(by Steve Hopkins)
The result of the final game was clear for several minutes as Fan Zhendong played with a comfortable lead deep into the fifth game, already up 3-1 and just marking time for the victory to be complete at the 2025 China National Games in Macao. When the final point was over (11-4) The celebration was muted as both players shook hands and the fans cheered. Fan Zhendong let his guard down for just a moment, with a slight smile that built as he showed one finger and then two fingers – eventually with a full grin as he posed for the cameras before heading back to his corner. 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.
Fan’s professional arc 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 he has continued to play for Shanghai in the China Super League and started this season with Saarbrucken in the German League – and clearly he’s stayed sharp with the support of those squads (even as he has had to press forward without the support of the Chinese National Team).
Lin Shidong started fast, at one point leading 9-4. But Zhendong ran off 7 points in a row to win the first game. Shidong then fought through a tight second game – extending his lead at the end and evening the score. From that point forward, it was all Fan Zhendong – a dominant explosion of placement, power, and consistency that won every facet of the game. Zhendong won the straight rallies where both players fought forehand to forehand or backhand to backhand. Zhendong forced more errors off of his serve. Zhendong controlled the pace and was able to move Lin Shidong left and right. The scores of the final three games weren’t close – 11-5, 11-3, 11-4. Fan Zhendong puts on a clinic, dominating World No. 1 and World No. 2 to stand atop the podium at the China National Games, an unranked player standing above the two top ranked players in the World.
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