997, has shown outstanding talent in table tennis since he was a child. He began to learn table tennis at the age of 8 at the Children's Palace in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, and was soon selected for the Guangzhou team with his outstanding talent and diligence. In 2008, Fan Zhendong joined the Bayi table tennis team to start his career.
Although he is not tall, Fan Zhendong is good at fierce horizontal board attacks, and his playing style is tough and powerful, and he has won many international championships in his youth. In 2013, 16-year-old Fan Zhendong represented the national team in the World Table Tennis Championships and reached the top 32 of men's singles in one fell swoop. In the same year, he defeated Zhang Jike and Xu Xin in the men's singles final of the National Games, only defeated Ma Long 3:4 to win the runner-up, and won the men's doubles championship with Zhou Yu.
In 2014, Fan Zhendong participated in the Tokyo World Table Tennis Championships with the team, helping the Chinese team win the men's team championship and win the first world championship in his career. In the following years, he frequently won many tournaments such as the World Tour and the Asian Championships, and gradually grew into the main force of the national table tennis men's singles. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Fan Zhendong played with the team as a reserve and won valuable points for the national team.
Entering the 2020s, Fan Zhendong is at the peak of his career. He topped the world rankings for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, and in 2022, he won the men's singles championship of the World Table Tennis Championships, the World Cup and the Asian Games, becoming a new generation of leaders in the Chinese table tennis world after Zhang Jike and Ma Long.
However, in recent years, Fan Zhendong's form has declined, and he has repeatedly suffered upsets in major competitions. In this year's Doha and Macau World Cups, he withdrew midway due to injury problems. Some experts pointed out that Fan Zhendong's technical style of play is too simple, and his advantages are no longer so obvious at a time when the level of foreign aid in each team is constantly improving.
In this Saudi Arabia Grand Slam, Fan Zhendong will go all the way to the round of 16, but the next opponent will be the German "killer" Thomas Francesca. The German powerhouse, who has defeated Ma Long three times, has a tricky and difficult style of play, which will undoubtedly be a big test for Fan Zhendong. If Fan Zhendong can break through the encirclement, it will rekindle hope for the national table tennis men's singles; On the contrary, the national table tennis men's singles will fall into an unprecedented crisis.
In addition to Fan Zhendong, the top 16 opponents of the other two national table tennis men's singles generals, Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong, are by no means idle.
Wang Chuqin will face Japan's Maharu Yoshimura in the round of 16. Yoshimura, born in 1994, defeated Fan Zhendong in the 2019 World Cup to win the championship, and his strength is not trivial. His style of play is tricky and varied, and he is especially adept at quick small whirlwind attacks, which are often elusive opponents.
Wang Chuqin has been in excellent form in recent years, and has performed well in the 2022 World Table Tennis Championships and the Doha World Cup, and his strength is on par with Yoshimura. If Wang Chuqin can play at his top level and break through Yoshimura's high-quality defense, I believe he will be able to advance to the quarterfinals.
On the other side, Lin Shidong's opponent in the round of 16 is Iranian player Alamiyan. The Iranian has a fierce style of play and is adept at long-range slalom power, having defeated Fan Zhendong to win the 2019 Asian Championships. Lin Shidong has been the mainstay of the national table tennis men's singles in recent years, with a steady style of play and excellent defensive counterattacks.
Compared with the huge pressure faced by Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin and Lin Shidong's situation may be slightly better. Even if they are eliminated in the round of 16, it will not have much impact on the overall strength of the national table tennis men's singles. The key lies in whether Fan Zhendong, the pillar, can break through and retain hope for the national table tennis men's singles.
In the final analysis, the current dilemma of the national table tennis men's singles stems from the impact of the painful period of alternating between the old and the new in recent years.
In the early 90s of the last century, the national table tennis men's singles once encountered an unprecedented crisis, when the main force Ma Lin, Qian Tianyi and others retired one after another, and the new generation of players such as Kong Linghui and Wang Liqin were not yet fully mature. It was not until 2000 that the "Three Kings" composed of Wang Tao, Wang Hao, Wang Xu and others pushed the national table tennis men's singles to the top again.
Entering the new century, Zhang Jike, Ma Long, Xu Xin and others emerged, and the national table tennis men's singles once again opened a golden era. In the 2010s, they dominated the world table tennis arena and won various major championships, making the national table tennis men's singles prestige.
But the good times did not last long, and this golden generation of "shaking the past and the present" gradually entered the retirement period. Zhang Jike and Xu Xin have retired, and Ma Long is also old, and his state is gradually declining. Although the new generation of players such as Fan Zhendong, Lin Gaoyuan, Liang Jingkun and others have grown up, they are not yet fully mature, and there is still a gap between their strength and the older generation.
It was in this painful period of alternating between the old and the new that the national table tennis men's singles had a short trough. However, from the perspective of historical laws, this is only temporary, and one day the new generation will completely take over and regain the glory of the national table tennis men's singles.
At present, Fan Zhendong will undoubtedly be the leader of the new generation of national table tennis men's singles. His performance this time will directly determine whether the national table tennis men's singles can keep the last hope in the alternation period between the old and the new. If Fan Zhendong can break through the encirclement and reach the quarterfinals or even before, then the national table tennis men's singles will have a chance to rise again; On the contrary, the national table tennis men's singles will fall into a long-term downturn, and the road to the replacement of the old and the new will be more long and difficult.