(by Steve Hopkins)
China’s championship event was expected to highlight the world’s top two ranked players, and China top-ranked league squad – but an unranked Fan Zhendong stole most of the headlines at the 2025 China National Games in Macao.
Fan’s run in Men’s Singles was epic. He won his early matches to reach the Semifinals and that was exciting for his fans – but expected. The unexpected part was his 4-2 win over World No. 1 Wang Chuqin in the Semifinals. And he followed that accomplishment with a 4-1 domination of World No. 2 Lin Shidong. When the last point of the Final was over (with the score 11-4), the celebration was muted as both players shook hands and the fans cheered. Fan Zhendong’s smile then grew as he showed one finger and then two fingers. The gestures relayed what everyone was thinking – what a massive accomplishment for Zhendong to beat the World No. 1 and then World No. 2 in consecutive days to take one of the biggest titles in the table tennis world in front of a packed room of fans that used to be his.
The top seeded team won in the Team Event. That is, the Beijing team that is anchored by Wang Chuqin and Ma Long won (as expected). However, the other headline of the Team Final was that Fan Zhendong was also undefeated in matches for his team. And, in fact, in the Final between Chuqin’s Beijing squad and Fan’s Shanghai squad it was another win by Fan Zhendong over World No. 1 Wang Chuqin. Fan won the match, but his squad fell 3-1; overpowered by the top seed.
Fan is now back in Germany where he’ll continue the season playing for Saarbrucken in the TTBL. Fan’s professional arc has included World No. 1, winning the World Championships, winning the World Cup, and his last major title before stepping away from the tour – the 2024 Olympic Singles title. Since that time, he’s been at odds with the ITTF and WTT and he was replaced on the Chinese National Team. But at least at this moment, this unranked player has proven again that he is one of the best (perhaps THE best). Fan Zhendong is back in Germany, but he’s also on top of the table tennis world.
Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.
