Fan Zhendong enjoyed the joy of victory. At the Paris Olympics, he defended the glory of the national table tennis men's singles. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
On the evening of August 4, in the men's singles final of the Paris Olympic table tennis, Fan Zhendong defeated Sweden's Moregard 4-1 and won the Olympic men's singles championship for the first time in his career. From winning the World Cup for the first time in 2016, to winning the World Table Tennis Championships in 2021, and then winning gold in the 2024 Olympics, Fan Zhendong, who became famous early, spent 8 years to collect the Olympic Games, World Table Tennis Championships and World Cup singles championships, and achieved the great cause of Grand Slam.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Fan Zhendong lost to Ma Long in the final and missed the championship, but this did not affect his state. Throughout the Paris Olympic cycle, Fan Zhendong's performance was very stable, winning two World Table Tennis Championships men's singles and men's team championships. At the Paris Olympics, after Wang Chuqin's early exit in the men's singles, Fan Zhendong withstood the pressure and defeated Tomokazu Zhangmoto, F. · Lebrun, Moregard and other famous players in a row, and finally stood on the top podium of the Olympic Games.
The way to the championship
Crazy Zhang Ben, crazy home field, "Brother Dong" carried to the end
In the Paris Olympics, Wang Chuqin teamed up with Fan Zhendong to compete, and the two were divided into the upper and lower halves, and the final was their only goal. However, an accident disrupted the deployment of the national table tennis team. After winning the mixed doubles championship, Wang Chuqin's racket was accidentally stepped on by a photojournalist, which had some impact on his mentality and technical performance. The next day against Sweden's Moregard, Wang Chuqin could only play with a spare board, and finally crashed out and missed the round of 16.
Wang Chuqin's exit means that the top half of the national table tennis team has been lost, and the plan to win has been shattered ahead of schedule. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the national table tennis team has won the men's singles championship and runner-up in table tennis for four consecutive Olympic Games, and this record was also ended in Paris. Wang Chuqin was eliminated prematurely, which doubled the pressure on Fan Zhendong, who was in the lower half of the district, and there could be no mistakes on the way to the promotion.
Under pressure, trials followed. In the round of 8, Fan Zhendong met Japan's Tomokazu Zhangmoto. In the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships team competition two years ago, Fan Zhendong was upset by Tomokazu Zhangmoto. After the first round of the mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics, Tomokazu Zhang's energy was spent on singles, and this match created enough difficulties for Fan Zhendong to make national table tennis fans very worried.
From Tokyo to Paris, Fan Zhendong has completed his transformation. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Fan won 4-3 in the tiebreaker, saying that Tomokazu Zhang had put a lot of pressure on him both technically and tactically, "He kept putting pressure on me and pushed me to a corner. In this case, I am still very determined in my heart, I don't think about winning or losing, I focus more on every ball. ”
In the semifinals, Fan Zhendong eliminated 17-year-old host player F. · Lebrun 4-0. Compared with the previous game against Zhang Benzhihe, Fan Zhendong was much more calm in this game, and the frenzied atmosphere on the scene also made him enjoy it very much. "I've been looking forward to this crazy atmosphere for a long time, and playing against the home players in this environment is also part of the scope of what we simulate in training." He said.
In the final against Moregard on the evening of August 4, Fan Zhendong, who had superior experience and strength, did not withstand too many tests and finally won the gold medal as he wished. In this regard, he became the sixth Olympic men's singles champion of the national table tennis team after Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Ma Lin, Zhang Jike, and Ma Long.
Wall of Honor
This cycle, he has become the core of the men's team and is heading for the third gold medal in the Olympic Games
Fan Zhendong is no stranger to Paris, and his first trip to the World Table Tennis Championships was here. At the 2013 Paris World Table Tennis Championships, Fan Zhendong defeated Wang Hao, Hao Shuai, Chen Xi and other famous players in the selection tournament and got a seat, and finally lost to the London Olympic champion Zhang Jike in the third round. Liu Guoliang asserted at the time that Fan Zhendong would break the competition pattern of Chinese men's table tennis in the future.
After that, Fan Zhendong gradually gained a firm foothold in the main layer of the national table tennis team. In the 2014 Tokyo World Table Tennis Championships team competition, Fan Zhendong was selected into the five-person squad, and the other four were Wang Hao, Zhang Jike, Ma Long and Xu Xin. That year, Fan Zhendong won his first World Championship title.
In the 2016 Germany World Cup, the fledgling Fan Zhendong defeated Xu Xin 4-1 in the final and won the first three-major singles title in his career. The 19-year-old Fan Zhendong set a goal at that time, "My next goal is to become the number one in the world, win the Olympic and World Table Tennis Championships, and become the best player in the world." ”
The first goal didn't wait long. In April 2018, Fan Zhendong ascended to the men's world No. 1 throne and became one of the main players of the national table tennis team in the Tokyo Olympic cycle.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Fan Zhendong defended the top half of the tournament, but lost 2-4 to Ma Long in the final, who became the first player in Olympic history to defend the men's singles table tennis title.
"[The runners-up] didn't live up to expectations, but they were commendable." Fan Zhendong said that the Tokyo Olympics is just a comma, not a full stop, and he will continue to work hard.
Wang Chuqin and other national table tennis teammates cheered for Fan Zhendong in the stands. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
The defeat at the Tokyo Olympics didn't last long, and Fan Zhendong quickly walked out. At the end of the same year, Fan Zhendong won his first World Table Tennis Championships singles title in Houston, when he defeated Sweden's Moregard in the final. Under Sweden's seven-time Olympic veteran Persson, Moregard has improved rapidly. At the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, he defeated Zhuang Zhiyuan, Francesca, Aruna, Bol and other celebrities one after another to enter the finals.
At the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, Fan Zhendong defeated Wang Chuqin 4-2 in the final to defend his title. Throughout the Paris Olympic cycle, Fan Zhendong won two World Table Tennis Championships men's singles and two men's team championships, becoming the anchor of Chinese men's table tennis. Although Wang Chuqin became the new world No. 1 in the first half of this year, Fan Zhendong is still the core of the national table tennis team.
When he came to Paris, Fan Zhendong faced greater difficulties than expected, but he carried them step by step. There are no easy competitions in the Olympics, and Fan Zhendong said that on such a stage, everyone will do their best, "I am like this, and I believe that all opponents are like this." Next, he will also partner Wang Chuqin and Ma Long in the men's team competition, and is expected to win his third Olympic gold medal.
Sun Haiguang, chief reporter of the Beijing News
Edited by Wang Chunqiu
Proofread by Yanjun Zhang