Total prize money is less than 200,000, fines may reach 1.64 million, Pingchao: Fan Zhendong challenges the world's No. 1 Wang Chuqin
Beijing time December 31 news, the 2024 Pingchao League finals continue. In the men's team semi-finals tonight, Shanghai Real Estate Team led by Grand Slam Fan Zhendong will face Shandong Weiqiao Team led by World No. 1 Wang Chuqin. Fan Zhendong has become a focus of attention in the Pingchao finals due to his withdrawal from the world rankings.
On December 30th, the Pingchao finals kicked off. On the first day of the competition, two women's team semi-finals were held. The world's number one "Little Demon King" Sun Yingsha led Shenzhen University to reverse Shanghai Longteng Team 3-1 and advance to the final. The world's number two Wang Manyu led Shandong Luneng to defeat Huangshi Base · Huaxin Team 3-0 and advance to the final.
Today, two men's team semi-finals will be contested. At 11:00, Huangshi Base vs. Shantou Mingrun; at 19:00, Shandong Weiqiao vs. Shanghai Real Estate. Among them, this semi-final in the evening became the biggest focus of this competition because of Fan Zhendong's appearance and his withdrawal from the world rankings before.
Regarding the withdrawal from the world rankings, Fan Zhendong wrote, "Recently, WTT introduced a new rule that fines for not participating in the competition. I really can't afford it, but I still respect the international organization... I can only choose to withdraw from the world rankings." Although WTT responded that it was "not newly introduced," Fan Zhendong's withdrawal from the rankings still became a focus in the sports world.
As for the "withdrawal fine" regulations, they are considered unreasonable. Someone calculated an account. According to the schedule for the first 11 months of 2025, if you do not participate in the competition, you will be fined $225,000, which is about 1.642 million yuan, but the total prize money of the event is less than 2 million.
Although the "withdrawal fine" made Fan Zhendong decide to withdraw from the world rankings. However, when he arrived at the training ground for the Pingchao League championship finals, Fan Zhendong seemed to be unaffected. In yesterday's training, Fan Zhendong was very relaxed throughout the process, and the quality of training with his teammates was also very high. It is expected that it will not have much impact on tonight's game. Looking forward to Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin's wonderful match!