If Ma Long's opponent is time, then Fan Zhendong's opponent is himself, and Wang Chuqin's opponent is the long and unknown road ahead.
In truth, no matter how Wang Chuqin's fans and Fan Zhendong's fans smear each other, before the Paris Olympic Games and the subsequent Los Angeles Olympic Games, before the new generation is fully established, they depend on each other for survival. They are the brilliant "twin stars" of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team.
Fan Zhendong's slump is due on one hand to injuries, and on the other hand to his insufficient adversity quotient. He has never experienced the kind of desperate, life-or-death struggles that Ma Long went through, nor has he experienced Wang Chuqin's starting point as a left-handed young sparring partner who was not valued by the coaching staff.
Chapter 255