In the intense tug-of-war between Fan Zhendong and WTT, more and more supporters are rallying behind Fan Zhendong. As Guo Yuehua, a veteran of the national table tennis team, has said, the impact of this incident surpasses previous internal events such as He Zhili's match-fixing and the strike by main players like Ma Long. After all, this matter now concerns the entire International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
Guo Yuehua, a contemporary teammate of Cai Zhenhua in the table tennis world who paired with Ni Xiaolian in mixed doubles, holds a certain influence in the table tennis community. He recently released a video that lasts over five minutes to strongly support Fan Zhendong and pointedly identified three misconceptions within WTT during this incident:
Misconception One: The high density and intensity of competitions have not taken into account the athletes' capacity to bear the load. In the past, athletes would only have one particularly important World Championships every two years, but now there are important matches happening frequently. For instance, in 2025, there will not only be the Asian Cup, World Cup, Asian Championships, and World Championships, but also countless WTT series events!
Misconception Two: The WTT Grand Slam awards 2000 points, which is as high as the points awarded at the Olympics. The points from WTT series events are very high. Just during the summer of 2025, there will be three grand slams, accumulating over 6000 points in just three months. With such a high number of points, the main players of the national team will have to put additional pressure on themselves to maintain their leading scores.
Misconception Three: Athletes are not allowed to take leave. If an athlete is not feeling well or is tired, they cannot choose to rest.
Chairman Liu Guoliang has also received "punishment." During today's opening ceremony of the Ping Pong Super League, calls for his dismissal filled the screen. It should be noted that Chairman Liu Guoliang previously enjoyed an excellent reputation, receiving applause and cheers wherever he went. Now facing such questioning and criticism, it is indeed time for him to reflect seriously!
