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Fan Zhendong (, pronounced ; born 22 January 1997) is a Chinese professional table tennis player. After joining the Chinese national table tennis team in 2012 as the youngest member, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. From December 2013 to December 2024, Fan was ranked top five in the world according to the ITTF -- this eleven year streak is the longest in men's singles history.
Fan is the reigning Olympic gold medallist in men's singles, with his victory at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris making him the 6th male player (and 11th player overall) to achieve a Grand Slam. He is also a two-time team event gold medallist, as well as a two-time World Champion and four-time World Cup champion in men's singles.
Fan's attacking style of play involves explosive footwork and powerful loops on both forehand and backhand wings. His thick-set build has led fans and commentators to affectionately refer to him as "Little Fatty" (, meaning "chubby boy"). His continuous rise to becoming one of the top table tennis players in the world has garnered him a large fanbase worldwide, with over half a million followers on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo. In 2016, he won the ITTF Star Point Award, and he was nominated for the Best Male Star Award every year between 2013 and 2016.
Fan studied at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Fan raises his elbow higher on his strokes compared to some of his contemporaries such as Ma Long and Xu Xin, resulting in a stronger backhand-forehand transition game at the expense of a more vulnerable middle. In 2021, Timo Boll stated that he felt that he and Fan played a similar style except that Fan was better. Boll did not elaborate further.
Fan was a Stiga sponsored athlete. However, he changed to Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC, he uses a black DHS Hurricane 3 neo National Blue Sponge for forehand and a Red Tenergy 05 for backhand. During the 2019 world table tennis championships, he changed to the new Butterfly Dignics 05 on his backhand that had just been released on 1 April 2019. Butterfly announced its signing of Fan Zhendong on 1 November 2021.
In the first stage of the competition, Fan, who was only 16 years old, defeated many famous players and unexpectedly won second place. In the second stage he achieved eighth place.
On May 5th, the 52nd Team World Table Tennis Championships kicked off the men's team finals in Tokyo, Japan. China won with a final score of 3-1. Fan Zhendong became the world champion at the age of 17 years and 103 days, surpassing Ma Long, who won the world championship at the age of 17 years and 8 months. This made him the youngest world champion in the history of men's table tennis.
Although Ma Long called Fan the favorite before their Olympic finals match-up, Ma ended up upsetting Fan 4-2 in the Olympic finals, giving Ma the gold medal and Fan the silver. Despite the loss, Fan Zhendong still showed class, acknowledging Ma Long's control of the match and recognizing his own missed opportunities. When asked about Ma Long's place in history, Fan acknowledged that he is the greatest in their generation.
In September, Fan saved six match points to beat Ma Long in the fifth in the finals of the team event at the China National Games. Fan's win over Ma delivered Team Guangdong the gold medal. Fan Zhendong also won the gold in the men's singles event.
Fan defeated Sweden's Truls Möregårdh 4–1 to win his first individual Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024 on Sunday, 4 August. His victory marked Fan's completion of a career Grand Slam, having now secured singles titles at the World Championships, World Cup, and Olympics. He becomes the sixth man to achieve this feat after Jan-Ove Waldner, Liu Guoliang, Kong Linghui, Zhang Jike, and Ma Long. On 9 August, in the men's team event, Fan helped China win the gold medal with a 3–0 (3–2, 3–2, 3–2) victory over Sweden in the final.
In December 2024, Fan Zhendong formally signed a notification declaring retirement from all events sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and announced his withdrawal from the world rankings.
| +Key | W | F | SF | QF | #R | |
| World Championships | S | 3R | SF | F | 4R | W | W | ||||||
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| T | W | W | W | W | W | ||||||||
| Olympic Games | S | F | W | ||||||||||
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| World Cup | S | F | W | W | W | W | QF | ||||||
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| ITTF Finals / WTT Finals | S | SF | F | F | W | QF | W | F | W | QF | F | ||
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| Asian Games | S | F | W | F | |||||||||
| MD | F | W | |||||||||||
| T | W | W | W | ||||||||||
| Asian Championships | S | QF | W | W | SF | F | |||||||
| MD | W | W | F | W | |||||||||
| XD | SF | W | |||||||||||
| T | W | W | W | W | W | ||||||||
| Asian Cup | S | F | F | F | W | W | |||||||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Winner | 2013 | East Asian Games | Yan An | 3–0 | |
| Winner | 2013 | ITTF World Tour, Polish Open | Zhou Yu | 4–2 | |
| Winner | 2013 | ITTF World Tour, German Open | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 4–1 | |
| Runner-up | 2013 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Yan An | 2–4 | |
| Winner | 2014 | ITTF World Tour, Kuwait Open | Yan An | 4–1 | |
| Runner-up | 2014 | Asian Cup | Ma Long | 3–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2014 | Asian Games | Xu Xin | 2–4 | |
| Winner | 2014 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Fang Bo | 4–2 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | Asian Cup | Xu Xin | 3–4 | |
| Winner | 2015 | Asian Championships | Xu Xin | 4–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | World Cup | Ma Long | 0–4 | |
| Winner | 2015 | ITTF World Tour, Polish Open | Stefan Fegerl | 4–3 | |
| Winner | 2015 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | 4–2 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Ma Long | 3–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2016 | ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open | Ma Long | 1–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2016 | ITTF Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament | Ma Long | 1–4 | |
| Winner | 2016 | ITTF World Tour, Japan Open | Xu Xin | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2016 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Ma Long | 4–0 | |
| Winner | 2016 | World Cup | Xu Xin | 4–1 | |
| Runner-up | 2016 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Ma Long | 2–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open | Ma Long | 2–4 | |
| Winner | 2017 | Asian Championships | Jeong Sang-eun | 3–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | World Championships | Ma Long | 3–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Japan Open | Ma Long | 1–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | Asian Cup | Lin Gaoyuan | 2–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | 1–4 | |
| Winner | 2017 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Dimitrij Ovtcharov | 4–0 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open | Wang Chuqin | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open | Hugo Calderano | 4–0 | |
| Winner | 2018 | Asian Cup | Lin Gaoyuan | 4–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Ma Long | 1–4 | |
| Winner | 2018 | Asian Games | Lin Gaoyuan | 4–2 | |
| Winner | 2018 | World Cup | Timo Boll | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2019 | Asian Cup | Ma Long | 4–2 | |
| Runner-up | 2019 | T2 Diamond Malaysia | Lin Yun-ju | 1–4 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, German Open | Xu Xin | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Austrian Open | Zhao Zihao | 4–0 | |
| Winner | 2019 | World Cup | Tomokazu Harimoto | 4–2 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Ma Long | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2020 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Qatar Open | Liam Pitchford | 4–2 | |
| Winner | 2020 | World Cup | Ma Long | 4–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2020 | ITTF Finals | Ma Long | 1–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2021 | Olympic Games | Ma Long | 2–4 | |
| Winner | 2021 | World Championships | Truls Möregårdh | 4–0 | |
| Winner | 2021 | WTT Cup Finals | Tomokazu Harimoto | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Singapore Smash | Ma Long | 4–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2022 | WTT Champions Macao | Wang Chuqin | 3–4 | |
| Winner | 2023 | WTT Singapore Smash | Ma Long | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2023 | WTT Champions Xinxiang | Liang Jingkun | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2023 | World Championships | Wang Chuqin | 4–2 | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | WTT Contender Zagreb | Lin Gaoyuan | 3–4 | |
| Winner | 2023 | WTT Star Contender Ljubljana | Wang Chuqin | 4–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | Asian Championships | Ma Long | 2–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2023 | Asian Games | Wang Chuqin | 3–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Finals | Wang Chuqin | 0–4 | |
| Winner | 2024 | WTT Champions Chongqing | Wang Chuqin | 4–3 | |
| Winner | 2024 | Olympic Games | Truls Möregårdh | 4–1 |
| Winner | 2014 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Ma Long | Xu Xin / Zhang Jike | 3–2 | |
| Runner-up | 2014 | Asian Games | Xu Xin | Ma Long / Zhang Jike | 0–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2014 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | Wang Hao / Yan An | 2–3 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | World Championships | Zhou Yu | Xu Xin / Zhang Jike | 2–4 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | ITTF World Tour, Japan Open | Shang Kun | Ma Long / Xu Xin | 2–3 | |
| Winner | 2015 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Xu Xin | Fang Bo / Zhu Linfeng | 3–2 | |
| Winner | 2015 | Asian Championships | Xu Xin | Jeoung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su | 4–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2015 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Zhang Jike | Fang Bo / Xu Xin | 1–3 | |
| Winner | 2016 | ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open | Zhang Jike | Koki Niwa / Maharu Yoshimura | 3–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2016 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Xu Xin | Ma Long / Zhang Jike | 2–3 | |
| Winner | 2017 | Asian Championships | Lin Gaoyuan | Fang Bo / Zhou Yu | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2017 | World Championships | Xu Xin | Masataka Morizono / Yuya Oshima | 4–1 | |
| Winner | 2017 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | Ho Kwan-kit / Wong Chun-ting | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open | Yu Ziyang | Pavel Platonov / Vladimir Samsonov | 3–0 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, Qatar Open | Xu Xin | Jun Mizutani / Yuya Oshima | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2018 | ITTF World Tour, China Open | Lin Gaoyuan | Ovidiu Ionescu / Álvaro Robles | 3–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Hungarian Open | Lin Gaoyuan | Liang Jingkun / Xu Xin | 2–3 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open | Xu Xin | Benedikt Duda / Dang Qiu | 3–0 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Korea Open | Xu Xin | Jeoung Young-sik / Lee Sang-su | 3–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2019 | Asian Championships | Xu Xin | Liang Jingkun / Lin Gaoyuan | 1–3 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open | Xu Xin | Liang Jingkun / Lin Gaoyuan | 3–2 | |
| Winner | 2019 | ITTF World Tour Grand Finals | Xu Xin | Liao Cheng-ting / Lin Yun-ju | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2022 | WTT Singapore Smash | Wang Chuqin | Yukiya Uda / Shunsuke Togami | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2023 | WTT Singapore Smash | Wang Chuqin | Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon | 3–1 | |
| Winner | 2023 | World Championships | Wang Chuqin | Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon | 3–0 | |
| Winner | 2023 | Asian Championships | Lin Gaoyuan | Ma Long / Wang Chuqin | 3–2 | |
| Winner | 2023 | Asian Games | Wang Chuqin | Jang Woo-jin / Lim Jong-hoon | 4–0 | |
| Runner-up | 2024 | WTT Singapore Smash | Wang Chuqin | Lin Gaoyuan / Ma Long | 2–3 |
| Winner | 2015 | Asian Championships | Chen Meng | Yang Zi / Yu Mengyu | 4–0 |
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