Fan and Wang on collision course for blockbuster semi-final in Macau, Hong Kong pair get bye
Galaxy of table tennis stars head to city for National Games, with Fan Zhendong and Wang in same half of draw for men’s singles
China table tennis stars Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin have been thrown together in the same half of the men’s singles draw at the National Games, putting them on a collision course in the semi-finals.
Despite being the defending champion, Fan’s lack of competitive action internationally since December meant his world ranking has dropped, leaving him seeded fourth for this month’s tournament in Macau.
Wang, meanwhile, is world No 1 and top seed, but has beaten Fan, who will represent Shanghai this year, only four times in 14 meetings.
In the bottom half of the draw, Liang Jingkun and Lin Shidong, seeded second and third respectively, are favourites to progress, but will have to get past China teammates Xiang Peng and Huang Youzheng.
With five gold, two silver and two bronze in his past three appearances at the Games, the 28-year-old Fan is the most decorated player still playing.
And having received a bye to the second round, the three-time finalist’s first challenge will be from former teammate Zhou Yu, who is representing Hebei. The pair won back-to-back men’s doubles gold medals at the Games, representing People’s Liberation Army, in 2013 and 2017.