Fan, Ma Long out of tour events over row with WTT

These are somewhat turbulent times in world table tennis. Three of the sport's most iconic figures and top Chinese players—2024 Paris Olympics singles champions Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng along with the legendary Ma Long—have pulled out of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world rankings and World Table Tennis (WTT) tour, largely over a dispute regarding fines for non-participation in tournaments.

- Rutvick Mehta

MUMBAI:

These are no ordinary players. Fan, 27, is a multiple-time Olympic and Worlds gold medalist and former world No. 1. So is Chen, who won back-to-back Olympic singles titles in Tokyo and Paris. Ma Long, a six-time Olympic champion, is considered the greatest to have played the sport.

Their withdrawal has shaken the TT world with a few other players like France's Simon Gauzy and Nigerian Aruna Quadri also voicing similar concerns. Forced to act, ITTF on Friday set up a task force "to gather feedback from players and review existing regulations". The panel includes India's Sharath Kamal, who also co-chairs the ITTF Athletes Commission.

"It's not a good look for the sport," he told HT. "We had a fantastic Olympics in Paris, where TT was a huge success as per the IOC. There was more money coming in. The sport was in the limelight. From that viewpoint, it's not come at the best time. It's also a wake-up call."