TABLE TENNIS: Fan wins second World Cup title in three years in Paris

China's top-ranked Zhendong Fan.

The Liebherr Men’s World Cup pits the world’s top players against each other in a short tournament, highlighting the cream of the crop in table tennis.

For the most part, that means China will win. And that was the case in 2018, as Zhendong Fan (pictured), a four-time World Champion in Doubles or Team Events, won his second World Cup title in the past three years by beating another two-time champion, Timo Boll (GER) at the Disney Events Arena in Paris (FRA).

This was really an inter-generational match-up, as Boll is 37 and Fan, despite his experience, is still just 21. Boll won this tournament in 2002 and 2005 and has been a finalist in 2008-12-17. But while Boll struggled through his matches in the main draw, Fan won by 4-0 in the Round of 16, 4-0 in the quarters and then 4-1 against countryman Gaoyuan Lin, who went on to win the bronze medal.

In the final, Fan – ranked no. 1 in the world – took a 3-0 sets lead, lost one set and then finished with another 4-1 win: 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8. Chinese players have now won eight of the prior nine World Cups for men and 13 of the last 16. With Fan at just 21, he’s only starting to collect trophies. Summaries:

ITTF Men’s World Cup
Paris (FRA) ~ 19-21 October 2018
(Full results here)

Results: 1. Zhendong Fan (CHN); 2. Timo Boll (GER); 3. Gaoyuan Lin (CHN); 4. Dmitrij Ovtcharov (GER). Semis: Fan d. Lin, 4-1; Boll d. Ovtcharov, 4-2. Third: Lin d. Ovtcharov, 4-1. Final: Fan d. Boll, 4-1 (1-9, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8).