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Lars Hamer

The former coach of China’s national table tennis team has launched a scathing attack on the state of the game, arguing that it is wrapped up in commercial interests and does not respect players.
Wu Jingping singled out the actions of World Table Tennis (WTT), slamming the body for prompting his former protégé Fan Zhendong, the Olympic champion in men’s singles at the Paris Games, to withdraw from the global rankings.
Wu, who coached the national team from 1991 to 2021, also said that today’s table tennis was no longer the national game he grew up with.
“It is very sad to see the mess that table tennis has become,” Wu wrote on Weibo on Saturday.
“When the ‘national game’ is wrapped up by capital to stand for commercial competitions, it has already changed.

“Now the ‘national game’ is no longer the ‘national game’ that we have been fighting for for decades, and the foundation created by our older generation has been almost squandered.”
Wu, whose post was viewed hundreds of millions of times on Weibo, said that the men’s team had been severely depleted and that Fan’s career had been derailed in its prime, something he called “unprecedented”.
“The moment that the International Table Tennis Federation launched World Table Tennis [in 2019], it used hegemony to kidnap athletes all over the world to serve its commercial profits,” Wu said.
“After the Paris Olympics, it introduced fines that forced new Olympic singles champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng to withdraw from the world rankings. This is unprecedented.”
In December, Fan, Chen and Ma Long withdrew from the rankings, citing an inability to pull out of WTT events without facing fines as one reason behind their decision.
The 2025 WTT Handbook introduced higher fines for players who chose to take part in non-WTT events that clashed with ones organised by the body.
WTT said the penalties for non-participation were enforced to ensure fans could see the world’s best players in action. However, following the withdrawals, a task force was established last month to address concerns, and a meeting was held with the Chinese players in Singapore on February 1.
The changes announced included direct entry to WTT events, from April, for reigning Olympic champions, who can play in all four WTT Grand Smash events and all six WTT Champions events, valid for four years after their Olympic triumph.
Players will be granted two annual exemption passes from WTT Champions events, allowing them to manage their schedules.

However, Wu also slammed WTT’s adjustments – which did not remove the fines – saying they were avoiding the issue and that allowing Fan and Chen to compete without restoring their world rankings was “a big joke”.
“Imagine if Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng competed without a world ranking, they would play from the qualifying rounds,” Wu said.
“This would create a big joke – the new Olympic singles champions starting from the qualifying rounds would be unfair to all players. Is this a professional doing a professional job?”
Wu said that the marketisation of table tennis was a natural progression but that it should come with respect for players, and they should be able to decide whether to play.
“What is the way out for the ‘national sport’ and what is the way out for the reform of the WTT?” Wu asked.


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China’s ex-coach Wu Jingping slams WTT and ‘the mess table tennis has become’

Former Chinese coach Wu Jingping (right) speaks to Hao Shuai at the World Table Tennis Championships in 2005. Photo: AFP

China’s Olympic singles champion Fan Zhendong withdrew from the global rankings. Photo: Xinhua

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Sport

China

Wu, coach from 1991 to 2021, criticises sport’s commercialisation and rules that led ex-protégé Fan Zhendong to withdraw from world rankings


Wu, coach from 1991 to 2021, criticises sport’s commercialisation and rules that led ex-protégé Fan Zhendong to withdraw from world rankings.


Fan Zhendong

Chen Meng

Ma Long