Fan Zhendong went to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. He achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015
Fan Zhendong Information:
- Native name: 樊振东
- Nationality: Chinese
- Born: 22 January 1997, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China[1]
- Playing-style: Right-handed, Shakehand grip
- Highest Ranking: #1
- Height: 5 ft 8 in
- Weight: 170 lbs
Fan Zhendong Playing Style
Fan Zhandong is a Stiga sponsored athlete. However, he uses a Butterfly Viscaria blade but changed to a Stiga Infinity VPS V handle because of sponsoring Stiga. 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.
A right-handed shakehand-grip player, Fan plays an attacking style of table tennis using his explosive footwork and thunderous forehand loops to finish off his opponents. Emerging as a 16-year-old wonder kid, Fan’s playing style is often compared to his senior compatriot Ma Long. In addition to being trained by national team coaches, he has been specially trained by both Wang Hao and Ma Lin. His encounters against senior players in the Chinese national team have drawn much speculation and anticipation. His fearlessness and technique allow him to challenge highly rated, experienced players, sometimes even beating top players in thrilling style.
Fan Zhendong Titles
| Games | Type | Winner | Year |
| World Team Table Tennis Championships | Team | 3 | 2014, 2016, 2018 |
| Table Tennis World Cup | Single | 3 | 2016, 2018, 2019 |
| Table Tennis World Cup | Team | 3 | 2015, 2018, 2019 |
| World Table Tennis Championships | Double | 1 | 2017 |
| Asian Table Tennis Championships | Single | 2 | 2015, 2017 |
| Asian Table Tennis Championships | Double | 2 | 2015, 2017 |
| Asian Table Tennis Championships | Team | 4 | 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| Asian Table Tennis Championships | Mixed Double | 1 | 2015 |
| Asian Cup Table Tennis Tournament | Single | 2 | 2018, 2019 |
| Asian Games | Team | 2 | 2014, 2018 |
| ITTF World Tour | Single | 15 | 2013 – 2019 |
| ITTF World Tour | Double | 11 | 2014 – 2019 |
Fan Zhendong Equipment
His Blade: Stiga Infinity VPS
- Built to suite todays modern game, aggressive receives and powerful topspin shots. Used by Fan Zendong
- Control 70, Speed 100, Elasticity Stiff
- Developed, designed and produced in Sweden
- Grip Master - Concave narrow
This is a good offensive blade. It has control and also smashes the ball.
- Topspin: When you loop, the time you spend on the ice is good. It is not as fast as spinning, but it is controlled and makes you feel like you are in control.
- Counterplay: It is a good and decent spin and it has good power and control at short and medium distances.
- Consistency: Very consistent. It is easier to play with the harder rubbers.
- Short Game: good for flicks, chopping, pushing.
- Blocking: This blade is great and has a lot of control.
- Smashing: Smashing is when you hit the ball hard. Flat hitting means that you are hitting it on the ground. Both are nice to do with good power!
- Feeling: The feeling is hard but it is ok.
Conclusion: This blade is very good. Somebody said it does not have power but I laughed because you can do what you need with it. It is very strong in the fast game and it has a lot of control in the short game. And it does not lack power mid-distance. Rubber is important for a blade. Everybody should try different rubber with their blades. But make sure to seal the blade because the top layer can scratch easily. In my opinion, this blade is very good and I have tried many blades before.
Forehand: DHS Hurricane 3 National (Blue Sponge)
- 1.Brand: DHS; Origin: China；
- 2. Speed: 13; Spin: 12; Control: 10;Fitted play:Control/Loop;
- 3. DHS is through the ITTF certification brand ;
- 4. Enhance the sustained ability, rotation and speed ability;
- 5. DHS Hurricane long 5 or Hurricane long 5x and other high-elastic Ping Pong Racket Blade, suitable with DHS Blue Sponge Hurricane 3 (National, Limited Edition) table tennis rubber combination.
I think there is a misconception about how it feels when you are playing with this rubber. When I was not playing with any boost, the first 30 minutes or an hour felt really slow. But after 2 hours, it felt pretty fast.
The next time I played, 1 hour into it, it felt even faster. It takes some serious time to break in an unboosted blade, but once they do they can be quite fast, at least on an OFF++ blade
The spin and control are both good. It is best for forehands, but not really good for backhands, and you will need to use your own power to block or punch with this rubber.
The rubber is good for countering backspin. It is not good at first because it takes a while to break in.
Backhand: Butterfly Dignics 05
- The newest Butterfly sponge and rubber technology, resulting in superior performance and feel
- 22% more arc and 3. 4% more overall power than Butterfly Tenergy 05 rubber sheets
- Increased dwell time compared to Tenergy 05 due to Spring Sponge X and improved rubber composition
- Pairs best with the Harimoto Inner force ALC, Inner force Layer ZLC, Lin Gaoyuan ALC, Hadraw VR, Cypress G-Max, and other Butterfly blades
- Butterfly Free Chack II table tennis glue recommended when assembling Dignics table tennis rubbers
When I use it on my backhand, the ball flies in a low to a medium trajectory with great speed and spin. This racket also works well for flicks and countertop spins
It is hard for me to get used to the high throw angle. When I push, the ball goes too far. Active blocks are easier than passive blocks. With the inner force type of blades and limba wood, I can have more dwell time and spin potential on my rubber.
This rubber is good for playing topspin. It’s not as fast as the Tenergy 05, but it has better control. The downside is that it can be spin-sensitive and expensive.
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