Fan Zhendong

Fan Zhendong
Fan Zhendong on ITTF World Tour 2017 German Open
Personal information
Native name	樊振东
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1997-01-22) 22 January 1997 (age 24) Guangzhou, Guangdong, China[1]
Playing style	Right-handed, Shakehand grip
Equipment(s)	Stiga Infinity VPS with DHS Hurricane 3 National (Blue Sponge) (FH, Black), Butterfly Dignics 05 (BH, Red)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (April 2018)[2]
Current ranking	No. 1 (July 2021)[2]
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[3]
Weight	77 kg (170 lb)[3]
show Medal record Men's Table Tennis Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 1 0 World Championships 4 2 2 World Cup 7 1 0 Total 12 4 2 Representing  People's Republic of China Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Team 2020 Tokyo Singles World Championships 2019 Budapest Mixed doubles 2018 Halmstad Team 2017 Düsseldorf Doubles 2017 Düsseldorf Singles 2016 Kuala Lumpur Team 2015 Suzhou Doubles 2015 Suzhou Singles 2014 Tokyo Team World Cup 2020 Weihai 2019 Tokyo Team 2019 Chengdu 2018 London Team 2018 Paris Singles 2018 London Team 2016 Saarbrücken Singles 2015 Dubai Team 2015 Halmstad Singles Asian Cup 2018 Yokohama Singles 2019 Yokohama Singles 2014 Wuhan Singles 2015 Jaipur Singles 2017 Ahmedabad Singles Asian Championships 2013 Busan Team 2015 Pattaya Team 2017 Wuxi Team 2015 Pattaya Singles 2017 Wuxi Singles 2015 Pattaya Doubles 2017 Wuxi Doubles 2015 Pattaya Mixed doubles 2013 Busan Mixed doubles Asian Games 2014 Incheon Team 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Singles 2014 Incheon Singles 2014 Incheon Doubles East Asian Games 2013 Tianjin Singles 2013 Tianjin Team 2013 Tianjin Doubles Youth Olympic Games 2014 Nanjing Singles 2014 Nanjing Mixed team World Junior Championships 2012 Hyderabad Singles 2012 Hyderabad Mixed doubles 2012 Hyderabad Team 2012 Hyderabad Doubles Asian Youth Games 2013 Nanjing Singles Asian Junior Championships 2012 Jiangyin Singles 2012 Jiangyin Doubles 2012 Jiangyin Team

Fan Zhendong (Chinese: 樊振东; pinyin: Fán Zhèndōng; born 22 January 1997^[4]) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).^[2] After joining the Chinese National Table Tennis Team in 2012 as the youngest member of the team, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion.^[5][6] He achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015.^[7]

Fan's attacking style of play involves explosive footwork and powerful forehand loops.^[8] His thick-set build has led fans and commentators to affectionately refer to him as "Little Fatty" (Chinese: 小胖; pinyin: Xiǎo Pàng).^[1] His continuous rise to becoming one of the top table tennis players in the world has garnered him a large fanbase worldwide, with over half a million followers on Chinese social media site Weibo. In 2016, he won the ITTF Star Point Award, and he was nominated for the Best Male Star Award every year between 2013 and 2016.^[9]

Playing style and equipment[]

Fan is a Stiga sponsored athlete. However, he uses a Butterfly Viscaria blade but changed to a Stiga Infinity VPS V handle because of sponsoring Stiga. He uses a black DHS Hurricane 3 neo National Blue Sponge for forehand and a Red Tenergy 05 for backhand. During the 2019 world table tennis championships, he changed to the new Butterfly Dignics 05 on his backhand that had just been released on 1 April 2019.^[10]

A right-handed shakehand-grip player, Fan plays an attacking style of table tennis using his explosive footwork and thunderous forehand loops to finish off his opponents. Emerging as a 16-year-old wonder kid, Fan's playing style is often compared to his senior compatriot Ma Long. In addition to being trained by national team coaches, he has been specially trained by both Wang Hao and Ma Lin. His encounters against senior players in the Chinese national team have drawn much speculation and anticipation. His fearlessness and technique allow him to challenge highly rated, experienced players, sometimes even beating top players in thrilling style.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

2021[]

In May, Fan played in the Chinese Olympic Scrimmages. He won all his group matches 3–0 and defeated 16-year-old break-out star Lin Shidong, who defeated Xu Xin in the group stage,^[11] 4–2 in the quarter-finals.^[12] Because of Lin's similarity to Fan, he received the nickname "Little Little Fatty" by Chinese netizens. Fan defeated Wang Chuqin in the semi-finals, but lost to the dark horse champion Zhou Qihao in the finals.^[13] Fan was selected alongside Ma Long to represent China in the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.^[14] Fan won the second leg of the Chinese Olympic Scrimmage, coming back from down 8–4 and 3–1 in games to defeat Xu Xin in the finals.^[15] Fan noted that his selection onto the Olympic team helped him focus better on his training and play better in the second leg compared to the first leg.^[16] Zhou again upset Fan in a closed-door scrimmage in June.^[17]

Although Ma Long called Fan the favorite before their Olympic finals match-up, Ma ended up upsetting Fan 4-2 in the Olympic finals, giving Ma the gold medal and Fan the silver. Afterwards, Fan called Ma the greatest player of our generation.^[18]

Playing Style[]

In 2021, Timo Boll stated that he felt that he and Fan played a similar style except that Fan was better. Boll did not elaborate further.^[19]

Fan raises his elbow higher on his strokes compared to some of his contemporaries such as Ma Long, resulting in a stronger backhand-forehand transition game at the expense of a more vulnerable middle.^[20]

Achievements[]

  *   ITTF World Tour Grand Finals

See also[]

• List of Youth Olympic Games gold medalists who won Olympic gold medals

References[]

External links[]

• Fan Zhendong at the International Table Tennis Federation