Fan Zhendong, the world’s no. 1 men’s singles table tennis player, shared on social media that a female stalker stole his underwear from his Beijing hotel room last week.
According to Fan, she somehow obtained the key card of his hotel room from reception on Thursday.
He also said that hotel cleaning staff were witnesses to the crime and that the hotel’s CCTV footage could prove his claims.
In his post, the Chinese athlete also implored his fans to move away from fan culture.
I’ve been calling on my fans multiple times to be rational, to keep their distance from me and to boycott fandom culture. This intrusive incident has harmed me a lot. To guarantee my personal safety, I have decided to halt my interactions with individual fans, including accepting the delivery of fan mail.
Additionally, Fan shared that he has already reported the incident to a police station in Beijing’s Dongcheng District.
A police document circulating online reportedly shows that the authorities are now investigating the alleged theft.
No arrests have been made so far.
The recent incident was not the first time Fan encountered an overzealous fan during his travels.
The table tennis star reportedly had to scold his fans for their behavior after a large crowd gathered at China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in September 2021 while on his way to China’s 14th National Games in Xian, Shaanxi province.
The Olympic silver medalist said his fans caused a major disruption at the airport while taking pictures and asking for his autograph.
Fan expressed his frustration in a Weibo post, saying, “Aggressive crowds and physical contact not only bothered me but created inconveniences for the airport staff and other passengers. What’s more, obeying the social-distancing rules is everybody’s responsibility because the coronavirus pandemic is not over.”
Fan is currently competing at this year’s World Table Tennis Champions event in Xinxiang, China.
During his next match, which will be held on Wednesday, he will be up against South Korea’s Lee Sang-su.
