What happened?
At 19:00, 23 June, some Chinese national team coaches and players, including Qin Zhijian, Ma Lin, Wang Hao, Ma Long, Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong...) posted a statement on Weibo (Chinese version of twitter) saying that "At this moment, I do not have the desire to compete...... all because I miss Liu Guoliang."
Following that, Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin withdrew from the men's singles competition in 2017 China Open and they have not spoken a word to the media after that. This leaves men's singles quarterfinals without a Chinese player.
At 23:00, State General Administration Sports of China released a statement (English version of the statement) condemning the coaches and athletes for forfeiting the matches and asked CTTA to investigate and deal with the incident seriously.
Related Reports
Related posts on Weibo and Chinese forums have been removed since yesterday night. Chinese media are asked not to report anything about Liu Guoliang. This means there are no discussions and reports about the incident other than quoting the General Administration Sports of China statement that condemn the acts of the athletes and coaches. The only new information is that Qin Zhijian is the former chief-coach of the Chinese National men's team as mentioned in the sports news produced by CCTV5.
ITTF posted a timeline about the incident (click here) and the comments suggested this has to do with the restructure of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team, power struggle of the General Administration Sports of China etc. So far there are no official explanations for the withdrawal and interviews reported that the referee and players (Yuya Oshima and Timo Boll) have no clue about the absence of the Chinese. So it may be too early to relate anything with the incident or even come to a conclusion. This is also my reason for not putting the reform of the Chinese national team in the timeline.
Public Opinions about the Walkovers
As mentioned above, currently most media quote the statement and condemn the acts of the athletes and coaches but before the removal of the posts in Weibo and forums, the spectrum of the opinions on the issue is pretty wide.
There are some people criticizing the withdrawal is a disrespect to the players and audience. However the majority table tennis fans seem to support the decision of the coaches and athletes as they thought Liu Guoliang is a great coach and leader of the team and the sudden reform discards the recruitment results in April this year. The walkovers would raise the awareness of the related units and create force of public opinion.
Some focus on whether forfeiting the matches is an appropriate way to deal with the issue. Yes, no, maybe so. Without a doubt, communication is always the ideally best way to solve problems but what if communication is ineffective? Without much detail about the event, many respect the decision of the coaches and athletes as they must have thought thoroughly before doing that.
The future of the involved athletes and coaches are also widely discussed. Will it be the end of their coaching/athletic career? Suspension? Fine the athletes? Everything is possible. At the end it comes down to power and interests. Given they are the top 3 players in the Chinese team and in the world, kicking them off from the national team will very likely cost several champions and affect the strength of Team China. The Chinese National Games is around the corner, if the suspension applies to both international and national competitions, it will hugely hamper the interest of the provincial teams. So the punishment will probably severe enough to show the seriousness of the issue but with the least impact on the overall interest to avoid conflicts.
Overall speaking, most comments tend to relate the issue to Chinese politics rather than defining it as a simple withdrawal. Many things have happened to Chinese sport teams after Rio and the Chinese table tennis team is not alone. Similar management reform was applied to the Chinese gymnastics team in 2005 too but no one clarifies whether it was a power struggle or a normal modification of management structure. Chinese politics is always more complex than we could imagine. Without much details, all we can only wait and see.
This is what I would like to record about the issue. As a fan, I would like to see a politics-free sport . Easier said than done, we wish the athletes and coaches all the best and hopefully there will be a way out. Comment below and tell me your thoughts. We will keep you updated as soon as an official announcement is made. Enjoy the undergoing China Open and more competitions later this year. Last but not least follow the Y2Klub series which introduces young Chinese athletes every 2 days.
This blog is an amazing resource, especially regarding events like these where information is scarce, sources are few and far inbetween, and rumours get far too much space to grow completely independent of facts. I share your desire for a sport freed from politics, where the results and the athletes performance are what really matter. That's why this has me concerned: from a results and achievement point of view, it seems like everything but a logical and well-planned decision aimed at optimizing performance. It's ironic that the players who have been taught to always listen to their coach and fulfill their duty are facing the risk of severe punishment for displaying their loyalty to the coach who's been with them the entire way to the very top.
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