The Paris Olympics is approaching step by step, and the list of participants of the Chinese table tennis team has been released, and national table tennis players Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, and Wang Manyu have qualified. Late at night on the day when the Table Tennis Association announced the list (May 14), the national table tennis star Fan Zhendong made comments while forwarding relevant content on the Internet, which contained two English words:
“Last dance.”
Literally, this is the "Last Dance", and many fans can't help but wonder: Will the Paris Olympics be the last battle of Fan Zhendong's career? Is the 27-year-old going into the countdown to retirement?
Fan Zhendong, born in 1997, is the "veteran of the flower season" of national table tennis, and reached the men's singles final of the National Games as early as 2013, and then quickly became one of the five main lineups of the men's team and continues to this day.
Looking back on Fan Zhendong's career, he was full of upward momentum in the early stage, but he met Ma Long, the "champion maniac" who has never been seen before or after in the table tennis world, and was repeatedly suppressed by the other party, losing the Olympic Games, World Table Tennis Championships, World Cup, and National Games; After the arrival of the Paris Olympic cycle, Fan Zhendong won two consecutive men's singles championships at the World Table Tennis Championships, but his age is also increasing, and his results are gradually fluctuating.
27 years old was originally the age of a table tennis player with a perfect combination of technology and psychology, but the competition in today's table tennis world is very fierce, many young players have super strength at a very young age, and Ma Long, who is already 35 years old, still has a world-class level, which makes it even more difficult for Fan Zhendong to move forward in the middle.
In the past year or so, Fan Zhendong has suffered defeats in internal and external wars, lost a lot of goals, and was broken through by Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong, Lin Gaoyuan, Ma Long, Hugo, Francesca, Alex, Li Shangzhu, Zhao Dacheng, Zhang Benzhihe, which is indeed worrying.
Previously, Fan Zhendong mentioned in an interview that he may retire with Ma Long - although the two are nearly 9 years apart, with Fan Zhendong's playing style and current state, his prediction may not come true.
For athletes, performance is the best booster, if Fan Zhendong can fight to the end in the men's singles field in France and win the gold medal, it is very likely to continue to write brilliant; If he loses the title, then this Olympics may really be the "last dance" of his career: let's sit back and wait for the battle of Paris!