The Olympic champion hasn’t played internationally since winning men’s singles and team gold at Paris 2024, and since then has enjoyed travelling around the world and taking in the sights.

A renowned Madridista, Fan even had the chance to visit the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and watch Real Madrid in action in 2024.

Now, Fan has been able to hang out with one of his musical idols: Ed Sheeran.

While Fan is a well-known Swiftie and went to a Taylor Swift concert in Singapore last year ahead of the Singapore Smash tournament, Sheeran is the first global music star the Chinese former world number one has been able to meet.

The two met backstage before Sheeran played the third night of a six-date visit to Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, on Wednesday (26 February). Sheeran even shared a video of them playing table tennis, each using everything but an actual paddle to hit the ball.

Sheeran used a guitar and even a wheelie rubbish bin, while Fan was seen using a camera as a paddle.

They also took a photo together with Fan holding up an Ipswich Town football shirt – Sheeran being a fan of the Premier League club and sponsoring the front of their shirts.

Unfortunately, despite Fan’s best wishes on Instagram for Ipswich to do well, the Tractor Boys suffered a 3–2 defeat at Manchester United in the Premier League.