On August 4, in the world-renowned Olympic table tennis men's singles final, when teammate Wang Chuqin was eliminated, leaving only himself to defend the honor of men's singles, Fan Zhendong withstood huge pressure, lost one game first, and finally defeated Sweden's Moregard 4-1 after five rounds of fierce battles, winning the Olympic men's singles championship for the first time in his career. Moregard was the player who eliminated Wang Chuqin in the second round, and Fan Zhendong's victory was also considered revenge for his teammates. While winning the Olympic men's singles championship for the first time, it also achieved the fifth consecutive championship of Chinese table tennis men's singles, and also made Fan Zhendong the eleventh Grand Slam player in the history of table tennis.
The three major world table tennis events refer to the three major table tennis sports events of the World Table Tennis Championships, the Table Tennis World Cup and the Olympic Table Tennis Competition. Among them, the World Table Tennis Championships are held every two years, and the individual and team competitions are not held in the same year. The World Cup is held annually in both men's and women's singles and teams. The Olympics are held every four years. Athletes who have won singles titles in all three tournaments are known as "Grand Slam players". Although the "Grand Slam" honor is not recognized by the ITTF, it is a great honor for table tennis players, and winning the Grand Slam means that the athlete's achievements in table tennis have reached the pinnacle.
From participating in the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time in 2013, to winning the World Cup for the first time in 2016, to winning the World Table Tennis Championships in 2021, and then to winning the gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games, Fan Zhendong spent 8 years to collect the Olympic Games, World Table Tennis Championships and World Cup singles championships, becoming the 11th "Grand Slam" player (the top ten are: Waldner, Deng Yaping, Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, Zhang Jike, Li Xiaoxia, Ding Ning, Ma Long), and is also the 10th athlete in the history of national table tennis to achieve this achievement. At the same time, after Deng Yaping and Ma Long, he became the third "super slam" player in national table tennis to set the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup Asian Games, Asian Championships, Asian Cup ITTF Tour Finals, National Games, and National Championships singles championships.
As the 11th Grand Slam player in the history of table tennis, Fan Zhendong has not been easy along the way, let's take stock of his previous singles championship history:
At the 2013 Paris World Table Tennis Championships, Fan Zhendong defeated the qualifiers in the first round, narrowly defeated Portugal's Monteiro 4-3 in the second round, and in the third round, he ushered in a derby match with Zhang Jike, and finally lost 0-4, ending his first World Table Tennis Championships journey.
In the 2015 Suzhou World Table Tennis Championships, he ushered in his second World Table Tennis Championships individual competition, defeated Bol in the 1/4 finals, lost to Ma Long 1-4 in the semifinals, missed the finals, and finally won a bronze medal.
In the 2015 World Cup in Halmstad, Sweden, 18-year-old Fan Zhendong participated in the World Cup for the first time and reached the final, facing off against Ma Long, and finally Fan Zhendong lost 0:4.
At the 2016 World Cup in Saarbrücken, Germany, world No. 2 Fan Zhendong and world No. 3 teammate Xu Xin met in the men's singles final, and finally Fan Zhendong won 4:1 to win the World Cup men's singles championship for the first time.
In May 2016, Fan Zhendong became a substitute player for the Chinese table tennis team at the Rio Olympics. Liu Guoliang, the head coach of the national table tennis, said: "Fan Zhendong is an important member of the national table tennis echelon construction, once Ma Long and Zhang Jike have an accident in the singles, his P card will be activated at any time. Unfortunately, Fan Zhendong did not appear at the Rio Olympics.
At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf, he participated in the men's doubles final of the individual World Table Tennis Championships, partnered with Xu Xin, and defeated the Japan pair Masadashi Morizono/Yuya Oshima with an overall score of 4-1 to win his first World Table Tennis Championships individual championship. In the subsequent men's singles final, he played seven games with Ma Long, and finally lost 3-4 and missed the championship.
At the 2018 Paris Men's Table Tennis World Cup, Fan Zhendong won the World Cup men's singles championship for the second time against Germany's Boll in the final against Germany's star Boll 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8).
In April 2019, at the World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest, he participated in the 1/8 finals of the men's singles event and lost to teammate Liang Jingkun 2-4 and missed the top 8.
In the 2019 Chengdu Men's Table Tennis World Cup, Fan Zhendong's opponent in the final was Japan's rising star Tomokazu Zhangmoto, who won 4:2 after falling behind 0:1 and 1:2 twice, and won the World Cup men's singles championship for the third time.
In the 2020 Weihai Men's Table Tennis World Cup, Fan Zhendong fought hard with Ma Long in the final and narrowly won 4:3 in 7 games, winning the championship for the fourth time, becoming the first player in the table tennis world to achieve three consecutive men's singles World Cup championships.
On May 16, 2021, he was selected into the list of participants of the Chinese table tennis team for the Tokyo Olympics, participated in the men's singles and men's team competitions, and participated in the Olympic Games as an official member for the first time. In the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics, the 1/8 final eliminated Portugal's Freitas 4-1. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Korea's Jung Young-sik 4-0. In the semifinals, he narrowly defeated Chinese Taipei's Lin Yunru 4-3. In the final, he lost 2-4 to teammate Ma Long and won the runner-up.
At the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, in the men's singles event, he defeated teammate Liang Jingkun 4-1 in the semifinals, and defeated Sweden's Moregard 4-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8) in the final, and was crowned the men's singles champion of the World Championships for the first time in his career.
At the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, in the men's singles event, he defeated teammate Liang Jingkun 4-2 in the semifinals and teammate Wang Chuqin 4-2 in the final, successfully defending the men's singles championship of the World Championships.
Paris 2024, Men's Singles, Round of 64 swept Yaroslav 4-0. Zamdenko defeated Hong Kong's Wong Chun-ting 4-1 in the round of 32, defeated United States' Kanak · Jeha 4-0 in the round of 16, defeated Tomokazu Zhang 4-3 in the quarterfinals, swept Felix · Lebrun 4-0 in the semifinals, and defeated Sweden's Moregard 4-1 in the final to win the Olympic men's singles title.
He has waited too long for this moment from not participating as a substitute at the Rio '16 Olympics, to being the singles runner-up at the Tokyo Olympics 20, and now to the singles champion at the Paris Olympics, finally completing the Grand Slam feat. Born in 1997, does 28-year-old Fan Zhendong usher in his own era? Chinese men's table tennis has representative players in every era, from Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, to "two kings and one horse" (Wang Liqin, Wang Hao, Ma Lin), and then to the "three musketeers" (Zhang Jike, Ma Long, Xu Xin), Ma Long is likely to retire at the end of the Paris Olympics, with Fan Zhendong winning the championship, the new generation of players need to carry the banner of Chinese table tennis, and younger players need to grow up and be full of wings to meet their era. You can always choose: believe in men's table tennis! Believe in Chinese table tennis!