On November 30, 2021, Beijing time, in the men's singles final of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston, Fan Zhendong swept Moregard 4:0 and won his first World Table Tennis Championships championship. At the award ceremony, the St. Bradford Cup naughtily gave Fan Zhendong a "head-touch"

At the award ceremony, Fan Zhendong, who was wearing a cowboy hat, was accidentally hit when he picked up the trophy. The cup lid slipped and hit his head. This joyful scene instantly became a hot topic on Weibo, and was ridiculed by netizens as "opening the lid is polite."

The "St. Brad Cup", the men's singles championship cup of the World Table Tennis Championships, is literally translated into English as "The Bride's Cup". Liu Guoliang once called the World Table Tennis Championships "a wedding for one person and a funeral for 127 people." After 8 years of waiting, Fan Zhendong finally became the "groom" for the fifth World Table Tennis Championships.

The episode at the awards ceremony, described intelligently by netizens, seems to be a summary of Fan Zhendong’s ups and downs in the past few years – “The St. Bradford Cup is here. Meet Fan Zhendong and tell me why you are here now."

After eight years of sharpening a sword, he finally became a king

For Fan Zhendong, he is very important to the St. Bradford Cup. There is an obsession, and every World Table Tennis Championships he participates in is as clear as a node, witnessing his peaks and letting him experience his troughs. Just as Fan Zhendong said in an interview after the World Table Tennis Championships: "Today's final is very tense. This is my goal and my dream."

And from the trough to the top, Fan Zhendong Already a leader in national table tennis.

Paris in 2013 was the starting point of Fan Zhendong’s World Table Tennis Championships. Fan Zhendong, who was only 16 years old, was just starting out. In the third round, he met the previous champion Zhang Jike and then stopped in his tracks.

In the following two World Table Tennis Championships, he kept making progress; until Budapest in 2019, Fan Zhendong, who had been rushing, fell.

In 2018, Fan Zhendong ranked first in the ITTF world rankings for the first time. In 2019, Fan Zhendong, who held the title of world number one, embarked on the journey again, but the World Table Tennis Championships was like a basin of cold water, pouring a "heart-breaking chill" on this young world number one - he lost to teammate Liang Jingkun in an upset and stopped. Top 16.

At that World Table Tennis Championships, Fan Zhendong only stood on the podium for the mixed doubles third place for a while, and then hurriedly ended his World Table Tennis Championships journey. He was even the first national table tennis player to finish the World Table Tennis Championships. Athletes in all table tennis competitions. Fan Zhendong described his mentality at the time like this: "I was waiting before the World Table Tennis Championships, and I was struggling after the World Table Tennis Championships. I have experienced setbacks since I was a child, but they were not that painful or heartbreaking."

At the National Table Tennis Spring Festival Gala that year, Ma Long pushed a cart of trophies onto the stage and asked him which one he wanted. Fan Zhendong’s eyes never left the St. Bradford Cup. As soon as he put down the microphone, he ran straight to it with both hands. It went.

In this World Table Tennis Championships, Fan Zhendong's path to promotion can be described as "hellly difficult". Due to the draw, the four men's table tennis players were placed in the top half, so Fan Zhendong defeated his three national table tennis teammates Wang Chuqin, Lin Gaoyuan and Liang Jingkun one after another before reaching the World Table Tennis Championships final.

When it came to the final stage, facing the 19-year-old Swedish teenager Moregard, Fan Zhendong swept it 4:0 with an overwhelming advantage. Even though Moregard always takes the lead, Fan Zhendong can always achieve a reversal in the middle of the game.

After the game, Moregard said: "Fan Zhendong is the better player."

After eight years of hard work, Fan Zhendong finally realized his dream in Houston and ushered in his own The "bride" I miss so much.

No longer young, "Little Fatty" became Brother Dong

Fan Zhendong left his hometown in Hunan when he was 10 years old and went to Beijing to learn to play table tennis. He could only go home once a year. In those years, he trained five or six hours a day, in addition to taking cultural classes. Recalling the hardships at that time, Fan Zhendong believed that everything was worth it, because playing table tennis was his lifelong dream.

At the beginning of 2012, Fan Zhendong entered the Chinese National Youth Team. When he first joined the National Youth Team, coach Liu Guozheng's words gave him the power to break through: "When you join the first team, you keep rushing forward. When the main players are not familiar with you enough, you can rush as far as you can." At that time, No matter who he plays against, he is always the younger one. People's evaluation of him is more promising in the future. Fan Zhendong, who was desperately rushing forward, had a blowout in 2013: runner-up in singles at the National Games, singles champion at the East Asian Games, singles champion in Germany and Poland, etc.

However, life can never be so fulfilling. At the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf, 20-year-old Fan Zhendong stood on the stage of the men's singles final and fought hard for 7 games with Ma Long in the final before losing 10:12 in the last game. After the game, Malone admitted that this game was the most difficult game he had ever experienced. Ma Long lamented: "Winning in the end was a matter of luck. The future belongs to 'Little Fatty (Fan Zhendong)'."

Ma Long and Fan Zhendong talked about the future, but they did not say when the future would come.

In 2017, Fan Zhendong fell into confusion when he lost to Ma Long in the men's singles competition at the World Table Tennis Championships and National Games. What he couldn't figure out was: Why was he always beaten by Malone when he was in good or bad condition? Fan Zhendong felt like his hands and feet were tied. "Because I really wanted to play the game I imagined, I couldn't really release myself."

Summarizing experience in time, Fan Zhendong tried to "untie" himself and allow himself to make some periodic mistakes in the game. mistake. "Of course, when encountering difficulties, you must find a way to reverse it as soon as possible, and you must win the game in the end." That period of time became his nourishment in the future. In a recent interview, Fan Zhendong responded to his changes: "I understand myself better now than before. , I know that if I want to achieve a goal, I can't do it by relying on particularly strong impact and explosive power. I belong to the "gathering sand into a tower" type."

This self-understanding made him no longer live. In the expectation of the outside world, "What I have to do is to do what I should do well. I am very happy to win the championship in the end. Even if I fail to do it, I believe that I will have a greater possibility to do it in the future." After experiencing the beating, Fan Zhendong has grown from youth to maturity, and no longer regards Ma Long as his only opponent. "If there is only one person in my eyes, then my pursuit of dreams and career will not be pure."

Although he failed to win the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, the subsequent National Games proved his growth. He defeated Wang Chuqin and Ma Long in a row, led the Guangdong team to defeat the Beijing team and won the men's team gold medal. Fan Zhendong has become a "mountain" in the eyes of others and is no longer young.

This is most obvious in the National Games - Niu Guankai, who was born in 2002, almost eliminated Fan Zhendong in an upset. Niu Guankai said after the game: "Being able to play like this with Brother Dong is also a recognition of my own strength. At that time, I thought that I could win every game." Because he was young when he joined the team and still had some baby fat, Fan Zhendong has always been called "Little Fatty" by his teammates. But now Fan Zhendong has quietly become "Brother Dong".

Leaders, things come naturally

After the World Table Tennis Championships, when asked how to celebrate the victory, Fan Zhendong did not answer directly, "I am very happy to win this championship, but this is not My goal is to reach a higher level through this championship." Obviously, for Fan Zhendong, there is no time to stop and enjoy. He has one goal after another to achieve. Winning the World Table Tennis Championships is his dream and goal, but he said another sentence immediately after this answer: "This glorious group also needs to shoulder its own responsibilities and responsibilities. I am very happy that I did it today." This is Fan Zhendong led the team to the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time as a leader. In previous games, he had Ma Long and Xu Xin in front of him, and Fan Zhendong only needed to be in front.

But as Ma Long and Xu Xin get older, the first World Table Tennis Championships in the Paris Olympic cycle, the national table tennis men's team chose to leave opportunities to more young people. When the list of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston was announced, Qin Zhizhang, the head coach of the Chinese Table Tennis Team's men's team, said: "None of the five people who signed up for the men's team have won the men's singles championship at the World Table Tennis Championships. They are standing on the same starting line in the new cycle. I hope they seize this precious opportunity."

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Fan Zhendong’s training is rich in content and intense. In just one morning of training, his training clothes will be soaked. In addition to talent, there is no doubt about the dedication and sacrifice of athletes. Fan Zhendong said, Talent is just the cornerstone of becoming a top table tennis player. “I’ve done a lot of things, and I’ve gradually become more responsible. I still have to be myself and take on more. "

Fan Zhendong is a person who likes to "talk less and do more", but when he won the World Table Tennis Championships without much suspense, his identity as a leader in male table tennis came naturally.