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Mike Chan

Chinese table tennis players and officials have demanded a better deal for the stars of the sport in a meeting with the global governing body in Singapore.
Changes to the calendar and competition prize money allocations were proposed during the discussion, held on Saturday before this week’s Singapore Smash tournament.
Players, coaches and administrators from across the world joined meetings to voice their concerns to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the governing body, and World Table Tennis (WTT), the entity created by the ITTF in 2019 to run tournaments.
Among the Chinese contingent was reigning women’s world champion Sun Yingsha. She said the competition calendar was “too packed” and she hoped adjustments could be made, Chinese media reported.

“Players should be allowed more time for physical recovery and mental adjustment, and training arrangements should be more conducive to preparing for the next competition,” the world No 1 said.
Women’s world No 2 Wang Manyu said higher-ranked players should be seeded and given more protection in the draws at all WTT tournaments.
“Say, for example, the WTT Finals only listed the top four as seeded players and the rest just filled in the slots randomly,” she said. “It’s unreasonable to not give the highly ranked players the draw protection they deserve.”
Meanwhile, the top men’s singles player, Wang Chuqin, said the prize money for the WTT Finals did not reflect its status as the “biggest, most anticipated” year-ending tournament.
“It is a top event that players [qualify for] only after accumulating results throughout the year, but the prize level does not match its status,” the world No 1 said.
“The prize money should be increased, and qualified players should be given incentives or appearance fees based on ranking to encourage them to be more motivated and prepare more seriously for the competition.”
Wang Manyu suggested that the portion given to the winner from the overall prize pool should be higher.
In the last WTT Finals, in Fukuoka in November, the total prize money was US$700,000, with the singles and doubles winners each taking home US$40,000 and US$8,000 respectively.
The next WTT Champions event in Chongqing next month has an overall pool of US$800,000, with the winner set to walk away with US$60,000.
The four Grand Smash events are more lucrative: the current edition in Singapore boasts total prize money of US1,500,000. But whereas US$75,000 is set aside for each singles champion, the doubles winners still receive a fraction of that, prompting Liang Jingkun, the world No 4 in men’s singles, to call during the meeting for an equal share of prize money between singles and doubles.
At the meeting was Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, who also serves as ITTF deputy president and WTT chairman. Liu suggested abolishing rules and policies that oblige players to appear in tournaments.
In December, Olympic champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng withdrew from the ITTF world rankings, saying they would not accept ITTF fines. The legendary Ma Long also asked to be omitted from the rankings list.
The governing body imposes fines on players for skipping WTT-sanctioned tournaments to play in other events that run concurrently.

Liu reportedly told the meeting that top-tier WTT tournaments such as the Grand Smash events and six-leg Champions Series should offer automatic berths to decorated players, including Olympic and world champions. He suggested that the calendar should leave room to allow national associations to stage their own competitions.
In response, ITTF president Petra Sorling said she valued the input, and viewed players as “the core” of the sport.
Sharath Kamal Achanta, co-chair of the ITTF Athletes’ Commission, added: “Our goal is to ensure that players and the structure around them evolve together, creating a stronger and more sustainable table tennis ecosystem – not just for us today, but for future generations of players.”


China’s Sun Yingsha, Wang Chuqin ask table tennis body ITTF for better deal for players

Chinese table tennis stars Ma Long, Chen Meng to miss World Cup but Fan Zhendong may play

Singapore Smash: Hong Kong table tennis veteran Wong, Lam through to main draw

Chinese table tennis fans outraged as Chen Meng, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long dropped from team

ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation)

Chinese national team members in their meeting with the ITTF in Singapore. Photo: Handout

Reigning world champion Sun Yingsha said the competition calendar was “too packed”. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese association chief Liu Guoliang, who also holds ITTF and WTT posts. Photo: Handout

Paris gold medallist Chen Meng (left) and multiple Olympic and world champion Ma Long are set to miss out on the World Cup. Photo: Getty Images

Zhou Qihao was the only Chinese first-round loser at the Singapore Smash. Photo: Xinhua

Chen Meng has been left out of the latest China team. Photo: EPA-EFE

Fan Zhendong, who had insisted he was not retiring, will not feature in the Asian Cup. Photo: AFP

Ma Long was also not named in the China team for the tournament in Shenzhen. Photo: AFP

Sport

China

Other Sport

Prize money, packed calendar and rankings are raised at meeting between players and officials on sidelines of Singapore Smash


Prize money, packed calendar and rankings are raised at meeting between players and officials on sidelines of Singapore Smash.
