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Equipment
From the early Viscaria to the signature Fan Zhendong ALC — how his gear evolved with his career.
Blade
Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC (gold-tail)
2022–2026
Forehand Rubber
DHS Hurricane 3 (blue sponge)
2022–2026
Backhand Rubber
Butterfly Dignics 09C
2022–2026
11/01/2021
SignedBecame a signed Butterfly player; the officially announced setup was his personal custom ALC blade paired with a Dignics 05 backhand rubber (later transitioning to Dignics 09C).
09/01/2022
ReleasedButterfly launched the 5-model Fan Zhendong signature series — ALC, SALC, ZLC, SZLC and CNF — covering aramid-carbon and ZLC options at different stiffness levels.
08/04/2024
AchievementAt the Paris Olympics men's singles final he beat Truls Möregårdh 4-1 to claim his first Olympic singles gold and complete the Super Slam (World Championships + Olympics + WTT Grand Smash + Asian Games/National Games, etc.).
08/22/2026
ActiveIn Bundesliga round 2, at home, he beat Bad Königshofen 3-1 and scored 2 points himself; his forehand switched back from Z03 to the blue-sponge Hurricane 3, returning to the classic setup.
2026
ExperimentalIn May 2026, during the Champions League semifinal stage, he switched his forehand to Z03 (the change happened roughly 48 hours before the Champions League final). He then used it continuously through the Champions League semifinal/final and the Bundesliga semifinal/final, leading his team to a treble of the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League and being voted season MVP; his Saarbrücken career thus came to a close. The backhand remained Dignics 09C.
Sources: Sohu · Bundesliga final equipment watch (2026-05-31)RacketInsiders · Fan Zhendong rubber archive (Z03 non-standard config, brief test only)Zhihu · Bundesliga semifinal setup record (2026-05-30)
2022–2026
In September 2022 Butterfly launched the Fan Zhendong signature series (5 models: ALC/SALC/ZLC/SZLC/CNF); he uses the gold-tail custom Fan Zhendong ALC. At the 2024 Paris Olympics he won the men's singles gold and completed the Super Slam. He kept this classic setup through his Bundesliga Saarbrücken and Düsseldorf years, with a brief Z03 forehand experiment in May 2026.
Sources: Sohu · The Blade Revolution (equipment evolution overview)Sohu · Butterfly Fan Zhendong full blade series (5-model review)RacketInsiders · Fan Zhendong rubber archive (standard setup record)
2021–2022
On 2021-11-01 he officially signed as a Butterfly equipment endorser; the officially announced setup was a custom ALC blade with Dignics 05 on the backhand (later transitioning to Dignics 09C). That same year he won the Houston World Championships men's singles title — his first singles title at a Triple Crown event.
Sources: Elite Table Tennis Network · Butterfly official signing announcement (2021-11-01)TableTennisDaily forum · Signing discussion thread (2021-11-01)
2017–2020
Back on the Butterfly arylate-carbon blade, he switched the forehand to Hurricane 3 blue sponge; he reached his first World Championships singles final in Düsseldorf 2017 and returned to the final in Budapest 2019.
Sources: Sohu · The Blade Revolution (equipment evolution overview)
2015–2016
During his short Stiga stint he used the Diamond V (Infinity VPS V); at the 2015 Suzhou World Championships he reached his first singles final (and that same event won mixed doubles with Chen Meng).
Sources: Yoger · Stiga Diamond V product page (same model as used at Worlds)Sogou Wenwen · Equipment-circle config record (UGC, for reference only)
2012–2014
In his early national-team days he used the classic Butterfly arylate-carbon Viscaria, with Hurricane 3 (national) on the forehand and Skyline on the backhand; at 16 he took men's singles silver at the 2013 National Games (losing the final 3-4 to Ma Long) and won two golds in the team and doubles events.
Sources: 360 Encyclopedia · Fan Zhendong entry (2013 National Games results record)
Some historical setups and backhand rubber models are to be verified; official listings and match tests prevail.