At 10 a.m. on May 14, Beijing time, the Chinese Table Tennis Association officially announced the list of participants of the Chinese table tennis team for the Paris Olympic Games, specifically:
Men's singles: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong
Men's team: Wang Chuqin, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long
Men's P card: Liang Jingkun
Women's singles: Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng
Women's team: Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu
Women's P card: Wang Yidi
Mixed doubles: Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha
As soon as this announcement came out, it marked the completion of the first 3/4 of the preparation work of the national table tennis Paris cycle, that is, the most important "Olympic representative selection". At present, the countdown to the Paris Olympics is less than 80 days, and the national table tennis team will make the final adjustment sprint.
Fan Zhendong, who was selected for the men's singles and automatically qualified for the team competition, posted a Weibo late at night on May 14, in which he reposted the IOC's Weibo confirming that the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of participants for the Paris Olympics, with the text: Last dance. It can be found that Fan Zhendong is not only vowing to fight the phoenix dance for nine days at the Paris Olympics, but also saying goodbye to the Olympic Games, just like at the end of the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan, Ma Long announced on the spot that "this is my last World Table Tennis Championships".
In fact, in the entire Paris cycle, Fan Zhendong is definitely the main force that has encountered the most ups and downs in the national table tennis team and the most unsmooth journey, without one, he was hit by at least 10 "bad things", and the result of being able to stand up is already a reflection of his super strength. What kind of decline has Fan Zhendong suffered? Let's recap it together.
1. No crown for more than 300 days
Fan Zhendong, as the No. 1 main force of national table tennis at the beginning of the Paris cycle, was originally to succeed Ma Long as the new officially appointed leader (captain) before the Paris Olympics, but during this week, Fan Zhendong's state continued to be sluggish, since the Durban World Table Tennis Championships won the championship, more than 300 days did not win the singles championship of the competition, and the world's No. 1 ranking was also taken away by Wang Chuqin. After a long period of absence of a crown, Fan Zhendong's pressure increased dramatically, and all aspects were strongly disturbed, which was his biggest decline.
2. 7 losses in a single cycle
In the Paris cycle, an important indicator of the national table tennis inspection and selection of Olympic representatives is "foreign performance", and Fan Zhendong in this cycle, the foreign war performance can not be said to be very good, he lost a total of 7 foreign battles, in the face of all major competition foreign associations, almost all have a losing history.
2022 Chengdu Team World Table Tennis Championships 2-3 Tomokazu Zhangmoto
WTT World Cup 2022 Final 2-3 Ocharov
WTT Goa Stars Challenge 2023 2-3 Cho Dae-sung
2023 WTT Macau Championship 2-3A Lebrun
2023 Chengdu Mixed Team World Cup 1-2 Tomokazu Zhangmoto
2024 WTT Incheon Championship 2-4 Hugo
2024 WTT Saudi Grand Slam 3-4 Francesca
3. Singapore Grand Slam to watch the moldy concert
The Singapore Grand Slam in March 2024 would have been a great opportunity for Fan Zhendong to consolidate his position in the team. Because in the previous World Table Tennis Championships in Busan, Wang Chuqin and Ma Long both overturned in key games, Fan Zhendong completed the rescue of the team with one arm, and made the first contribution to the national table tennis men's team to defend the title, and he also returned to his reputation. However, at the Singapore Grand Slam, Fan Zhendong was revealed to have watched the concert of American pop singer Mildew before the game. This hobby, combined with his subsequent upset loss, became a major point of criticism, and Fan Zhendong has been caught in the whirlpool of public opinion for a long time, and he still has not been able to get rid of the inertia of being blamed and criticized.
Fourth, he was stabbed in the back by someone around him
Fan Zhendong used his private time after training to watch the concert at the Singapore Grand Slam, but the private video he originally shared with those close to him was leaked and flew all over the Internet, which formed a big storm that intensified. Obviously, Fan Zhendong suffered a "backstab" from the people around him in this incident. Now is the era of new media, no one does not know the law and power of network communication, Fan Zhendong is his "own person", so he will share his private hobby video, but it was leaked, how can this be an accident? Being "backstabbed" by the people around him is undoubtedly a great sorrow, and it is not difficult to understand that Fan Zhendong has rarely seen "high spirits" since then.
5. Serious injury to the right hand of the Macau World Cup
In the Macau Singles World Cup, Fan Zhendong has the confidence to defend the championship, which is also seen as an opportunity for him to reorganize his mountains and rivers. However, he was exposed to a serious injury to his right hand. This injury has obviously been around for a long time, and perhaps Fan Zhendong's long-term downturn has an inseparable relationship with this injury. With serious injuries and having to fight bravely, Fan Zhendong's psychology and body are both strong and suffering, and it is not easy to persevere.
6. Watch the Champions League during the Saudi Grand Slam
During the Saudi Grand Slam, the photos of Fan Zhendong and his friend Bol staying up late to watch the Champions League were revealed, which became a new target for the outside world to criticize Fan Zhendong for "not doing his job", after all, this is too close and too similar to going to a moldy concert during the Singapore Grand Slam. In the Saudi Grand Slam, Fan Zhendong also had a poor record, he lost 3-4 to Francesca and stopped in the round of 16, resulting in an early loss in the second half of the national table tennis. As a result, "watching the Champions League" has also become Fan Zhendong's new decline.
7. The room of the Temple of Heaven Hotel was illegally broken into
On April 7, 2023, before the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, Fan Zhendong was illegally invaded by an illegitimate meal in his personal residence room at the Temple of Heaven Hotel, forming a criminal case. This is the most serious vicious incident in which Fan Zhendong was entangled and harassed by black fans, which directly led to Fan Zhendong's living environment in cyberspace becoming worse and worse.
8. ID card information was leaked before the Incheon Championship
In March 2024, when the national table tennis team went to the Incheon Championships, Fan Zhendong's ID card information was leaked to the Internet, and his family's phone number was found out, and he was subjected to a lot of malicious harassment. Fan Zhendong went to the field with a restless heart, but lost to Hugo in the foreign war. This is a symbolic embodiment of off-site bad factors interfering with the healthy order on the field, and Fan Zhendong is plagued by the "bad money driving out good money", which is really worrying and distressing.
9. Lost to the younger brother Lin Shidong
Losing foreign wars and losing teammates is actually common sense, and it is also an inevitable experience for all main forces. But Fan Zhendong's loss to 19-year-old teammate Lin Shidong at the Singapore Grand Slam became an "abnormal" episode. It stands to reason that with Lin Shidong's growth speed and momentum, he should not pose a major threat to Fan Zhendong at this moment in any case. But in fact, Fan Zhendong and Lin Shidong will fight 3 times in 2024, and Fan Zhendong is indeed at a disadvantage overall. This, of course, will trigger a big wave of "Fan Zhendong's old man". And Fan Zhendong's loss to Lin Gaoyuan in the Macau World Cup did not have such a public opinion orientation. It's not that you can't lose, it's important to lose to someone.
十、Last dance
Fan Zhendong's latest release of Last Dance naturally brings two aspects of perception. Some people think it's self-encouragement, and naturally some think it's self-abandonment. In short, this is a new point of controversy, Fan Zhendong failed to control his impulse to speak when the dust of the Olympic trials settled, and put himself in an ecology with amplitude and fluctuations, which will have some impact on his final preparations.