Former China table tennis coach opens up after top players turn backs on tournament in protest
International Table Tennis Federation threatens to punish star-studded China team after three top-ranked men’s players fail to show up at China Open
The former head coach of China’s all-conquering table tennis team has denied knowing three top Chinese players would stage a no-show at a major tournament in protest at his removal.
Highly-respected Liu Guoliang, a former grand slam champion who lost his job last week in a restructuring of Chinese table tennis, apologised to fans on the players’ behalf.
But the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has threatened to punish the star-studded China team for the actions of the players, who also said sorry.
The sport’s three top-ranked men’s players – triple Olympic gold medallist and Rio singles champion Ma Long, 20-year-old youngster Fan Zhendong and Rio Olympic team gold medallist Xu Xin – failed to appear for their second-round singles matches at the prestigious ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Friday.
Two Chinese coaches, Qin Zhijian and Ma Lin – a retired player and a former men’s doubles gold medallist from the 2004 Athens Games – also failed to show up.
