Separately, Chen Meng and Fan Zhendong claimed that the penalties for skipping international competitions are the reason they decided to step aside as they announced their retirement
Chinese Olympic table tennis champions Chen Meng and Fan Zhendong declared their intention to leave the WTT World Tour on Friday, citing their refusal to pay penalties for their non-participation in competitions.
Why did Chinese table tennis players Chen Meng and Fan Zhendong announce ‘retirement’ from WTT international world ranking matches
Fan and Chen shared a photo of a letter labeled “Player career retirement notification” that was sent to WTT on December 23.
Additionally, the letter stated that from the next update, they will no longer be included in the world rankings.
chen meng announced her withdrawal from world ranking
"During the high-intensity preparation process for the Paris cycle, both my body and mind were under immense pressure. At the same time, the injuries that came with the increasing intensity of training pic.twitter.com/KZLZcCP3RV
— uwus (@fzdbestie) December 27, 2024
Citing new rules enforced by the World Table Tennis (WTT), well-known Chinese table tennis players Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng declared their retirement from the world rankings on Friday. Both have officially signed a statement announcing their “retirement from all ITTF-sanctioned events” as of Monday, according to their announcements on Chinese social media.
Events approved by WTT are considered ITTF-sanctioned events as outlined in the ITTF Statutes.
The news was announced earlier this morning by Fan, the current Olympic men’s singles champion. According to Xinhua, he said that he could not adhere to the new WTT rule that penalizes players for skipping events.
He emphasized, nevertheless, that this choice does not mean he is giving up on the sport. Rather, Fan intends to keep playing ping-pong and participating in different events.
chen meng announced her withdrawal from world ranking
"During the high-intensity preparation process for the Paris cycle, both my body and mind were under immense pressure. At the same time, the injuries that came with the increasing intensity of training pic.twitter.com/KZLZcCP3RV
— uwus (@fzdbestie) December 27, 2024
Chen declared her retirement from the world rankings in the afternoon after defeating world No. 1 Sun Yingsha in the women’s singles final at Paris 2024 to successfully defend her Olympic championship.
Given her persistent physical limitations that prevent her from participating in every high-intensity tournament, Chen stated that the WTT’s new rule pertaining to fines for competition withdrawals presented a difficult decision for her.
Both Fan and Chen delivered excellent performances at the Paris Olympics, winning gold medals in both singles and team events, but neither has participated in any international competitions since their Olympic triumph.
The ITTF rankings, which are updated dynamically, rely on players’ performances across a rolling schedule of sanctioned events.