Olympic champion clears the air on world table tennis controversy

Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, both Olympic World Table Tennis gold medalists at the 2024 Paris Games, recently caused a stir by withdrawing from the International Table Tennis Federation rankings. The reason? They are not happy with the fines for skipping certain WTT-sanctioned tournaments. What did this 27-year-old Olympic champion have to say?

Zhendong took to Weibo to express his frustration, saying: When specifically this happened, I'm not sure, but I'm sure I was never officially notified that I would be fined for withdrawing from the competition. I personally received official notice last week that WTT will strictly enforce the newly issued penalties starting next year. Seems a bit strange, right? How can such big names in the table tennis world not be aware of a rule that directly affects them?

World Table Tennis (WTT) responded quickly: defending the fines and pointing out Since the rules weren't new, the players simply hadn't been paying attention. They also mentioned that the changes for 2025 were made after collecting feedback from top players. That's where it gets interesting. WTT is sweetening the deal by increasing the prize pool by 20% and adjusting the profit distribution so that the final rounds of major events will offer bigger payouts. But there's a catch: if players enter a non-WTT event while skipping a WTT event, they will face even higher fines than before.

This adjustment reflects the value of the highest level WTT events in the global table tennis ecosystem and reinforces the importance of prioritizing these events. World table tennis explained. Fair or harsh? WTT's goal seems to be to get top players to prioritize their events, but does that always match what the players want?

The situation also raises deeper questions about the relationship between China's table tennis leadership and its stars. The rules appear to have come directly from Liu Guoliang, the former Olympic champion who took the reins of Chinese table tennis and now has significant influence at WTT and ITTF. It's curious, though: could this clash be more about internal politics than just tournament rules? Even French player Simon Gauzy did not accept WTT's explanation.

Simon Gauzy and other players express their frustration with the new rules of World Table Tennis

When World Table Tennis (WTT) attempted to address growing backlash over their recent rule changes by confirming the 2025 tournament calendar before the new year, their statement was met with resistance from players including French star Simon Gauzy, who took to social media broke down. to express his frustration. Telling the facts without any change, that's what you do. We are losing icons of our sport because of these rules. he wrote. You can't ignore the fact that this doesn't help the players. It's time for a REAL change.

The controversy intensified after Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng took their bold step to withdraw from the rankings, with Zhendong fueling the firestorm of wanting to be removed from the World Table Tennis Rankings even though he would continue to compete in China's National Games. WTT responded by emphasizing their respect for both athletes and recognizing their impact as icons of the sport. However, they stood by their position and defended the rules in line with practices in other professional sports. They also reiterated their commitment to supporting players and left the door open for their return.

But the debate continues: are these changes really in the best interests of athletes, or do they prioritize commercial interests over the well-being of the players? The tension between WTT's goals and players' concerns shows no signs of easing any time soon.