Paris Olympics: Fan Zhendong praised on Chinese social after gold seals career grand slam
- Fan Zhendong beats Sweden’s Truls Moregard 4-1 to claim first men’s singles title
Chinese fans are celebrating Fan Zhendong’s table tennis gold in the men’s singles, which has continued country’s streak of gold medals in Olympic event since 2008.
Fan recovered from a game down against Truls Moregard, who surprisingly knocked out China’s world No 1 Wang Chuqin in the round of 32, to win 4-1.
Victory marked the 27-year-old’ completion of a career gand slam, having now secured singles titles in the World Championships, World Cup, and Olympics.
There was extra pressure on Fan after Wang’s unexpected early exit, and his win ignited a frenzy on Chinese social media, with nearly all top hashtags on Weibo dedicated to this final.
Fans affectionately refer to Fan as “Fatty,” and their celebrations were in full swing moments after the final ended.
“Congrats to Fatty for winning the Olympics and successfully securing this precious gold medal for China! He played brilliantly and with such resilience,” one user wrote.
