Fan Zhendong: the Olympic champion who completed the Grand Slam

For years Fan Zhendong was called Ma Long's heir. By the time the master stepped away from the big events, the heir had already lived up to the billing: two world titles, four World Cup titles and, at Paris 2024, Olympic singles gold.

This page sums up Fan Zhendong's career, the titles he won, the explosive playing style that took him to the top and what he did after leaving the world rankings.

Who is Fan Zhendong

Fan Zhendong was born in 1997 in Guangzhou, in southern China. He is right-handed and plays with the shakehand grip. He broke through early: as a teenager he was already winning world tour events, and he joined China's senior team, where he trained for years alongside Ma Long, Xu Xin and Zhang Jike.

Chinese fans call him "Xiao Pang", roughly "Little Fatty", an affectionate nickname from childhood. He first reached world No. 1 in 2018.

Fan Zhendong's titles

His four World Cup singles titles put him among the most successful players in the event's history. How each of these tournaments works is explained in major table tennis tournaments.

Tokyo, Houston and Durban

At Tokyo 2020, played in 2021, Fan reached the singles final and lost to teammate Ma Long. A few months later, at the World Championships in Houston, he won his first world singles title, beating Sweden's Truls Möregårdh in the final. In Durban 2023 he defended the title by beating Wang Chuqin in the final, another chapter in the rivalry among China's new generation.

Paris 2024 and the Grand Slam

The missing gold came at Paris 2024. Fan beat Truls Möregårdh 4-1 in the singles final and completed the Grand Slam: Olympic, World Championships and World Cup singles titles. At the same Games he also won team gold. The tournament is covered in table tennis at Paris 2024.

Playing style

Fan Zhendong is a two-winged attacker with rare power on both forehand and backhand. The strengths people point to most:

• Explosive athleticism and footwork, which let him attack hard balls at full power.
• A very aggressive backhand that wins points on its own instead of just keeping the rally going. The technique is in backhand loop.
• Heavy loops on both wings, even a step back from the table.
• Mental strength in long finals.

Leaving the rankings and the German league

In December 2024, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Chen Meng were removed from the ITTF world rankings, at a time of debate over the WTT tour's mandatory participation rules. The Chinese federation said it would keep supporting all three, whether or not they returned to international play.

Fan kept playing. In 2025, German club 1. FC Saarbrücken announced it had signed him for the Bundesliga season, in one of the strongest leagues in the world. He also played China's National Games in November 2025 and won singles gold. How these leagues work is in professional table tennis leagues.

Frequently asked questions