In the opening match of the World Table Tennis Championships team competition on February 25, the Chinese men's team and the French team faced off fiercely. The first singles match saw Wang Chuqin quickly crush his opponent Felix Lebrun with a thunderous momentum, and it took only ten minutes to easily win with a devastating score of -11 and 3-11.
In the next battle, Fan Zhendong encountered stubborn resistance from Alex Lebrun. At the beginning of the match, Alex's backhand was like an impregnable wall, with precision strikes and some lucky balls to gain a 3-1 advantage, while Fan Zhendong looked a little hectic. However, at critical moments, Fan Zhendong showed superb adjustment ability, skillfully slowed down the tempo, stabilized his position, and reversed to an 8-4 lead through consecutive points. One episode in the game showcased his sportsmanship: the referee failed to detect a sideline kick from Alex, but Fan was honest and admitted the misjudgment, and although the move temporarily interfered with his rhythm of the game, Alex struggled to make it 8-9. However, Fan's slight mistake in the backhand showdown gave Alex the chance, who took the opportunity to take a 10-9 lead and eventually narrowly won the first game 9-11.
In the second game, if the two sides meet, they will be entangled at the beginning and fight to 2 draws. At this time, Fan Zhendong was like a tiger descending from the mountain, playing a series of wonderful multi-shot confrontations, especially aiming at the opponent's middle position to launch an offensive, instantly stretching the score to 6-2. He saw every detail, resolutely suppressed Alex's backhand area, switched to a forehand position, and the strategy worked, making it difficult for his opponent to parry, and finally won the game with a decisive advantage of 11-4, showing his tenacity and solid skills.
In the third game, Alex Lebrun counterattacked like a spring and scored three wonderful backhand points in a row, which caught Fan Zhendong off guard and fell into a 0-3 deficit at the beginning. After that, Alex continued to press with a solid backhand and was almost unassailable, holding the lead all the way until he sealed the victory at 8-11.
In the fourth game, Fan Zhendong faced a more serious challenge, facing the imposing Alex, who had to apply for a timeout when he was down 0-2. After returning from the timeout, Fan Zhendong used the change of serve to turn things around, and once tied the score to 2-2. However, in the pinch, Alex's backhand surged forward again, leaving Fan Zhendong 5-8 down the edge of the cliff. At this moment, Fan Zhendong showed extraordinary psychological quality and tactical wisdom, turned the tide in adversity, and won the crucial tiebreaker with a thrilling 12-10 reversal.
In the fifth game, Fan Zhendong awakened like a fierce lion, especially in terms of forehand attack, and started with a sharp offensive to establish a 4-0 advantage. He flexibly responded to Alex's short and long ball challenges, accurately cracked the opponent's offensive layout, firmly controlled the pace of the game, and even if he occasionally missed, he was still able to maintain a 9-3 lead. In the end, Fan Zhendong sealed the victory 11-7 and staged a heart-wrenching 3-2 reversal, which made the team a valuable 2-0 lead and further consolidated the supremacy of the Chinese team.