BREAKING! Top chinese players at German Open!

rainneverever said:

When CTTA told ITTF that DN was "injured" and had to withdraw, ITTF extended the deadline for DN but CTTA declined right away. It does not sound like she could recover so quickly if the injury really prevented her from playing WC.

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Ok. I am not a doctor and I don't know what's up in the CNT. Maybe her therapist said she can't play on World Cup, which is a high pressure and demanding tournament, but she can play on German open with 80%.
Maybe her coach said she can't play on the World Cup without enough training (due to her injury), but German Open isn't that important and she can get her form till that.

rainneverever said:

When CTTA told ITTF that DN was "injured" and had to withdraw, ITTF extended the deadline for DN but CTTA declined right away. It does not sound like she could recover so quickly if the injury really prevented her from playing WC.

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Is there any reason, Rain, to think there's a political backstory to this? (Ding Ning is hotpotting with Liu Guoliang? Noooooo....)

yoass said:

Is there any reason, Rain, to think there's a political backstory to this? (Ding Ning is hotpotting with Liu Guoliang? Noooooo....)

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Let me first explain the qualification of World Cup. In recent years, World Champion is qualified for World Cup for two years and Asia Cup champion and runner are qualified (others qualifiers are determined by their world ranking and continental Cup result; up to 2 players per association). If CNT wants someone NOT to play in World Cup, they can decline the invitation before the confirmation deadline and the next CNT player will be invited.
For example, as 2015 WTTC champions, DN and ML are qualified for 2015 and 2016 World Cup; as 2017 WTTC champions, they are also qualified for 2017 and 2018 World Cup. In 2015, LSW was the runner-up of 2015 Asia Cup and ZYL the third place; XX the champion and FZD the runner-up. According to the qualification rule, DN & LSW and ML & XX were invited; later CNT withdrew DN and XX, so LSW & ZYL and ML & FZD played. In 2016, LSW was the champion of 2016 Asia Cup and LXX the runner-up; XX the champion and ZJK the runner-up. According to the qualification rule, DN & LSW and ML & XX were invited; DN and ML withdrew first (LXX got retired and no news about ZJK would play), so only LSW and XX would go; later LSW withdrew so no CNT player played in 2016 women World Cup; JM withdrew and FZD was invited for 2016 men World Cup. In 2017, ZYL was the champion of 2017 Asia Cup and LSW the runner-up; LGY the champion and FZD the runner-up. According to the qualification rule, DN & ZYL and ML & LGY were invited; CNT withdrew DN, ZYL & LSW and ML & LGY will play.

Therefore, it is NOT unusual at all that the first two CNT qualifiers for World Cup may withdraw actively or passively; however, DN's case this year is odd because the withdrawal is too sudden after DN is CONFIRMED (CNT can decline her attendance at the first place as the 2015 case) and there is no report of her recent "injury" after winning National Games WS champion in early Sep. Also it does not make much sense to let her play in Swedish Open but not German Open just a few days before if she recovers from the "injury", especially CNT does not limit the number of players for ITTF tours now. DN is the captain of women's team and highly regarded after winning National Games by mainstream media; and she will attend 19th National Congress of CCP. I don't see why she is and shall be affected by LGL or KLH. I would suspect that the management of CNT without head coaches is in a mess now and there is no reasonable planning for a senior player like DN.

Yes, as rainneverever says, withdrawals due to "injury" are the norm so as to avoid the same player or the same two players playing the World Cup year after year and give other players a chance. This happened in 2010 (ML was qualified but ZJK played), 2012 (ZJK was qualified but ML played), and in several more recent years in which I can't remember the particulars off the top of my head. Consider the dilemmas that the Chinese National team is in: only 2 players can play, and the system for qualification into many top tournaments relies on past performance in top tournaments. The problem is that this can create a self-sustaining cycle in which players who are on top at a given time continue to get more and more chances at the expense of other CNT players, thus sweeping a large number of major tournaments without other CNT players even having a chance to participate. With only 2 spots available for CNT players, there really has to be some method of mitigating this problem.

Of course, it is also possible in any given case that a withdrawal due to "injury" really is a withdrawal due to actual injury. And it should also go without saying that there is nothing dishonorable to the system of citing injury as a reason for player withdrawal. Actually, what is dishonorable (IMO) is the ITTF's system of restrictions and criteria for qualification.

Any news on Liu Guoliang Rain?