Complete, ruthless, aggressive and dominant — no single word quite describes China's Olympic and world champion paddler Fan Zhendong when he unleashes his fierce precision. He simply leaves his opponent, and the world, in awe.

中国在奥林匹克乒乓球势如破竹的统治力已经无法用语言形容。世界冠军樊振东在男单紧锣密鼓的赛程中一路过关斩将，在世界舞台上尽情释放自己的实力，让所有人为之惊叹。

The "baby-faced assassin", as he is known among his adoring fans for his cherubic features and deadly wrist, took the table tennis world by storm on Sunday, as he romped to a 49-minute 4-1 win over Sweden's Truls Moregard in the final of the men's singles to claim first Olympic gold medal of his career. It also means he has completed a prestigious "Grand Slam" by collecting titles at the World Championships, World Cup and, now, the Olympics.

“娃娃脸刺客”樊振东因其无害的面部表情和一击致命的球技被许多球迷称赞。8月4日，他掀起了乒乓球界的风暴，在男单决赛中仅用49分钟，以大比分4-1战胜瑞典的特鲁斯·莫雷加德，夺得了他职业生涯的第一枚奥运金牌。这也意味着他通过在世乒赛、世界杯、以及本次奥运会上获得冠军，成就了自己的乒乓球“大满贯”。

It was eight years in the making, and countless challenges had to be overcome, not just from overseas opponents, but as many, if not more so from his world-class teammates, as he fought for supremacy in, arguably, the most intense "civil war" of any sport's national program. It has forged Fan's already steely will to the point of invincibility.

经过八年的酝酿，樊振东必须克服重重困难，不仅要面对来自海外的强敌，还有许多乒乓球世界级的队友，可以说他在最激烈的“内战”中一举夺金。男单的激烈对抗已经将樊振东的意志和心态锻炼得如钢铁般坚定。

Fan's win on Sunday at the South Paris Arena — an almost "home court", packed by red-flag-waving Chinese fans — has redeemed the narrow defeat he suffered at the hands of his legendary teammate Ma Long in the singles final at Tokyo 2020, inspiring Fan to keep pushing to achieve a "double-slam" by 2028, as Ma did in 2021.

8月4日，樊振东在坐满了挥舞着中国红旗的球迷的“中国主场”——南巴黎竞技场4号馆（South Paris Arena#4）夺得金牌，弥补了他在东京奥运会男单决赛中输给国乒传奇——马龙的遗憾。此次夺冠激励樊振东在乒乓球的道路上继续努力，像马龙在2021年一样，争取在2028年实现自己的“双满贯”。

"It all came down to the hard work I put in every day. While there are athletes with innate talent, who can win easily anytime, anywhere, I hope to keep sharpening my craft and continue fighting for more glory, together with my team," Fan said at the post-final news conference.

樊振东在赛后发布会上表示：“场上的表现都是需要平时的积累。每个队伍都有天才选手，也都能够把乒乓球演绎得更加极致。下一个目标我希望能和我的队友一起，继续捍卫我们乒乓球队的荣誉，（希望）能有好的发挥和表现。”

Fan's final encounter with Moregard, who stunned China's world No 1 Wang Chuqin in the opening round, was the latest installment of a decades-long international rivalry between China and Sweden, underlined by the respective team coaches — China's three-time Olympian Wang Hao and Swedish legend Jorgen Persson, who have fought many classic matches against each other throughout their playing careers.

樊振东与莫雷加德的交锋是中国队和瑞典队长达数十年后的交手，此前莫雷加德在1/16决赛中击败了世界第一种子选手王楚钦。两国教练——中国队的三届奥运选手王皓和瑞典传奇人物约尔根·佩尔森——在他们的职业生涯中曾多次交手。

"Each and every team has its own prime era, and the Swedish program was definitely one of our biggest rivals," said 27-year-old Fan, who has bagged a total nine world championships gold medals in singles, doubles and team since his debut in 2014.

"Now with strong and young competitors like Moregard emerging, I believe the rivalry will continue, and we need to push ourselves to stay ahead."

自2014年首次亮相以来，樊振东在男单、男团、混合双打中总共获得了九枚金牌。在被问到此次对战瑞典队的看法时，27岁的樊振东称赞道：“很多队伍在不同时期都有优秀的、辉煌的历史，瑞典队当然也是其中之一。我连续两次在大赛里和莫雷去对抗，对我来说是一件非常开心，非常荣幸的事，也从另一个角度证明了我们两个的实力。每一次和他比赛都不轻松，非常焦灼。今天虽然比赛是我赢了，但是在场上我们没有失败者。”

After beating Moregard 4-1 with relative ease, Fan performed for the roaring crowd in Paris, tucking both hands beneath his armpits to emulate French soccer star Kylian Mbappe's signature goal celebration.

在相对轻松地以4-1击败莫雷加德之后，樊振东在欢呼声中模仿了法国皇马球星基利安·姆巴佩（Kylian Mbappe）的标志性动作——将双手放在胸前，显得十分轻松自在。

A die-hard fan of Spanish La Liga giant Real Madrid, Fan also impersonated former Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, performing the iconic "siu" celebration to celebrate his 4-0 semifinal win against local favorite Felix Lebrun — a fun gesture that has won over fans in Europe.

作为西甲豪门俱乐部皇家马德里的铁杆球迷，樊振东在半决赛中以4-0战胜法国本土选手费利克斯·勒布伦（Felix Lebrun）后，还模仿了前皇马球员、足球巨星克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多（Cristiano Ronaldo）标志性的庆祝动作“siu”，这个动作也获得了许多欧洲球迷的青睐。

A super Swiftie

As aggressively competitive as he is at the table, Fan comes across as any average young man, following European soccer as his hobby, and enjoying the latest music trends, especially the catchy songs of pop megastar Taylor Swift.

尽管在乒乓球台上表现出十足的好胜心，樊振东给大家的印象和许多年轻人一样，喜欢看欧洲足球，也会紧跟当下音乐潮流，他还是美国歌坛巨星泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）的的“霉粉”。

By posting his appreciation for Swift's music regularly on his social media account Weibo, where he has garnered over 3.2 million followers, Fan has captivated not only table tennis enthusiasts, but also a legion of "Swifties", the American artist's devoted followers.

樊振东拥有超过320万微博粉丝，他不仅获得了很多乒乓球爱好者的关注，时不时在微博上发表对斯威夫特音乐的喜爱也吸引了一大批“霉粉”。

After Fan outplayed Lebrun to advance to the men's singles final on Friday, social media users began superimposing Fan's face on Taylor Swift posters and stickers to rally support for the table tennis standout.

8月2日，樊振东击败勒布伦晋级男单决赛后，不少网友开始将樊振东的脸叠加在泰勒·斯威夫特的海报和贴纸上，表达对樊振东的支持。

Fan, a self-proclaimed Swiftie himself, has openly expressed his admiration for the iconic musician.

"Music is universal. Great musicians like Taylor bring us healing power and confidence," he said.

英语新闻丨樊振东男单夺金，实现国乒大满贯