Table Tennis Super League! Bundesliga! Fan Zhendong is about to "fight on two fronts"

According to CCTV News, the 2025 Chinese Table Tennis Club Super League will kick off on June 9. On the 3rd, the China Table Tennis Association released the list of registered players and the first stage schedule, and Fan Zhendong and others confirmed their participation.

Before that, on June 1, the Bundesliga Sarbrücken Club announced through social media that Chinese athlete Fan Zhendong joined the club and will participate in the 2025-2026 German Table Tennis League One and European Champions League.

This means that Fan Zhendong will "fight on both sides" in the Table Tennis Super League and the Bundesliga.

Previously, the news that Fan Zhendong joined the Bundesliga shocked the European table tennis industry. As the world's number one player for 58 consecutive months, Fan Zhendong's joining this time is hailed as "a historic turning point in the European League." The German Embassy in China immediately sent congratulations on the social platform: "This is not only a milestone at the competitive level, but will also bring new brilliance to the table tennis leagues in Germany and even Europe."

"GutenMorgen" from Munich

Not long before the news of joining was announced, Fan Zhendong had already appeared at the Allianz Stadium in Munich to watch the Champions League final on the spot. He wrote on Weibo in German: "GutenMorgen, München!" (Good morning, Munich!) A simple greeting quickly received more than 500,000 likes, and the comment area was flooded with blessings and expectations from German netizens: "Welcome to Germany! Europe is waiting for you to show your strength."

Joining the German club is not only a simple professional transfer for Fan Zhendong, but also an encounter across language and culture. From the glory of the Tokyo Olympics to the calmness and accumulation of energy in the Paris Olympics, Fan Zhendong seems to be building a longer and more international career trajectory. For German fans, this is a rare opportunity to "watch the world's best live"; for Chinese fans, this is a familiar name to write a new chapter on foreign lands.

In fact, Fan Zhendong is about to play for the Salbrücken Table Tennis Club 1.FCSaarbrücken (FCS) men's team is strong - on June 1, the team just completed the three consecutive championships of the Champions League men's team. In the final, the club's Swedish player Moregaard won the MVP of the tournament. In an interview, he expressed his excitement about Fan Zhendong's joining with three consecutive "really": "He is one of the strongest players in the world, and his character is very good. It's great to be a teammate with him."

An unusual two-way rushing

▲Screenshot of the video of Salbrücken Club in the Bundesliga announced that Fan Zhendong's joining was screenshot According to CCTV News

, it is reported that Fan Zhendong's joining this time was not a "summoning" in the traditional sense, but more like an unexpected two-way rushing

.

According to the "Salbrücken Daily", club sports director Irving Berger revealed that Fan Zhendong took the initiative to contact the club to express his willingness to join: "We could hardly believe that he was 'come to the door' by himself." Nico Barua, the manager in charge of signing, still remembers it: "I checked whether there was any signature on the contract as soon as possible to confirm whether it was really him." He said that captains Francesca and Fan Zhendong had previously joked on the international arena: "You should come to us." Unexpectedly, this joke became a reality, and "faster than expected."

For FCS captain Francesca, this is not only an extra strong teammate, but also a valuable opportunity to ask the world's number one. He said in an interview: "It is our honor for him to come to Salbrücken. I hope he can feel comfortable here, and teach me a few forehand, backhand, and footsteps." After the transfer news was confirmed, he called Fan Zhendong as soon as possible: "He (Fan Zhendong) said he was really happy and wanted to enjoy this adventure."

Even FCS's long-term competitor and Dusseldorf head coach Danny Hester joked: "I was shocked at the time." But he also bluntly stated that this signing will "make the overall competition in the league more intense", "We are no longer the one being chased, but we are going to start chasing others."

FCS is moving towards the "Dream Team"

According to the report of the Süd Deutsche Zeitung, Fan Zhendong will represent FCS in the Bundesliga, German Cup and European Champions League in the future. Although they do not participate in all competitions, they are expected to play in multiple key games. Given Fan Zhendong's popularity, the club is considering moving some of the competition from the original Joachim-Deckarm-Halle to the Saarlandhalle, which can accommodate 2,800 people.

At this point, FCS's lineup is moving towards the "Dream Team" - including Swedish player Moregaard, the world's sixth-ranked Slovenian player Dako Yochick, the world's tenth-ranked Slovenian player Francesca, the world's fourteenth-ranked German player Francesca, and now the world's first place and is still regarded as the "strongest in the world" - the joining of Fan Zhendong, who is still regarded as the "strongest in the world" - has made the club even more powerful.

This team is undoubtedly one of the most dominant existences in the European table tennis world. The team's two major sponsors are also strong: local table tennis equipment giant Tibhar and Saar-based pharmaceutical company Ursaparm provide stable financial support for FCS.

"Fan effect" hit, German netizens: It's unbelievable that the news of joining

was released in just two days. FCS's official Weibo followers in China tripled, from less than 10,000 to 25,000, becoming a new focus of hot discussion among Chinese table tennis fans. What's even more amazing is that the Instagram announcement about Fan Zhendong's joining was forwarded through the Weibo platform, and the number of clicks exceeded 3.4 million times.

This news also sparked heated discussion on local German social media, and many German netizens also expressed their excitement and warm welcome: "Unbelievable! Fan Zhendong came to Saarbrücken? I can't believe it now. "Welcome to Germany, Fan! You will change our league! "I want to buy a jersey with his name printed on it now! ”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung commented: “The ultimate commercial value of these traffic will be clear sooner or later. But for the moment, they are just really excited to welcome Fan Zhendong. ”

Red Star News Special Correspondent Wang Wei from Germany