National table tennis star Fan Zhendong "going to sea" is a lot of benefits, and fans do not need to worry about him "losing" overseas

Fan Zhendong, the main player of the Chinese national table tennis team, is about to set foot in the Bundesliga. In the early morning of June 1, Beijing time, the German Saarbrücken club (1. FC Saarbrücken TT) announced via social media that Fan Zhendong will officially join the 2025-2026 season to participate in the German Table Tennis Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League.

Fan Zhendong is about to set foot in the Bundesliga

According to some domestic media reports, Fan Zhendong, who is currently in the adjustment period after the Paris Olympics, plans to recover in an orderly manner through national competitions and club events at home and abroad. The Chinese Table Tennis Association also responded on the same day, expressing its understanding and respect for the athletes' personal wishes, and will fully support and ensure that Fan Zhendong maintains a good level of competition and creates more brilliance for the table tennis career. In response to the news, Fan Zhendong said, "I'm really looking forward to new challenges in Saarbrücken and the Bundesliga, experiencing new environments – and winning more with the team." ”

Saarbrücken manager Nicolas Baluwa admits that the signing process was surprising and fast-paced: "It all came so suddenly, we still can't believe it. But it's true – Fan Zhendong will fight for us. This is a historic moment for our club, and for the table tennis world in Germany and Europe. ”

The Bundesliga Table Tennis League is regarded as one of the highest leagues in Europe, and its status is comparable to that of China's Table Tennis Super League. Saarbrücken is a German table tennis club founded in 2011. Shang Kun, who also belonged to Shanghai before, also worked here. At the moment there are Francesca, Moregaard, Darko Joczyk.

Saarbrücken FC officially announced that Fan Zhendong has joined

In the past few years, the Chinese Table Tennis Super League has also attracted a number of foreign aids, including Sweden's Moregard, to participate in the competition, showing an increasingly open atmosphere of league exchanges. Now Fan Zhendong is going to the international arena, not only opening up a new track for himself, but also expanding a wider international influence for Chinese table tennis.

According to the announcement of the schedule of the Chinese Table Tennis Super League, the first phase of the 2025 league will be launched in Xiong'an, Hebei Province from June 9 to 11, and then staged competitions and finals will be held in Fujian, Xinjiang and Jiangsu. And Fan's trip to Germany will also attract Chinese fans to Europe.

For China's top table tennis players to join overseas clubs, the Chinese Table Tennis Association's statement this time undoubtedly shows an open-minded and strategic attitude. On the one hand, supporting domestic athletes to "go overseas" is conducive to their career development and the release of commercial value; On the other hand, it also promotes people-to-people exchanges between China and the international sports community, and forms a mechanism for mutual exchange and learning in sports culture, league system, training concepts, etc.

Sweden's Moregard will be Fan Zhendong's club team-mate

It is worth noting that Fan Zhendong is not a naturalized German naturalized transfer this time as a Chinese athlete who went overseas in the past, he is still a Chinese national, and he still retains the qualification to represent the Chinese team in international competitions, and the country and fans do not need to worry about his "loss" overseas. In addition, since the beginning of "ping-pong diplomacy", Chinese ping-pong has always been one of China's important soft powers. Therefore, in the long run, letting top national players like Fan Zhendong on the international stage is also a kind of soft power export, further enhancing the international discourse power of Chinese sports.