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Recently, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced a series of new penalty regulations targeting non-participating players, which immediately sparked extensive discussions and attention in the table tennis world.
Among them, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, two leading figures in the national table tennis team and Paris Olympic men's and women's singles champions, both expressed strong dissatisfaction with this and officially announced their withdrawal from the world rankings, taking concrete action to challenge the new ITTF regulations.
The actions of Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng immediately caused a stir among fans and the media.
As we all know, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are both pillar players in today's national table tennis team, representing the top male and female singles players respectively.
Fan Zhendong became another Grand Slam winner after Ma Long at the Paris Olympics, while Chen Meng completed the feat of winning two consecutive Olympic women's singles titles, becoming the third female player to do so after Deng Yaping and Zhang Yining, and her historical status has also rapidly risen.
Some fans believe that despite not yet being a Grand Slam winner, Chen Meng's honor of winning two consecutive Olympic singles titles is enough to overshadow everything, and her status in the history of women's table tennis is enough to rank in the top five or even top three.
Indeed, for table tennis, the Olympic singles champion is the ultimate goal and the most important honor.
In comparison, the weight of the World Championships and the World Cup is much lighter.
Now, the two Olympic men's and women's singles champions have successively announced their withdrawal from the international rankings, but what is the reason for this?
Judging from the posts of the two, it is mainly because the ITTF has issued several new rules that make the two champions "unable to bear"!
So, what exactly are the contents of the new ITTF regulations?
According to media summaries, the new regulations mainly include five points:
First, seeded players who fail to participate in matches without cause will face fines;
Second, athletes ranked in the top 100 in the world must announce their participation plans six months in advance;
Third, qualified players must participate in the competition, otherwise they will be fined $250;
Fourth, players who withdraw mid-match must undergo medical examination and provide medical proof, otherwise they will be fined $1500;
Fifth, withdrawing from three WTT events throughout the year will result in a fine of 250to500.
Compared to the previous penalty of assigning 0 points, the introduction of the new regulations is undoubtedly more stringent, which has also aroused the dissatisfaction of many athletes.
Therefore, Fan Zhendong took the lead as the first person to try something new, and Chen Meng followed suit in response.
It can be said that the two have already "fought hard" against the above-mentioned new regulations of the ITTF.
Objectively speaking, the introduction of the new regulations may help improve the participation and influence of competitions, but for top athletes like Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, they often have more complex schedules and personal plans.
Therefore, the introduction of the new regulations undoubtedly brings greater pressure and trouble to them.
With Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng successively withdrawing from the world rankings, there has also been heated discussion and voices online.
One of them concerns Liu Guoliang, the head of the Table Tennis Association. As Vice Chairman of the ITTF, Liu Guoliang naturally has an important say in the new regulations.
If Coach Liu approves the promulgation of the new regulations, and the two national table tennis champions still insist on leading the protest, does this mean that Coach Liu is "out of control" of Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng?
If Coach Liu does not approve the promulgation of the new regulations, but the ITTF still promulgates the new regulations, and Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng take the lead in supporting Liu Guoliang, does this mean that Liu Guoliang's "out of control" of his authority within the ITTF?
Judging from the reactions of other internationally renowned players or bigwigs, there are no shortage of supporters for Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng.
Among them, Moregad said to Fan Zhendong, "You are one of the best in history, thank you for everything you've done!"
And table tennis legend Waldner said,
"We love the you who won't be knocked down by any difficulties!"
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What do you think about this?