Anything happened since FZD and CM retired from international TT?

[XpingpingpongpongX]

It's been over a year. I don't follow the TT news closely, but I am not aware of any update. This was shocking news to me that 2 new Olympic gold medalists had to be away from TT. And it was even more shocking to me that nobody in the CNT came out and supported their best 2 players. Something must have happened since their retirement right?

 

[lodro]

why do you think something should happen?
They retired from international competition
and considering the conditions in China you will never even find out whether they jumped or were pushed.

 

[XpingpingpongpongX]

So nothing happened. I can kind of tell what's going on then.

 

[zeio]

A lot has actually happened. Just not posted here and in general the Western hemisphere. CTTA has actually voiced its support for FZD and CM in defending their athletes' rights. Wu Jingping even blasted the WTT and CNT on his Weibo and Yin Xiao returned fire in response.

China’s ex-coach Wu Jingping slams WTT and ‘the mess table tennis has become’
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/ar...ttacks-world-table-tennis-state-national-game

 

[M51]

A lot has actually happened. Just not posted here and in general the Western hemisphere. CTTA has actually voiced its support for FZD and CM in defending their athletes' rights. Wu Jingping even blasted the WTT and CNT on his Weibo and Yin Xiao returned fire in response.

China’s ex-coach Wu Jingping slams WTT and ‘the mess table tennis has become’
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/ar...ttacks-world-table-tennis-state-national-game

The article is behind a paywall.

But from what I gather, FZD must have felt mistreated by WTT. I wish someone would actually get into the specifics for once.

EDIT:

Here's what ChatGPT dug up:

 

[zeio]

WTT was right (call their strong stance whatever you want) when they corrected the inaccuracies in FZD's and CM's first Weibo entries.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...es-retirement-from-wtt-ittf.36209/post-500621

 

[lodro]

I am sure FZD is a much happier chappy now he plays in Europe.
I haven't heard anything about CM but she probably likes it that way.

 

[zeio]

To each his own and the grass is always greener on the other side.

For one, Matsushima actually said he had a blast playing in CTTSL 2025 and that T.Legaue was absolutely no fun (confirmed by Yan An and Zhang Cheng) and wanted to return next season. After winning Zennihon Takkyu 2025, he said he had no interest in playing in TTBL when approached for comment after MyTischtennis falsely reported that Matsushima was going to join by erroneously quoting what was said by Shinozuka instead.

「松島、ブンデスリーガでプレー」の誤報が流れるほど、ドイツでも衝撃が走った全日本チャンピオン・松島輝空の勝ちっぷり
https://world-tt.com/blog/news/archives/248098

 

[mamedium]

I am sure FZD is a much happier chappy now he plays in Europe.
I haven't heard anything about CM but she probably likes it that way.

want me to call her and tell you?

 

[zeio]

FZD's interview with Phoenix TV in 2025 and other rumors.
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/fzd-rumor.38095/post-543076

CM also indicated she was going to set out on her 3rd Olympic journey in a reality show in 2025.
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...t-of-ctta-ml-vice-president.37128/post-523327

 

[superL]

Nobody cared, except for us FZD fans. It’s sad.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Nothing much. Fzd hanging out with friends, beer and football. Typical guys stuff ........

 

[XpingpingpongpongX]

I am sure FZD is a much happier chappy now he plays in Europe.
I haven't heard anything about CM but she probably likes it that way.

I am sure they both have moved on to some extent. I just felt that WTT and/or ITTF should seriously review this and do something. Imagine if this happened to other popular sports like football, basketball, tennis. The best players/teams protested and stopped participating because they asked for better rules. You wouldn't have expected things to go quiet like this.

 

[XpingpingpongpongX]

A lot has actually happened. Just not posted here and in general the Western hemisphere. CTTA has actually voiced its support for FZD and CM in defending their athletes' rights. Wu Jingping even blasted the WTT and CNT on his Weibo and Yin Xiao returned fire in response.

China’s ex-coach Wu Jingping slams WTT and ‘the mess table tennis has become’
https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/ar...ttacks-world-table-tennis-state-national-game

was there something official from the CTTA? I am curious to see what they actually said.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

We had an entire thread dedicated to this topic:

Fan zhendong, Ma Long and Cheng Meng announces Retirement from WTT/ITTF​

 

[zeio]

was there something official from the CTTA? I am curious to see what they actually said.

Below is CTTA official statement on ML, FZD and CM withdrawing/retreating from the ITTF TT WR.

声 明
https://www.ctta.cn/xhgg/qttz/2024/1231/639578.html

声 明
2024-12-31 16:06中国乒乓球协会

　　12月31日，根据国际乒联最新一期世界排名，马龙、樊振东和陈梦正式退出世界排名。

　　在国际赛场上，马龙、樊振东和陈梦三名运动员屡创佳绩，为祖国和人民赢得荣誉，为中国体育事业的发展作出了巨大贡献。中国乒协和中国乒乓球队理解并尊重三位运动员退出世界排名的决定，同意三人退出世界排名，并已办理所有相关手续。协会也将继续关注三名运动员的后续发展，无论未来是否选择回归国际赛场，都将为他们提供最大的支持，保障其在训练和国内赛事中保持良好状态。

　　针对近期运动员们提出的相关诉求，中国乒协一直在遵守规则的前提下，积极与国际乒联和WTT世界乒联等国际组织保持沟通协调，推动竞赛规则的合理调整，确保运动员的合法权益得到充分保障。国际乒联也向中国乒协表示，近期将通过紧急召开执委会、成立工作组等渠道寻求妥善方式解决运动员们有关问题。

　　中国乒协衷心感谢社会各界和广大球迷朋友对协会工作以及国家队运动员的支持与关注。

　　中国乒乓球协会

　　2024年12月31日

 

[Bollwerk]

The best players/teams protested and stopped participating because they asked for better rules. You wouldn't have expected things to go quiet like this.

Yeah i kinda doubt that's what happened, rules did get changed, FZD still isn't back. To me it looks more like CTTA used the situation to lobby for favourable rule changes.

 

[zeio]

And below is CTTA voicing its support for FZD to join the TTBL through magazine Table Tennis World.

https://weibo.com/1498760141/PuvhC7IfK
乒乓世界TTW
25-6-1 12:17
中国乒协支持樊振东加盟德甲

6月1日，德甲萨尔布吕肯俱乐部通过社交媒体宣布中国运动员樊振东加盟该俱乐部，征战2025-2026赛季德国乒乓球甲级联赛和欧洲冠军联赛。

记者了解到，目前樊振东仍处在奥运后的调整期，近期计划通过全国比赛以及国内外俱乐部比赛逐步恢复运动状态。

中国乒协表示理解和尊重运动员本人意愿，并将全力支持和保障他保持良好竞技水平，为乒乓球事业再创辉煌。

 

[zeio]

Below is a clip of former ITTF president Xu Yinsheng sharing his point of view and criticism of WTT in a live stream last month. DHS general manager 楼世和/Lou Shihe was the other guest.

https://weibo.com/7784991879/QnAROinrM
反正都是冠军
01月18日 00:23 来自 保时捷家书尊嘟超爱你

徐寅生老前辈做客直播间，谈到WTT和国际乒联
归纳一下就是这样
1. WTT对中国办赛定价高，多数赛事落地中国，既依托中国球迷消费支撑，也靠中国球员号召力带动票务，然而赛事奖金设置低，本质上在压榨运动员。
2. WTT赛程安排密集，挤压了国内外本土联赛的生存与开展空间，在赛程规划上与球员的自身发展利益存在冲突。
3. WTT商业赛事与奥运会参赛资格相捆绑，我国运动员由国家培养，核心目标是冲击奥运金牌、推动全民体育事业发展，WTT商业比赛与其目标相悖。#三分钟视频助燃计划##乒出精彩# L反正都是冠军的微博视频

p.s.
Full stream:
徐寅生来了！
https://www.shobserver.com/staticsg/res/html/web/livingDetail.html?id=2485&v=2.2&sid=67
徐寅生、楼世和做客新民晚报直播间【2026/01/17】
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Z...ns&vd_source=9b4bee64b7435c626607968135e168b3

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

One of the concessions that the CTTA got out of this was the Olympic gold card. That's why you'll see at this upcoming Singapore Smash, which has an national entry restriction of 6 per association, China has 8 men and 9 women. China gets 2 extra due to their Olympic Gold Cards which are not counted against the NER limit. To add insult to injury the Chinese women got 1 extra due to Qin Yuxuan getting a wildcard/nomination so that's 6 NER + 2 Olympic Gold Cards + 1 Wildcard/Nomination.

Note that the reason for the Olympic Gold cards was for retired Olympic champions, FZD and CM, to be allowed direct entry into Smashes/Champions events. Since the implementation of the Olympic gold cards, neither has attended a Smash/Champions event. But it is quite beneficial for China as they are Gold medalists in Teams and Mixed Doubles.