Hey table tennis fans! This Sunday in Macao SAR, Shanghai's Olympic gold medalist Fan Zhendong, 28, beat Hainan's World No. 2 Lin Shidong in five epic games to snag the men's singles gold at the 15th National Games. 🏓🥇
Fan, who stepped away from the ITTF world rankings in January, notched his second major title of the year and became only the second paddler after Ma Long to defend this crown. This gold is also his 10th overall medal at the Chinese mainland's top multi-sport event – the most among active players.
The final was a rollercoaster: Lin grabbed a 9-4 lead in game 1, but Fan came back to win 11-9. Lin evened it 11-8 in game 2, yet Fan dominated the rest, taking games 3, 4 and 5 by 11-5, 11-3 and 11-4, respectively.
In the bronze match, Beijing's Wang Chuqin edged Liaoning's Yuan Licen 4-1 for the podium spot. 🥉
With this win, Fan Zhendong keeps raising the bar for Chinese mainland paddlers. What an amazing display of skill and mental toughness! 😎
Reference(s):
Fan defeats Lin in men's singles table tennis final at National Games
cgtn.com
