Between 2000 and 2006, Chinese penholder Ma Lin won a record four ITTF Men's World Cup titles. The good news for Ma Lin is that his record still stands. After today, however, he must share it with his junior countryman, Fan Zhendong. Fan, the world's top-ranked player, was naturally the top seed at this weekend's 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup in Weihai, China. His closest rival in the world rankings, compatriot Xu Xin, was not in attendance, elevating another Chinese teammate to the #2 seed: none other than living legend Ma Long. While Fan Zhendong is clearly the best player in the world right now, Ma Long is arguably the best to ever pick up a paddle. Ma Long is one of only five male players to complete a career "Grand Slam," denoting singles gold at the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup. He has won the last three World Championships on the trot, a historic distinction shared only with Chinese legend Zhuang Zedong (1961-1965) in the biennial championship era (1957-present). Ma has defeated Fan Zhendong in the finals of both the World Cup (2015) and the World Championships (2017), part of his overall 14-4 head-to-head advantage over Fan. At 32, however, time is not on his side, as the 23-year-old has emerged the victor in their last two tilts. On paper, it is of course no surprise that the top two seeds should meet in the finals. Fan enjoyed a relatively unruffled path to the finals, sweeping everyone in his path, save Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei. For Ma, however, each match was a battle, none more so than the semifinals. There, Ma faced 17-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto, the Japanese phenomenon who had sent Ma packing in last year's World Cup. Harimoto, hungry for another crack at the World Cup, executed his offensive game plan and built a 3-1 lead in games. Ma, facing the ghosts of last year, must have felt a nauseating sense of déjà vu as Harimoto punctuated each point with a bloodcurdling scream. After speaking with his coach, Ma made some adjustments and got back to work. Point by point, game by game, Ma clawed his way back until it was tied up going into the deciding seventh game. With experience and momentum working in his favor, Ma completed the comeback, (11-7, 3-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4). "Harimoto has made a huge improvement to his game in the last two years," Ma said afterward. "I lost to him last year in the World Cup. Even at 1-3 down I did not give up and my coach kept encouraging me and giving me tips." Having avenged his loss to Harimoto, Ma then set about reestablishing his dominance over his upstart teammate, Fan Zhendong. With history on the line, a pyrotechnic display was all but assured. Ma came out blazing, dominating Fan in the first game, 11-3. Fan kept cool and promptly put himself on the hill with three straight wins. Ma, once again facing a 1-3 deficit to a relentless younger rival, laced up his work boots and clocked back in, squaring the match with two solid wins. Just like that, it was game seven in the World Cup finals. All square at five points apiece, Fan elected to use his time out. Whatever adjustments he made during this critical breather proved effective, as Fan went on a 5-2 run to earn three championship points. Ma, to his credit, staved off two do-or-die points to pull within one of deuce. Serving at 9-10, Ma placed a side-underspin ball to the middle. Fan quickly stepped around to fire his signature backhand "banana" flick wide to Ma's forehand for a winner, stuffing the comeback attempt with a (3-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9) scoreline. Afterward, the victorious Fan was quick to share credit with his team. "Despite this pandemic, we could continue to train at a very high level," said the World Cup winner. "After eight months without international events, I didn’t feel very rusty or unable to do what I set out to." With the win, Fan Zhendong not only secured the first-ever three-peat in ITTF World Cup history, but he equaled Ma Lin's all-time record of four titles. Perhaps even more significantly, he proved to himself that he can beat Ma Long with a Major on the line. Following his current trajectory, Fan Zhendong seems assured of rewriting the history books. While Ma Lin may be resigned to looking on helplessly as his World Cup record is threatened, Ma Long still has a lot to say about if and when Fan Zhendong joins him in the "Grand Slam" club.

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