Chinese table tennis star banned for three months after not knowing ‘international rules’

Top paddler Zhou Yu apologised for damaging the international reputation of Chinese table tennis after he was disqualified from last week’s Hungarian Open and was later banned for three months by the Chinese authorities.

The 2016 national men’s doubles champion (with partner world No 1 Fan Zhendong) was found guilty of tearing the black rubber side of his paddle in front of the assistant referee during his first round match against veteran Chuang Chih-Yuan of Taiwan as he wanted to replace the paddle with a spare one. He was trailing 2-3 overall in the best-of-seven tie.

Zhou, 26, was immediately disqualified by the referee and later received the suspension from the Chinese Table Tennis Association. His coach, Ma Jungfeng, was also banned for one month after being held responsible for his player’s behaviour.

The world No 61 said he would reflect deeply on his behaviour because he did not understand the rules clearly.

“The rubber was damaged during the match and I wanted to replace it,” said Zhou, who once ranked as high as 13 in the world. “But before any communication with the referee, I ripped it off and requested for a change of paddle, which was not allowed by the competition rules and that’s why I was disqualified.

“I feel sorry and will study the rules more carefully to avoid making similar mistakes in future.”