China table tennis team out of WTT Middle East hub over Covid-19 concerns

‘Disappointing but understandable’, World Table Tennis says of decision ahead of China hosting next hub event in April

Hong Kong were accused of using coronavirus as an ‘excuse’ when they pulled out of same tournament in January

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Xu Xin of China returns the ball at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open in Magdeburg, Germany. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:24pm, 2 Mar 2021Updated: 3:23pm, 2 Mar 2021

World leading table tennis power China pulled out of the inaugural World Table Tennis Middle East hub in Qatar, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong, who made the same decision in January.

“Team China’s withdrawal from the Middle East Hub is disappointing but understandable under the circumstances the Chinese Table Tennis Association have outlined,” Stephen Duckitt, Event Strategy Director of WTT said in a brief statement from the International Table Tennis Federation on Monday.

“Despite the continuing challenge of the pandemic, we are ready to deliver the first official WTT events in Doha and we continue to work closely with the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) and local authorities to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”

Qin Zhijian, secretary general of the CTTA and head coach of the Chinese men’s team, expressed his regret that China would no longer participate at the upcoming tournament which will take place in the Qatari capital from March 3-13.

Sun Yingsha of China serves to Miu Hirano of Japan during the gold medal table tennis women's match at the 2018 Youth Olympic Summer Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: AP

“We will not be able to send table tennis players to play outside China until the Olympic Games due to the ongoing pandemic situation worldwide,” said Qin, looking toward the delayed Tokyo 2020 tournament this summer.

“We have been putting in full effort to make it happen because we truly wish to participate in and show support to the first ever WTT event, but now sadly we need to cancel our participation to WTT Middle East Hub.”