I watched Fan Zhendong get beat by Harimoto 3-1 in the Asian Cup this year. At first, I didn't think much of it but a great match by Harimoto. Someone commented that Fan Zhendong was hitting it right at Harimoto a lot, suggesting he threw the match. Another said he wasn't hitting with the same power he normally does. They might be right, when I watched the finals of the Asian Cup between Fan Zhendong and LIN Gaoyuan, he did play differently.
So the question is, did Fan Zhendong allowed Harimoto to win? My theory, I now think it is possible. You see, LIN Gaoyuan and Fan Zhendong would not have met in the finals if Fan Zhendong would have beaten Harimoto. So by losing, he went into the lower bracket and Gaoyuan remained in the higher bracket. This way China could take both the gold and silver and eventually they did. What do you think?
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