After Fan Zhendong withdrew from the world rankings
Hot searches, hot searches, and still hot searches. The things Fan Zhendong least wants to face always seem to happen.
On August 6th, Beijing time, the Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) in the United States announced that Olympic champion Fan Zhendong had become its strategic investor. This leading figure in Chinese table tennis has once again made it onto the hot search in an unexpected way.
However, if we look at the long - term timeline, this doesn't seem to be an isolated move. Looking back at the past year, before the Paris Olympics, his appearance at Taylor Swift's concert sparked discussions; after the Olympics, he announced his withdrawal from the ITTF world rankings and then joined the Saarbrücken club in the German Table Tennis League. Now, he has taken a further step and become a shareholder in an overseas professional league. This series of actions is quite unusual in the development trajectory of top players in the Chinese Table Tennis Team.
Perhaps the starting point of all this was the "withdrawal from the world rankings" that shocked the table tennis world at the end of last year.
Withdrawal
Fan Zhendong announced his withdrawal from the world rankings. For an Olympic double - champion in his prime, giving up the rankings is almost equivalent to giving up the opportunity to participate in international competitions, and perhaps it also means giving up the glorious identity of a Chinese national table tennis player. At that time, the outside world was in an uproar.
It was only recently that Fan Zhendong publicly disclosed in detail the heavy reasons for this decision in a conversation with Phoenix TV.
He frankly admitted that he had been troubled by the extreme behaviors of the "fan circle" for a long time, which had exhausted him physically and mentally. What shocked him the most was an incident that happened in 2023: some obsessive fans illegally obtained his hotel room card and broke into his room when he was out. "This really scared me. I never expected it," he recalled. That experience left a serious psychological shadow on him. Since then, he has felt uneasy in crowded places and when staying in hotels. "Except for when I have to go out for competitions, I usually don't leave my room."
This pressure has been increasing since the Tokyo Olympics and reached its peak during the Paris Olympics cycle. Online, there were frequent online violence, malicious interpretations, and privacy leaks; offline, there were people taking in - your - face photos regardless and following him. Fan Zhendong once mentioned that he noticed he was on the hot search more often, but "slowly you'll realize it's not normal." These interferences seriously affected his performance on the court. He described a "strange way of losing a game": when leading, maybe because of the sound of a camera shutter or a passing thought, he would suddenly "lose control" and desperately want to "leave quickly" and just hide in a "place where he felt safer." Before the Paris Olympics, he had experienced a low period of more than 300 days without winning a singles championship.
To make matters worse, the WTT (World Table Tennis Professional Big League), a commercial event under the ITTF, introduced new rules: players with high rankings must participate in competitions frequently to accumulate points, otherwise, they have to pay a fine. This added more pressure to Fan Zhendong, who was already physically and mentally exhausted. "It felt like I was dealing with the fan circle every day," he said. The intensive competitions and off - court troubles had put him into a serious state of "self - consumption."
In May 2024, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list for the Paris Olympics, and Fan Zhendong was selected. When he reposted the lineup, he added the caption "Last Dance." Later, when asked what it meant, he said that at that time, he just wanted to motivate himself to get out of the bad state and hoped to have a good fight. This also revealed that he really wanted to break out of the difficult situation at that time.
Finally, faced with the WTT's rules of "must play competitions + pay a fine if you don't" and his unbearable psychological pressure, withdrawing from the world rankings became Fan Zhendong's choice to break this vicious cycle. This was his forced "escape" under great pressure and also his active turn in his professional development.
Turn
Withdrawing from the world rankings allowed Fan Zhendong to temporarily get rid of the mandatory participation requirements of the WTT system. Next, he needed to find a new direction.
On June 1st, 2025, the strong Saarbrücken club in the German Table Tennis Bundesliga announced that Fan Zhendong had joined. This was not an ordinary transfer.
▲ Saarbrücken club
Fan Zhendong mentioned in a conversation with Phoenix TV that after the Paris Olympics (August 2024), he communicated his idea of "wanting to play in the European league" with Liu Guoliang, the then - president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, and got his support. Although he missed the registration time for the 2024 European league season, he finally made it in 2025. He said that playing in Europe was "a good personalized training method" for preparing for the National Games. Saarbrücken became a place for him to adjust his state and focus on playing.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Fan Zhendong's joining had significantly increased the club's popularity and commercial revenue.
If going to Germany to play was the first step of adjustment after leaving, then investing in the MLTT was the second and more strategic step.
MLTT (Major League Table Tennis), the American professional table tennis major league, was established in 2023 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. According to public information, this league has several characteristics:
It is not under the management of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) or its commercial entity WTT, but allows players to participate in other competitions (including ITTF/WTT events) at the same time. It is a purely commercial league and operates independently.
Its operation mode is completely modeled on the American sports model. There are currently ten teams, using the home - and - away system. The ticket prices are affordable, with the lowest being $10.
▲ MLTT teams
In MLTT competitions, a team match requires a total of 21 points to win. The standard process is to play two singles matches first, then one doubles match, and finally two more singles matches. A team gets 1 point for each set (whether singles or doubles) it wins. To make the game more exciting, there is a "Gold Game." When the team scores are tied, there is a one - point - decides - all match. All five players on each team play in a final 21 - point showdown, and players must be substituted every 4 points. The most crucial thing is that the team that wins the Gold Game gets an additional 6 points, and these 6 points can often instantly change the final result of the game.
This new rule is intended to increase the suspense but has also caused controversies similar to those in the Japanese T - League. Zhang Benzhihe recently posted on social media that the differences between its unique rules and international competitions have caused trouble for players' adaptability. For example, to increase the number of upsets and attract more audiences, the T - League uses some rules different from international competitions, including starting the deciding set at 6:6, one - point - decides - all at 10:10, one - set - decides - all for the fifth set in a team match when it's tied, and using special balls that are easy to net.
In terms of business progress, according to the MLTT official website, the league's current main sponsors include the table tennis equipment brand Butterfly, the background check company FirstAdvantage, the table tennis specialty store Paddle Palace, the Chinese Tourism Office in New York, and the technology company Finally.
After only two seasons of operation, MLTT received $5.5 million in financing last year. The investors include executives from the Blackstone Group, David Blitzer, the only person with equity in a North American major sports league team, the operating president of the Philadelphia 76ers, and more than 20 other influential figures from the sports and business circles. At the same time, the investors in the league and its clubs also include NBA legend Manu Ginobili, German table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and Chinese Taipei player Lin Yun - ju.
In 2025, it just signed a broadcast contract with CBS Sports and plans to extend the regular season to 15 weeks in the new season. Their model is to make top players become shareholders of the league, work together, and share the profits, relying on the influence of star players to promote the league.
Fan Zhendong's joining the MLTT as a "strategic investor" may not be just a simple show of support.
As a shareholder in the league, he can participate in decision - making and profit - sharing. This is the first time that an active top Chinese table tennis player has participated in the rule - making and commercial operation of an overseas professional league as a shareholder. Together with "star shareholders" like Ovtcharov and Lin Yun - ju, their goal is clear: to use their respective influence to expand the league and share the commercial benefits. His influence and fan base in the table tennis world are important resources for the MLTT to explore the market (especially to attract sponsors and attention). The commercial improvement he brought to the German league is an example.
To some extent, this is not just an investment. It also shows that Fan Zhendong wants to participate in the future commercial development of table tennis. As a representative figure in Chinese table tennis, he may become a bridge connecting Chinese resources (such as capital and training) with the North American market. Investing in this league that is not under the WTT's management is also a response to his previous high - pressure competition environment.
Of course, the future of the MLTT is not all rosy. The league is still in its infancy and has not yet made a profit. The American table tennis market has a weak foundation and needs to break through the Chinese - speaking circle to attract more locals. It also faces competition from emerging sports like pickleball. However, this step is obviously one that Fan Zhendong has taken actively based on his own experience and judgment of the future.
Different Paths
Looking at Fan Zhendong's actions of withdrawing from the world rankings, going to play in Europe, and investing in a North American league, his path is quite different in the history of the Chinese Table Tennis Team. He didn't make a transformation after retirement. Instead, he started trying some new paths in the prime of his career.
Another flag - bearer of the Chinese Table Tennis Team, "Double Grand Slam" Ma Long, the athlete with the most gold medals in Chinese Olympic history, after the Paris Olympics, specifically after the 2024 WTT China Grand Slam, although he didn't officially announce his retirement, his focus has obviously shifted to the "behind - the - scenes." He was elected as the vice - president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and the vice - president of the All - China Youth Federation one after another, and he has continuously taken on new identities. As Ma Long himself said, "I won't leave table tennis." This continues the typical path of meritorious Chinese table tennis players serving within the system, which is equally important.
Fan Zhendong's choice points in another direction. He actively withdrew from the high - pressure center and adjusted his physical and mental state in a relatively relaxed environment. He no longer ties his entire career to international competitions and the world ranking system and explores the value of European professional leagues. From being a simple athlete, he has become an "athlete + investor" and started to seek more say in the upstream of the table tennis industry, such as rule - making and capital operation. As an active core player of the national team, directly becoming a shareholder and deeply participating in the operation of an overseas commercial league is the first time in the Chinese Table Tennis Team.
The core is that he wants to control his own direction and state. Fan Zhendong said that his exhaustion after the Paris Olympics was "mental fatigue" and clearly stated that "after experiencing 2024, whether it was up or down, I still choose what I need the most."
In the short term, there are still many unknowns about this path: What is the commercial future of the MLTT? How long can he play in Europe? How can he balance multiple identities? But in the long run, he has explored a path for everyone. Can active main players participate more actively in the commercial development of their sport? Can they find a more suitable place outside the system? He is trying in his own way.
Fan Zhendong's "withdrawal from the world rankings" has never been an end. It is more like a beginning. How far this path can go is still unknown, but this 27 - year - old Olympic champion may have shown that the future of a national team's main player can be self - planned. When a world champion and Olympic champion no longer needs that ranking, he is trying to decide how to play table tennis and how to personally participate in the future of this sport.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Lanxiong Sports" (ID: lanxiongsports), written by Wang Shan, and is published by 36Kr with authorization.