Depth is a bittersweet problem to have while CTTA comes up with a selection mechanism to make the selection process more transparent and perhaps fairer.
On 5 January, CTTA announced the selection criteria for 2018 major international table tennis competitions, including World Championships, Team World Cup, Individual World Cup, Asian Cup, World Tour Events, World Junior Championships, Asian Cadet & Junior Championships and World Junior Circuits. The criteria are for trial implementation only but they provide more chances for U21 athletes and open up the opportunity for provincial athletes and table tennis clubs to take part in international competitions. The selection criteria are roughly translated into English and are listed as follow.
| Event | Quota | Means Of Qualification | Remarks | |
World Championships
|
5
| 1 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 WTTC singles events |
If no one fit point 4, the spot will open to national team coaches' nomination or determine by the results of trials
|
| 2 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 National Games singles events | |||
| 3 | 1 out of top 3 in Trials for WTTC | |||
| 4 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017-2018 CTTSL (non-CNT members only) | |||
| 5 | Ranked No. 1 in CTTA U21 rankings | |||
Team World Cup
|
5
| 1 | Top 3 in 2017 World Cup singles events |
The roster is determined by the national coaching team according to the results of trials, athletes' condition etc
. If no one fit point 4, the spot will open to national team coaches' nomination or determine by the results of trials |
| 2 | Top 3 in 2017 National Games singles events | |||
| 3 | Top 3 in Trials | |||
| 4 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017-2018 CTTSL (non-CNT members only) | |||
| 5 | Ranked No. 1 in CTTA U21 rankings | |||
Ind. World Cup
|
2
| 1 | 2017 WTTC singles champion |
The qualification is determined by ITTF
|
| 2 | 2017 World Cup champion | |||
| 3 | 2017 or 2018 Asian Cup champion | |||
| 4 | Front-runner in 2017 or 2018 Asian Cup | |||
Asian Cup
|
2
| 1 | 2017 Asian Championships singles champion |
The qualification is determined by ATTU
|
| 2 | 2017 Asian Cup champion | |||
| 3 | Front-runner in 2018 world rankings | |||
World Tour (inc. U21)
|
12*10
| 1 | Top 30 in CTTA rankings |
6 World Tour Platinum and 6 World Tour,
6 quota will be assigned to each World Tour and 4 in each U21 event. CTTA will assign athletes to the meet according to their rankings and performance in previous meets |
| 2 | Top 20 in CTTA U21 rankings | |||
| 3 | Top 8 penholders/ choppers/ left-hander/ short-pips holder among top 40 athletes in CTTA rankings | |||
| 4 | 5 Winners in Trials | |||
World Tour Grand Finals
|
TBC
| 1 | Singles: attended at least 5 world tours and ended among top 15 |
The qualification is determined by ITTF
|
| 2 | Doubles: attended at least 4 world tours and ended among top 7 | |||
World Junior Championships
|
4
| 1 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 WJTTC singles events | |
| 2 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 or 2018 Asian Cadet & Junior Championships singles events | |||
| 3 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 or 2018 Chinese Junior National Championships singles events | |||
| 4 | 1 out of top 3 in 2018 Nation-wide Junior Athletes Traning Camp U18 competitions | |||
Asian Cadet & Junior Championship (U18)
|
4
| 1 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 or 2018 WJTTC singles events | |
| 2 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 Asian Cadet & Junior Championships U18 singles events | |||
| 3 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 or 2018 Chinese Junior National Championships singles events | |||
| 4 | 2017 or 2018 Chinese Cadet National Championships singles champion | |||
Asian Cadet & Junior Championship (U15)
|
4
| 1 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 Asian Cadet & Junior Championships U15 singles events | |
| 2 | 1 out of top 3 in 2017 or 2018 Chinese Cadet National Championships singles events | |||
| 3 | 1 out of top 3 in Nation-wide junior athletes training camp | |||
World Junior Circuit
(Premium / Golden events) |
11*6
| 1 | Top 20 in CTTA U18 rankings |
4 Golden events and 7 premium events
3 boys and 3 girls quota will be assigned to each U18 and U15 competition CTTA will assign athletes to the meet according to their rankings and performance in previous meets |
| 2 | Top 8 in Nation-wide Junior Athletes Traning Camp U18 competitions | |||
| 3 | Top 5 penholders/ choppers/ left-hander/ short-pips holder among top 30 athletes in CTTA U18 rankings | |||
| 4 | Top 20 in CTTA U15 rankings | |||
| 5 | Top 8 in Nation-wide Junior Athletes Traning Camp U15 competitions | |||
| 6 | Top 5 penholders/ choppers/ left-hander/ short-pips holder among top 30 athletes in CTTA U15 rankings | |||
| 7 | 5 winners from each U18 and U15 trials | |||
World Tour Challenge (inc. U21)
|
9*10
| 1 | Top 2 teams in 2018 CTTA Team competitions, each team can take part once |
6 quota will be assigned to each World Tour and 4 in each U21 event.
|
| 2 | Top 3 teams in 2017 National Games, each team can take part once | |||
| 3 | Top 3 teams in 2017-2018 CTTSL, each team can take part once | |||
| 4 | 2017 Chinese Junior National Championships team champion, each team can take part once | |||
World Junior Circuit
(Regular events) |
15*6
| 1 | Top 4 teams in 2017 Chinese Junior National Championships team events, each team can take part twice, while once for teams ranked 5-8 (U18) |
3 boys and 3 girls quota will be assigned to each U18 and U15 event.
|
| 2 | Top 4 teams in 2017 Chinese Cadet National Championships team events, each team can take part twice, while once for teams ranked 5-8 (U15) | |||
| 3 | Leading teams in the western region can take part once | |||
| 4 | Leading teams in ethnic minority region can take part once (U15) | |||
| 5 | Each Chinese table tennis college and table tennis school can take part once | |||
| Notes: 1. The singles champion of the previous World Tour or Junior Circuit will have the priority to compete in the next World Tour. 2. The provinces/ regions/ cities/ clubs that have won singles or team champion at World Tour or Junior Circuit will have the priority to compete in the next season's World Tour/ Junior Circuit 3. Athletes who fail to qualify to the main round or lose to non-Chinese players in the first round of the main round at World Tour/ Junior Circuit will be banned from taking part in the next World Tour/ Junior Circuit once if they have met the qualification 4. The provinces/ regions/ cities/ clubs that failed to make the top 8 will not be able to compete in any international meets in the next season. 5. Any athletes who walk out the competition without justified reasons or have infringed sportsmanship will be disqualified from taking part in the competitions for a certain period / times. 6. Any athletes who misbehave or violate CNT regulations will be disqualified from taking part in the competitions | ||||
Source: CTTA
CCTV 5 produced a program explaining the details of the new policy. Click here.
This is an absolutely riveting read! If I understand everything correctly, this selection process is introduced as a way of increasing transparency? Has there been any criticism leveled against the coaches in the CNT regarding bias and favoritism?
ReplyDeleteI'm especially fascinated by point 3 regarding the World Tour. Are they actually going to (for lack of a better word) subsidize lefties, choppers and pen-holders? Is this part of an effort to keep these playing styles alive when right-handed shakehanders are growing ever more dominant?
Thanks for a brilliant post!
According to CTTA, the principle of the new selection policy is to introduce competition within the team, help the team to select the best squad for 2020 Olympics and encourage provincial teams and community to get involve in the preparation of 2020 Olympics.
DeleteWhat I think the purpose of the policy is to make selection process more objective, according to CTTA's policy rather than merely depending on the votes of national team coaches. Even though there should be a list of similar selection criteria that the coaches went through in the past but, this time, they are written black and white by CTTA.
The policy also encourages provincial teams, table tennis clubs and table tennis schools to send players (most likely young athletes under 15) to take part in international competitions. Since there are limited quota for athletes to compete in international senior competitions, it may be too late to put the first-year senior on the international scene when they start getting the national coaches' attention. Most athletes enter national team at 15 so it is usually the case that a 15-year-old (who has just made the national team) represent team China to compete in the cadet category but their chances to compete internationally is incomparable to the Japanese athletes who started competing internationally in a younger age. Opening up the opportunity for non-national team units to take part in international competitions can increase young athletes' exposure at the same time the national team does not need to bear the financial pressure of sending more young athletes to competitions as the provincial team or the unit will take care of it.
(The reply is too long so this is only 1/2 of my reply)
(This is part 2 of the reply)
DeleteI have never seen a constant debate on the selection process for international meets. At least from the interviews and reports in the past 10 years or so, the CNT gives us an impression that it is a united team and team members get along harmoniously. Liu Guoliang has explained how he handled this in the interview (or you may find my in translation article that summarized several Liu Guoliang's interview).
However there was some minor issues about the selection process in 2013. The CNT decided to establish an online polling and the top 3 athletes with the most votes could directly enter stage 3 (the last stage) of the trials. The purpose of having the poll was to arouse social attention and try out new promotion method for the sports. It turned out the number of votes of a particular athletes suddenly surged and Hao Shuai unexpectedly ended up among the top 3. The online polling was a controversial method of selecting members for WTTC and polling never becomes part of the selection process since then.
Another incident not directly related to the selection process but some suspected it had to relate to bias of coaches is the pull out of Guo Yue right before the Trials for 2014 WTTC. The CNT said that they made that decision because Guo Yue's physical condition and attitude was no longer suitable for staying in the national team but some said there were more secrets behind the scene. I tend to believe the CNT explanation as there were no evidence or explanation for the latter discourse.
I think it is true though athletes sometimes may feel being neglected and biased within the team. Coaches tend to put most of their attention on the top players / promising athletes with good prospects who tend to have a higher chance to win medals in international competitions. These athletes would have more competition opportunities, support and resources. While athletes who doom to be training partners (more of a practice before the early-00s) are left aside, sacrificing themselves for the benefit of the team and have to make their own training / career plans. I remember Ko Lai Chak and Li Ching (1992 men's singles national runner-up) once mentioned that in an interview explaining the reasons for them to pursue their career in Hong Kong instead of staying in CNT. It is a cruel reality that competitive sport has a pyramid structure and the winner takes it all, but other than that I do not see any big conflicts within the team so far.
The Chinese always has policies favoring players with the unconventional playing style, such as having penholder on the squad at National Games. This is to encourage the variety of playing style
and keep these players in CNT so that the team has training partners for the top players.
Thanks for your comment. Do you know will there be Swedish National Championships for table tennis? I would love to add that into the 2018 Table Tennis Calendar. Let me know if you think there are more competitions that I should add to the calendar and I always welcome your comments.
I don't know which was better, the post or your reply. Thank you very much once again :). This entire system strikes me as somewhat politically motivated, although the actual motives are hard to imagine. Under LGL there seemed to be a lot of faith in how the CNT coaches selected the players, making the system prone to change from championship to championship. Establishing guidelines such as these seems like a step away from that. And I also can't help but wonder whether the designated U21-spots is a way to ease the transition from generation ML/XX/ZJK to the next - right now Fan Zhendong is sort of a standalone character there.
DeleteAnyway: yes, the Swedish Championship is played between the 1st and 4th of March in the town of Helsingborg.
Lastly: I sent an email to the adress that you've stated here. Is that your current adress?