The two table tennis Olympic champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng have announced their intention to leave the international tour of World Table Tennis (WTT), the official tournament organization of the world association ITTF. The reason for this is the newly introduced fines for not taking part in certain competitions.
“The WTT recently announced that it would impose fines for non-participation in tournaments,” wrote Fan, 27, a three-time Olympic champion who also won gold in Paris, on the social network Weibo: “I can’t afford this and I just decide to do this “To leave the world rankings.” Fan explained that he had already informed the Chinese association and the WTT of his decision. But Fan doesn’t want to turn his back on table tennis completely: “I’m not retiring and will continue to work hard to take part in various competitions,” he wrote: “I won’t turn away from the sport yet.”
His colleague Chen Meng, a two-time Olympic individual champion, justified her withdrawal with the lack of recovery time: “After the end of the Olympics and the intensity of physical training and mental stress, I needed some time to get back in shape and make decisions about my future career based on my physical condition,” she shared on Weibo.
Both athletes will probably lose their place in the world rankings as a result of their decision. The world association ITTF or WTT have not yet commented on the withdrawal of the prominent athletes. The new regulation regarding fines had already caused a stir in the scene.
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