Fan Zhendong, core of Chinese national table tennis team, signs with German club Duesseldorf, with priority of national team call-up and 1.2-2 million euro annual salary.
At the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics table tennis tournament, Tomokazu Harimoto won two straight sets, leaving Fan Zhendong on the brink of elimination.
This was a crucial match for
Fan Zhendong in his quest for the Grand Slam; his season had not gone smoothly up to that point:At the start of the season, the public widely regarded the men’s singles gold medal at the Olympics as a sure thing for him, expecting him to complete the final piece of his Grand Slam puzzle. However, by the end-of-year tour, his form had declined significantly, and he suffered consecutive losses in international matches, drawing a barrage of criticism and skepticism from the public.
During winter training, Fan Zhendong and his coaching staff adjusted their training plan, cutting nearly half of the regular training content and devoting most of their energy to injury rehabilitation and refining technical details. Yet, he still lost in the qualifying tournament the following year, and at that point, the skepticism nearly overwhelmed him.No one could have imagined that once the Olympic quarterfinals began, he would be the one to find himself in a desperate situation first.
Gritting his teeth,
Fan Zhendong walked back to the locker room to change his jersey. When he returned to the table, the trajectory of his backhand twist-loop shots was even more unpredictable than before, and he rallied to win three straight games to defeat Tomokazu Harimoto. In every match that followed, he played with exceptional composure, showing virtually no lapses from the baseline.
Back when the Bayi Team was disbanded, Fan Zhendong’s form had hit rock bottom,During those days, he endured late-night rehabilitation sessions and faced moments when public criticism left him feeling too ashamed to hold his head high. Yet he immediately followed that by winning the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships. The trials and tribulations he endured during those difficult days are no less significant than an Olympic gold medal.
In the end, Fan Zhendong stood atop the highest podium at the Paris Olympics, completing the final piece of his Grand Slam puzzle and channeling all the pressure that had weighed on him over the past half-year into every solid stroke on the table. This trait—never shying away from challenges and daring to shoulder the burden—has long been ingrained in his very being.
He is twenty-eight years old this year, and he still has a long career ahead of him. This composure and resilience will always be his most valuable qualities.
