The WTT Mascot Regular Challenge in Muscat has concluded, with the Chinese national table tennis team delivering a solid performance. The highlight of the event was Chen Yuanyu's victory over Japan's top male player, Zhang Benzhihe, with a score of 4-2. Despite Chen's recent good form, the gap between him and Zhang, the top player of the Japanese men's team, is still quite noticeable. However, Chen showed no fear when facing Zhang, even after losing the first game. He managed to win the second and third games with scores of 11-7, taking a 2-1 lead. Zhang then made a comeback, winning the fourth game with a score of 11-3 to level the match at 2-2. Ultimately, Chen clinched victory in the fifth and sixth games with scores of 11-4 and 12-10, securing the championship with a final score of 4-2.
Although Chen emerged victorious against Zhang and won the championship, he only received a prize of $4,737.5, which is approximately 34,700 yuan. At first glance, this seems like a substantial amount, as he earned over 30,000 yuan from just a few matches. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that this is not the case.
To win the men's singles title, Chen had to participate in at least five matches, including a final against a heavyweight opponent like Zhang Benzhihe. For comparison, Zheng Qinwen earned over 900,000 yuan for winning her first-round match at the Australian Open, which is 26 times more than what Chen received. Moreover, while Chen won the men's singles title, Zheng was eliminated in the second round of the women's singles.
In addition, Shi Xunyao, another Chinese national table tennis player, won the women's singles title, finished second in mixed doubles, and was eliminated in the first round of women's doubles, earning only 5,052inprizemoney.SheistheonlyathletefromtheChineseteamtoreceivemorethan5,000. Kuai Man, who won the women's singles runner-up, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of women's doubles and the round of 16 in mixed doubles, receiving only 2,750,whichisalsoquitelow.Evenmoreastonishingly,ZhongGemanonlyreceived175 in prize money. However, Zhong's performance was indeed lacking, as she only participated in the women's doubles event and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Now, it suddenly makes sense why Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng decided to withdraw from the world rankings. The prize money offered by the WTT World Table Tennis Federation is simply not enough to cover the penalties for withdrawing from competitions. According to the regulations of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation, players of Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng's caliber are fined $5,000 for missing a single event. Even if Fan and Chen perform strongly, they can only earn tens of thousands of dollars per event. More importantly, they do not always win every event they participate in. After the Paris Olympics, both of them missed multiple events, and in the end, they could only announce their withdrawal from the world rankings to express their dissatisfaction.