China's table tennis player Fan Zhendong in action during the men's singles final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. [Photo by Wei Xiaohao / China Daily]

Complete, ruthless, aggressive and dominant — no single word quite describes China's Olympic and world champion paddler Fan Zhendong when he unleashes his fierce precision. He simply leaves his opponent, and the world, in awe.

The "baby-faced assassin", as he is known among his adoring fans for his cherubic features and deadly wrist, took the table tennis world by storm on Sunday, as he romped to a 49-minute 4-1 win over Sweden's Truls Moregard in the final of the men's singles to claim first Olympic gold medal of his career. It also means he has completed a prestigious "Grand Slam" by collecting titles at the World Championships, World Cup and, now, the Olympics.

It was eight years in the making, and countless challenges had to be overcome, not just from overseas opponents, but as many, if not more so from his world-class teammates, as he fought for supremacy in, arguably, the most intense "civil war" of any sport's national program. It has forged Fan's already steely will to the point of invincibility.