BEIJING - Renowned Chinese table tennis stars Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng announced their withdrawal from the world rankings on Dec 27, citing new regulations imposed by World Table Tennis (WTT).
According to their announcements on social media, both of them have formally signed a notification declaring their retirement from all events sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Dec 23.
As defined in the ITTF statutes, the ITTF-sanctioned events include the events sanctioned by WTT.
Fan, the reigning men's singles champion from the Paris Olympics, shared the news on the morning of Dec 27.
He stated that he is unable to comply with WTT's new regulation, which imposes fines on players for not participating in events and that he could not "afford" to pay them.
This story is from the December 28, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the December 28, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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