Ma Long and Chinese table tennis stars fined for Chengdu protest that ‘let down the fans’
Trio escape one-month ban from International Table Tennis Federation after no-show at the China Open in June
Table tennis authorities hit world number one Ma Long and two other Chinese stars with US$20,000 fines on Tuesday but stopped short of suspending them after they quit a tournament in protest at their coach’s removal.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) said that Ma, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin – the three top-ranked players in the world – “damaged the reputation of the ITTF” and “let down the global fans at the China Open”.
But the ITTF said in a statement that it had resisted a one-month ban after the trio promised there would be no repeat in future and explained why they had failed to turn up for their round-of-16 matches in Chengdu, southwestern China, in June.
The ITTF did not repeat the reasons given by the players, but at the time – in a rare show of dissent from Chinese sportsmen – they said they were too heartbroken to play after head coach Liu Guoliang was demoted.
Dubbed the “Chengdu Three” for their actions, they later apologised and China’s all-conquering table tennis team closed ranks.