Produced by Micro Ping Pong
Author | Free straight plate
Edit | Six Panthers
More and more are exiting.
Withdrawal here includes withdrawal from the existing world ranking system, including withdrawal from WTT competitions.
Let's start with the exit from the world rankings.
In the world rankings in the first week of 2025, Fan Zhendong, Chen Meng, and Ma Long withdrew.
In the second week, Zhuang Zhiyuan and Wang Xinru also withdrew from the rankings.
In the third week, who will quit? It is not known for the time being. It is estimated that there will be, and it is likely to continue for some time, unless the WTT is really reformed.
Why?
Those who are really old, have injuries and illnesses that have no hope of being completely cured, and are deeply dissatisfied with the existing system have to withdraw.
In the past, you could stay in the rankings, anyway, if you don't play the game, you won't earn points at most, we still have points in the past, and it's better to have a ranking than nothing.
It's not easy to get this off, because it's a real fine, and the higher the ranking, the more the penalty is, and it's all real money. No one's money is blown by the wind, and it is not easy to make money these days.
Let's talk about withdrawing from the competition, referred to as "retiring".
As far as I personally know, Zhou Qihao withdrew from the singles and doubles of the Doha Star Challenge due to injury.
The fines for forfeiture are not well understood, and information has not yet been seen. The national table tennis should prepare the relevant medical certificate that meets the requirements of WTT to waive the fine.
If Doha's withdrawal from the tournament is an isolated phenomenon, the Singapore Grand Slam can be described as a "tide".
As of 9 January, nine players had withdrawn from the Singapore Grand Slam.
Let's talk about our national table tennis players first. On January 9, WTT officially announced the withdrawal of national player Lin Gaoyuan, Xue Fei was replaced, and CCTV Sports reported it, but did not announce the reason for the withdrawal.
Many people should know that Gao Yuan's father died of illness not long ago, and Gao Yuan needs to go home to take care of related matters during this period of time, and he does not have the physical and mental conditions to participate in the competition. So in this case, will WTT send a ticket? There have been similar reports on the Internet that a player from the Americas received a ticket for not playing because of the death of his grandfather. Rules that lack humanity are not good rules, they are absurd, and they make people feel embarrassed, awkward, and cold-toothed.
The following is the following figure for the conditions that qualify for the exemption from fines:
It is such rules that have sparked unprecedented debate and even quarrels among Chinese netizens. (The picture below shows the comment area under the WTT official announcement of Lin Gaoyuan's retirement post)
In addition, according to careful people, the list of the main competition has changed from the list of the main competition a few days ago.
The following players withdrawd.
Li Haoqing
Chen Siyu
Kim Jin-young
Side pine view
1 Orfion-Adam
1 Priscilla Tommy
Ivana Singalzan
Fatimo Bello
Among them, the withdrawal of North Korean player Kim Qin-young is the most attention-grabbing.
Initially, Kim Qinying's name appeared in the main competition list, and many people thought that the North Korean country would adjust its sports competition policy in 2025 and allow it to participate in commercial competitions, but as the time approached, North Korea's Kim Qinying and Bian Songjing still withdrew from the competition.
The Singapore Grand Slam is on January 30, and these players chose to withdraw from the tournament early to avoid some of the rules in time.
Regarding Kim Qinying and Bian Songjing's withdrawal from the competition, Chinese netizens discussed as follows.
Some netizens asked, will WTT fine Jin Qinying and Bian Songjing $5,000 each?
If the fine is implemented, the $10,000 will undoubtedly be a huge burden for the North Korean player. At the current exchange rate of North Korean won, $10,000 is equivalent to 8.824 million won, which is equivalent to 15 years of income for an ordinary Pyongyang worker.
The plight of the retired players aroused sympathy, and some netizens said that the expensive air tickets and the high cost of the event made it undoubtedly a risk for players who could not guarantee to enter the quarterfinals of singles. In this context, whether WTT will strictly enforce the fine policy has become the focus of everyone's attention.
But in fact, Kim Qin-young is ranked below 50 in the world, which is not in the range of $5,000, but $250 is a lot of money for the North Korean people.
Some netizens asked curiously: "Will (WTT) go to the general and ask for a fine?" ”
It's really laughable. Looking for a general to ask for a fine, who in the world has the guts? It's really not scared to death, it's not called three fat people.
现在WTT被放在火上炙烤。
So many players have withdrawn for different reasons, so let's ask you if WTT dares to impose a real fine.
If WTT is really domineering, just issue fines one by one, in front of fans all over the world.
Do you dare?