On January 27, the WTT World Table Tennis Federation announced that it will appoint Ai Fukuhara, a famous Japanese table tennis player, as the first general manager of the WTT World Table Tennis Professional League Japan. At present, Asia is already the center of gravity of the world's table tennis, and the Japanese market is a very important part of it. WTT has appointed Ai Fukuhara, who has made outstanding achievements in the sport of table tennis, as the general manager of the Japan region, which can play a leading role in the strategic development of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation in Japan.
In response to this appointment, Ai Fukuhara also made a statement:
I have been involved in table tennis as a player since I was a child and now I am very excited by the recognition of my achievements and experience by the WTT World Table Tennis Federation. It is an honor for Liu Guoliang, Chairman of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation Council, and Steve Denton, CEO of ITTF Group, to invite me to serve as General Manager of WTT World Table Tennis Federation Japan. I will work for the players and contribute to meeting their most basic and urgent needs.
WTT invited Ai Fukuhara to this position for the following reasons:
First, Fukuhara ai has a great influence on herself
Known as a "table tennis prodigy" since childhood, Ai Fukuhara announced her retirement at the age of 30 and participated in four Olympic Games, reaching the round of 16 when she first participated in the Olympic Games in 2004. In 2012 and 2016, he won the team silver medal and the team bronze medal respectively, and in 2016, he also won the fourth place in the singles, which is a very good result. He also won 6 medals at the World Table Tennis Championships.
Ai Fukuhara's achievements can be said to be unmatched in Japan in the past decade, and she has become a well-known sports star in Japan. Her popularity is exactly what WTT needs.
Second, Fukuhara Ai has a good relationship with the national table tennis, and will say Chinese
Liu Guoliang is currently the chairman of the WTT World Table Tennis Professional League Council, and Fukuhara Ai has a very good relationship with Liu Guoliang, so it will be easier to accept WTT's invitation. In addition, Fukuhara Ai's liking degree in China needless to say, she is even more popular with her "ten-level Northeast dialect", and she can say that Chinese become another major advantage of Fukuhara Ai.
WTT invited her for their reasons, and Ai Fukuhara accepted the invitation with her considerations:
First, Ai Fukuhara really needs work
Last year, the news of Fukuhara Ai and Jiang Hongjie's "marriage change" made a lot of noise, and in the end, the two ended in divorce. After the divorce, the two children were raised by the husband, but Fukuhara Ai needed to pay child support, so she also needed to work to earn money. In addition, she will start a new family and will also need independent financial resources.
After the divorce, Ai Fukuhara was indeed a greater careerist, and she had a lot of work, during the Tokyo Olympic Games, she was invited by Fuji Tv to be a competition commentator, and later received a letter of appointment from her alma mater, Aomori University in Japan, as a visiting associate professor. This WTT appointment is indeed a very good job for Ai Fukuhara.
Second, save your image in the hearts of the Japanese people
"Marriage change" news came out before Fukuhara Ai's image in the hearts of the Japanese people is still good, but after being rumored to be "cheating", her image was greatly reduced, many fans who once loved her have a deep opinion of her, this time as the general manager of WTT Japan is a good opportunity for Fukuhara Ai, she can lead Japanese table tennis to a higher position, for Japanese table tennis to seek more "welfare".
The appointment of the position needs to follow the opinions of both sides, and the final decision must be accepted by both sides, so that Fukuhara Ai also becomes Liu Guoliang's subordinate. After that, they will work together for WTT and contribute to the sport of table tennis together so that it can stand higher in the sports world.