Fan Zhendong

Fan Zhendong
Personal information
Native name樊振东
Born (1997-01-22) 22 January 1997 (age 27)
Guangzhou, China
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, shakehand grip
Equipment(s)Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC with DHS Hurricane 3 National (Blue Sponge) (FH, Black), Butterfly Dignics 09c (BH, Red)
Highest ranking1 (April 2018)
Current ranking1 (20 February 2024)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 0
World Championships 9 2 2
World Cup / Cup Finals 9 2 0
Total 19 5 2
Men's table tennis
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Kuala Lumpur Team
Gold medal – first place 2017 Düsseldorf Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Halmstad Team
Gold medal – first place 2021 Houston Singles
Gold medal – first place 2022 Chengdu Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Durban Singles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Durban Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2024 Busan Team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Suzhou Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Düsseldorf Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Suzhou Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Budapest Mixed doubles
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2015 Dubai Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Saarbrücken Singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 London Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Paris Singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Chengdu Singles
Gold medal – first place 2020 Weihai Singles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Chengdu Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Halmstad Singles
WTT Cup Finals
Gold medal – first place 2021 Singapore Singles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Doha Singles
ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Gold medal – first place 2017 Astana Singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Zhengzhou Singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Zhengzhou Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2015 Lisbon Singles
Silver medal – second place 2016 Doha Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Dubai Singles
Military World Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan Team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan Singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan Mixed doubles
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Silver medal – second place 2014 Incheon Singles
Silver medal – second place 2014 Incheon Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Singles
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Busan Team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Pattaya Team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Pattaya Singles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Pattaya Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Pattaya Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Wuxi Team
Gold medal – first place 2017 Wuxi Singles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Wuxi Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Yogyakarta Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Pyeongchang Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Pyeongchang Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Yogyakarta Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2023 Pyeongchang Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Busan Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Yogyakarta Singles
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 2018 Yokohama Singles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Yokohama Singles
Silver medal – second place 2014 Wuhan Singles
Silver medal – second place 2015 Jaipur Singles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Ahmedabad Singles
East Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tianjin Singles
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tianjin Team
Silver medal – second place 2013 Tianjin Doubles
Youth Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Nanjing Singles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Nanjing Mixed team
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Hyderabad Singles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Hyderabad Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Hyderabad Team
Silver medal – second place 2012 Hyderabad Doubles
Asian Youth Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Nanjing Singles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Jiangyin Singles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Jiangyin Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Jiangyin Team

Fan Zhendong (Chinese: 樊振东; pinyin: Fán Zhèndōng; born 22 January 1997) is a Chinese professional table tennis player. 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. In April 2018, he achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015.

Fan's attacking style of play involves explosive footwork and powerful forehand loops. His thick-set build has led fans and commentators to affectionately refer to him as "Little Fatty" (Chinese: 小胖; pinyin: Xiǎo Pàng). 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.

Playing style and equipment

A right-handed shakehand-grip player, Fan plays an attacking style of table tennis using his explosive footwork and thunderous and well placed loops to finish off his opponents. Emerging as a 16-year-old wunderkind, 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]

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

Fan was a Stiga sponsored athlete. However, he changed to Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC, 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. Butterfly announced its signing of Fan Zhendong on 1 November 2021.

Career

2013

On 3 January 2013, the Chinese table tennis team went straight to Paris for the first time

Fan In the first stage of the competition, Fan who was only 16 years old, defeated many famous players and won an unexpected second place, thus becoming the biggest dark horse. From 15 to 19 January, in the second stage of the Chinese men's table tennis selection that went directly to Paris, Fan Zhendong finally achieved eighth place.

2014

On 22 March, in the men's singles final of the Asian Cup Table Tennis Tournament, he lost to Ma Long 3:4 and won the runner-up.

On 5 May, the 52nd Team World Table Tennis Championships kicked off the men's team finals in Tokyo, Japan. In the end, the Chinese team defeated its opponent with a big score of 3-1 and won the men's team championship of this World Table Tennis Championships. Fan Zhendong also became the world champion by virtue of this competition, and won the world championship at the age of 17 years and 103 days, surpassing Ma Long who won the world championship at the age of 17 years and 8 months, becoming the youngest world champion in the history of men's table tennis .

2015

In January, he won the Dubai World Cup men's team championship with Zhang Jike, Ma Long, Xu Xin and Fang Bo[5]. On 28 July 2015, in the 13th round of the Table Tennis Super League men's competition, 18-year-old Fan Zhendong of the Bayi Team won another victory this round. So far, his personal winning rate is still 100%. Winning 24 games, Fan Zhendong broke the table tennis Super League record of 23 games won by Ma Long in 2012.

2016

In June, Fan Zhendong won the men's singles championship at the ITTF Tour Japan Open. It is worth mentioning that in the quarter-finals with French player Simon Gauzy, Fan Zhendong hit a "magic save". This "magic save" not only made Fan Zhendong's popularity soar, but also won the title of "Best Score of the Year" at the ITTF awards ceremony at the end of the year.

2017

On 8 March, in the final round of the World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf held in Shenzhen, Fan Zhendong defeated Xu Xin 2-0, ranking first with 9 wins and 2 losses, and won the first Dusseldorf title. For tickets to the Seldorf World Table Tennis Championships, Malone, who also has 9 wins and 2 losses, can only be ranked second (because Fan Zhendong won the previous match against Malone). On 12 April, he won the men's team championship at the Asian Table Tennis Championships.

2018

In the early morning of 22 January 2018, the Hungarian Open, the first ITTF tournament in 2018, decided on four championships, all of which were won by China Table Tennis Federation. Fan Zhendong defeated another Chinese player Wang Chuqin 4-1 in the men's singles final and won the championship;

2019

On 3 March 2019, Fan Zhendong won all 11 matches in the 2019 Direct Tournament and received the qualification for singles participation in the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships in Budapest and a high cash reward of 1 million.

2020

On 15 November 2020, he defeated Ma Long 4-3 in the men's singles final of the 2020 Men's Table Tennis World Cup and won the championship for the fourth time. On 22 November, in the men's singles final of the 2020 ITTF Finals, Fan Zhendong lost to Ma Long 1-4 and won the runner-up.

2021

Fan Zhendong after winning the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, China News Service.

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, 4–2 in the quarter-finals. 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. Fan was selected alongside Ma Long to represent China in the men's singles event at the Tokyo Olympics. 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. 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. Zhou again upset Fan in a closed-door scrimmage in June.

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. Despite the loss, Fan Zhendong still showed class, acknowledging Ma Long's control of the match and recognizing his own missed opportunities. When asked about Ma Long's place in history, Fan acknowledged that he is the greatest in their generation.

In September, Fan saved six match points to beat Ma Long deuce in the fifth in the finals of the team event at the China National Games. Fan's win over Ma delivered Team Guangdong the gold medal. Fan Zhendong also won the gold in the men's singles event.

Achievements

Performance timeline

Key
W F SF QF #R

(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1
(S) singles event; (MD) men's doubles event; (XD) mixed doubles event; (T) team event

Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
World Championships S 3R SF F 4R W W
MD F W QF W
XD SF
T W W W W
Olympic Games S F
T W
WTT Cup Finals S W QF F
World Cup S F W W W W
T W W W W
Asian Games S F W F
MD F W
T W W W
Asian Championships S QF W W SF F
MD W W F W
XD SF W
T W W W W W
Asian Cup S F F F W W
Year-end ranking 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
5 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1

Finals

Men's singles

Result Year Tournament Opponent Score Ref
Winner 2013 East Asian Games China Yan An 3–0
Winner 2013 ITTF World Tour, Polish Open China Zhou Yu 4–2
Winner 2013 ITTF World Tour, German Open Germany Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4–1
Runner-up 2013 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open China Yan An 2–4
Winner 2014 ITTF World Tour, Kuwait Open China Yan An 4–1
Runner-up 2014 Asian Cup China Ma Long 3–4
Runner-up 2014 Asian Games China Xu Xin 2–4
Winner 2014 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open China Fang Bo 4–2
Runner-up 2015 Asian Cup China Xu Xin 3–4
Winner 2015 Asian Championships China Xu Xin 4–3
Runner-up 2015 World Cup China Ma Long 0–4
Winner 2015 ITTF World Tour, Polish Open Austria Stefan Fegerl 4–3
Winner 2015 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open China Xu Xin 4–2
Runner-up 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals China Ma Long 3–4
Runner-up 2016 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open China Ma Long 1–4
Runner-up 2016 ITTF Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament China Ma Long 1–4
Winner 2016 ITTF World Tour, Japan Open China Xu Xin 4–1
Winner 2016 ITTF World Tour, China Open China Ma Long 4–0
Winner 2016 World Cup China Xu Xin 4–1
Runner-up 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals China Ma Long 2–4
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open China Ma Long 2–4
Winner 2017 Asian Championships South Korea Jeong Sang-eun 3–0
Runner-up 2017 World Championships China Ma Long 3–4
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour, Japan Open China Ma Long 1–4
Runner-up 2017 Asian Cup China Lin Gaoyuan 2–4
Runner-up 2017 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open China Xu Xin 1–4
Winner 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Germany Dimitrij Ovtcharov 4–0
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open China Wang Chuqin 4–1
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open Brazil Hugo Calderano 4–0
Winner 2018 Asian Cup China Lin Gaoyuan 4–0
Runner-up 2018 ITTF World Tour, China Open China Ma Long 1–4
Winner 2018 Asian Games China Lin Gaoyuan 4–2
Winner 2018 World Cup Germany Timo Boll 4–1
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open China Xu Xin 4–1
Winner 2019 Asian Cup China Ma Long 4–2
Runner-up 2019 T2 Diamond Malaysia Chinese Taipei Lin Yun-ju 1–4
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open China Xu Xin 4–1
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open China Zhao Zihao 4–0
Winner 2019 World Cup Japan Tomokazu Harimoto 4–2
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals China Ma Long 4–1
Winner 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Qatar Open England Liam Pitchford 4–2
Winner 2020 World Cup China Ma Long 4–3
Runner-up 2020 ITTF Finals China Ma Long 1–4
Runner-up 2021 Olympic Games China Ma Long 2–4
Winner 2021 World Championships Sweden Truls Möregårdh 4–0
Winner 2021 WTT Cup Finals Japan Tomokazu Harimoto 4–1
Winner 2022 Singapore Smash China Ma Long 4–3
Runner-up 2022 WTT Champions Macao China Wang Chuqin 3–4
Winner 2023 Singapore Smash China Ma Long 4–1
Winner 2023 WTT Champions Xinxiang China Liang Jingkun 4–1
Winner 2023 World Championships China Wang Chuqin 4–2
Runner-up 2023 WTT Contender Zagreb China Lin Gaoyuan 3–4
Winner 2023 WTT Star Contender Ljubljana China Wang Chuqin 4–3
Runner-up 2023 Asian Championships China Ma Long 2–3
Runner-up 2023 Asian Games China Wang Chuqin 3–4
Runner-up 2024 WTT Finals China Wang Chuqin 0–4

Men's doubles

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponents Score Ref
Winner 2014 ITTF World Tour, China Open Ma Long China Xu Xin / Zhang Jike 3–2
Runner-up 2014 Asian Games Xu Xin China Ma Long / Zhang Jike 0–4
Runner-up 2014 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open Xu Xin China Wang Hao / Yan An 2–3
Runner-up 2015 World Championships Zhou Yu China Xu Xin / Zhang Jike 2–4
Runner-up 2015 ITTF World Tour, Japan Open Shang Kun China Ma Long / Xu Xin 2–3
Winner 2015 ITTF World Tour, China Open Xu Xin China Fang Bo / Zhu Linfeng 3–2
Winner 2015 Asian Championships Xu Xin South Korea Jeoung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su 4–0
Runner-up 2015 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open Zhang Jike China Fang Bo / Xu Xin 1–3
Winner 2016 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open Zhang Jike Japan Koki Niwa / Maharu Yoshimura 3–0
Runner-up 2016 ITTF World Tour, China Open Xu Xin China Ma Long / Zhang Jike 2–3
Winner 2017 Asian Championships Lin Gaoyuan China Fang Bo / Zhou Yu 3–1
Winner 2017 World Championships Xu Xin Japan Masataka Morizono / Yuya Oshima 4–1
Winner 2017 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open Xu Xin Hong Kong Ho Kwan-kit / Wong Chun-ting 3–1
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open Yu Ziyang Belarus Pavel Platonov / Vladimir Samsonov 3–0
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open Xu Xin Japan Jun Mizutani / Yuya Oshima 3–1
Winner 2018 ITTF World Tour, China Open Lin Gaoyuan Romania Ovidiu Ionescu / Spain Álvaro Robles 3–0
Runner-up 2019 ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open Lin Gaoyuan China Liang Jingkun / Xu Xin 2–3
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open Xu Xin Germany Benedikt Duda / Dang Qiu 3–0
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour, Korea Open Xu Xin South Korea Jeoung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su 3–0
Runner-up 2019 Asian Championships Xu Xin China Liang Jingkun / Lin Gaoyuan 1–3
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open Xu Xin China Liang Jingkun / Lin Gaoyuan 3–2
Winner 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Xu Xin Chinese Taipei Liao Cheng-ting / Lin Yun-ju 3–1
Winner 2022 Singapore Smash Wang Chuqin Japan Yukiya Uda / Shunsuke Togami 3–1
Winner 2023 Singapore Smash Wang Chuqin South Korea Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon 3–1
Winner 2023 World Championships Wang Chuqin South Korea Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon 3–0
Winner 2023 Asian Championships Lin Gaoyuan China Ma Long / Wang Chuqin 3–2
Winner 2023 Asian Games Wang Chuqin South Korea Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon 4–0

Mixed doubles

Result Year Tournament Partner Opponents Score Ref
Winner 2015 Asian Championships Chen Meng Singapore Yang Zi / Yu Mengyu 4–0

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-16 07:21 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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