Berliner Morgenpost: 16-Year-Old is China's New Table Tennis Prodigy
Berliner Morgenpost reported on November 17, 2013, that 16-year-old Chinese prodigy Fan Zhendong amazed the German media by defeating Ovtcharov to win the German Open.
Newspaper Clipping: Chinese Table Tennis Prodigy Amazes German Media
[German Berliner Morgenpost Website Report, November 17] Headline: 16-Year-Old is China’s New Table Tennis Prodigy
In the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, more than 5,000 spectators cheered for the German table tennis star: “Dima, Dima!” National team coach Jörg Roßkopf tried during the break to teach the European champion the secret to winning the German Open final.
World No. 5 Dimitrij Ovtcharov didn’t play poorly even when clearly trailing. But his good technique wasn’t quite enough, because the player standing across the table was a cut above. The 16-year-old Chinese youngster Fan Zhendong shattered all of Ovtcharov’s efforts on Sunday, defeating him with a score of 4-1.
“He plays very fast, his victory was well-deserved,” admitted finalist Ovtcharov. “It’s truly unbelievable how quickly the Chinese produce athletes of such a high level.” A year ago, he didn’t even know Fan Zhendong. Later, Fan became the World Junior Table Tennis Champion. And then he defeated Ovtcharov in the Chinese Table Tennis Super League.
In the recent ITTF Polish Open, Fan Zhendong became the youngest champion in ITTF World Tour history. He smiled and admitted at the time: “My next step is to become a World Champion and an Olympic Champion.”
He has just defeated compatriot Zhang Jike, who holds both those titles, in Berlin, as well as the 2013 European Championship runner-up Vladimir Samsonov, and ultimately defeated the European Champion Ovtcharov. These achievements have given him a lot of new confidence and show that he is by no means just a dreamer.
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