By Henry Chen

“My next goal is to continue improvising and enhancing my level. I hope that I can be the world’s number one and then win the World Championships and the Olympic Games. I hope that I can be the greatest player in this world.”

These were Fan Zhendong’s words after the conclusion of the Liebherr 2016 Men’s World Cup last 3rd October in Saarbrücken, Germany.

In that competition, we witnessed a victorious Fan Zhendong winning over his compatriot Xu Xin in the final round. As a result, this young player contributed to the continuous glory of the Chinese Men’s Team in the Men’s World Cup for seven consecutive years.

Fan Zhendong surprised his opponent in five games and secured the championship title with 4-1 (11-5, 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10).

“As for me, this is an extremely important victory. I felt fantastic after winning this world title. I even don’t know what to say,” he added.

Fan Zhendong’s victory in the World Cup is indeed very vital for his athletic career. It sets a good head start for him in this new Olympic cycle. In fact former world champion Liu Wei forecasts that Fan Zhendong can be the next Grand Slam champion after Zhang Jike and Ma Long.

“I am thankful for all the people who helped me and cheered for me. I hope that this championship title did not make all of you to wait for long,” Fan Zhendong said.

With Zhang Jike and Ma Long nearing their 30’s, Fan Zhendong has high expectations. Early on, he already expressed his ambitions as an athlete. He was declined in the Rio Olympic Games but this time, this guy won’t take no for an answer.

Now that he has already validated his potential, everyone thinks that he is very much capable to be the next leader of the Chinese Team.

What do you think?