By Henry Chen 

Fang Bo, currently standing in the 11th place of the latest world ranking, is still considered to be one of the lesser famous personalities of the Chinese Team compared to the likes of Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Xu Xin, and even Fan Zhendong.

Despite such status, Fang Bo actually has the qualities and strengths to change the structure of the strongest team in the world. That came from the head coach Liu Guoliang.

Fang Bo didn’t really have a lot of opportunities to make himself known in the international circuit not until 2014. In that year, he got qualified to represent the Chinese Team in the World Team Cup and became one of the many Chinese world champions. Since then, he posted a positive trend.

Fang Bo impressed the coaches of the Chinese National Team with his performance in the 2015 Suzhou World Championships. He defeated his bigger compatriots Xu Xin and Zhang Jike, securing his place in the final round against Ma Long.

Although he settled as the runner-up, his achievement was more than what was expected from him. It is the biggest highlight of his career so far. That gave him the opportunity to complete the Olympic core of the Chinese Team together with Zhang Jike, Ma Long, Xu Xin, and Fan Zhendong.

However, the competition for the Rio Olympic lineup was too high for Fang Bo. The usual names were selected: Ma Long, Zhang Jike and Xu Xin.

So is Fang Bo looking forward for the Tokyo Olympic Games? Does he have any advantages?

“My advantages? I don’t have too obvious advantages. My feet are still on the ground. I’ll just fight and just go step by step,” Fang Bo humbly said.