On the evening of August 4, 2024, Beijing time, the men's singles final of table tennis at the Paris Olympics will be broadcast live on CCTV5. China's Fan Zhendong will face Sweden's dark horse Moregaard for the final gold medal in table tennis at this Olympic Games. This match is not only about the gold medal, but also a key battle for Fan Zhendong to hit the personal Grand Slam.
At the end of the mixed doubles and women's singles competitions, the national table tennis has won two golds and one silver in this Olympic Games. Sun Yingsha/Wang Chuqin won the mixed doubles event, while Chen Meng successfully defended women's singles champion Sun Yingsha won the silver medal. Such a result undoubtedly laid a good foundation and atmosphere for tonight's men's singles final.
Fan Zhendong, as the only seedling in the men's singles event of this Olympic Games, shoulders the heavy responsibility of achieving five consecutive Olympic men's singles championships for national table tennis. He narrowly defeated Japan's Tomokazu Haramoto in the semifinals, showing tenacity and excellent mental quality. Qin Zhijian, head coach of the national table tennis team, said in an interview after the match: "Fan Zhendong's performance at key moments is gratifying, and this experience will play a positive role in his final tonight. "
Although his opponent Moregard is only ranked 26th in the world, he has performed well at this Olympics and can be regarded as a dark horse. He upset the world No. 1 Wang Chuqin of China in the 1/32 finals, and then went all the way to the final.
Fan Zhendong can win tonight's tournament and he will complete his Grand Slam achievement. Grand Slam refers to the fact that winning the World Championships singles title, the World Cup singles title, and the Olympic singles title in a career is considered the highest honor for a table tennis player. Among the active members of the Chinese table tennis team, only Ma Long has completed this feat.
For Fan Zhendong, this game is not only about personal honor, but also carries the expectations of the Chinese people. Liu Guoliang, chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, stressed at the pre-match mobilization meeting: "We have to maintain a normal heart, Fan Zhendong only needs to play his normal level to win." "
The men's singles final will also come to an end with the Olympic table tennis events. Over the next six days, the team competition will be in focus. Ma Long and Wang Manyu will join the national table tennis lineup to contribute to the Chinese team's impact on the team gold medal. CCTV5 will also continue to broadcast the team event live, so that the audience will not miss any wonderful moments.
Tonight's men's singles final is undoubtedly the final culmination of the table tennis event at this Olympic Games. Fan Zhendong has proved the strength of Chinese table tennis with his performance. Let's lock CCTV5 and witness this peak duel together to cheer for Chinese table tennis.