Is it fair to Ma Long?

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I believe that Ma Long can win the latest WTTC in Houston, if he is allowed to participate.

Do you think it is fair to Ma Long since "he is not participating in this event" due to ..... reason?
 
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I believe that Ma Long can win the latest WTTC in Houston, if he is allowed to participate.

Do you think it is fair to Ma Long since "he is not participating in this event" due to ..... reason?

As TTHopeful says, he's most likely resting and giving a chance for the younger players to participate.

 
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It's mostly unfair for all the spectators that came from all over hoping to see him (and Xu Xin).
I get it, China need to push the younger generation, but Houston was one of a kind event. So they could have brought the big guys as well and honor the audience for the last time.
It was a super cool event, I was there and it was a blast. but it was also kind of bittersweet..

Just to give you an example, after the final, they let all the players leave the arena, besides Fan.
While we were waiting for him to show up, they basically kicked everyone out. Literally they closed the place to let Fan go back to the hotel without being bothered by us (the spectators/fans)
On the other hand, Boll was signing endless gadgets to a never ending line of people.

What I saw those days was a bunch of chinese super champions, being scared/wierd by people cheering them.
While European players were totally cool and participating with the audience.

They might dominate on the table, but when lights go off, they are nowhere near the class of the rest of the athletes.
 
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Brodolio, One factor we all forget is that the Chinese superstars all just humans like us,after all. Not to defend their actions since I agree with you,but we don't know the amount of fatigue they go through,just to be one of the selected few who make it to the competition,let alone competing with these lads. I guess we should take it easier on them...
 
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If it is any consolation, in American professional sports, it is VERY ROUTINE for a team manager to FREQUENTLY withdraw their top players from matches in team sports (like basketball for example) near the end of the season if that team will make the playoffs, presumably to preserve the health and play status of those top players.

On one level, that is good management of the manager - a team cannot win without top performances from their top players.

On another level, like brodlio points out, fans might have purchased tickes many months in advance, with the expectation that the top players would be available to play. Fans do not often purchase expensive tickets and make expensive travel to watch only the backup players play.

Sport at the pro level is both a skill and entertainment business. If there is no entertainment, there will be no business. If their is no skill and achievement, there will be no fanss or viewership or business.

That is also a factor that any prudent management should be aware of, evaluate, and decide what is best, whatever the priorities that are driving the business.

Once fans stop buying tickets, stop buying merchandise, and TV networks stop buying broadcast rights, these businesses will be more responsive to fans.

I think the biggest example of this "market equilibrium" is world football. The top pro teams already play too many matches and as the top teams go deeper and deeper in more comps and go deeper into their domestic leagues (and the top players also play international matches) there is a LOT of wear on the top athletes and they rarely can play all the matches. When managers withdraw their top players too much, both ratings and team performance drops.

The football world exemplifies the most balanced approach to the fan vs business aspect as the fans contribute a lot to the business and ultimately, listen to the fans interests a little more than the players... yet if a team never listens to a player, the top player will sign a contract somewhere else, so the team must balance this as well. If a team cannot attract and retain top players, it has no future, so a top player has a lot of leverage too. Ultimately, it is collectively the ones who pay - fans and networks - who determine how the outfit goes.

This is why a turly competitive open market system brings about balance all on its own without outside government interference.
 
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If anyone wants a study in how to accomplish balance and mission accomplishment over time given tough competitive markets, look no further than FC Bayern Munchen in how they can consistently field talented competitive teams year after year that achieve winners' trophies and not over-spend to do that.
 

NDH

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It's mostly unfair for all the spectators that came from all over hoping to see him (and Xu Xin).
I get it, China need to push the younger generation, but Houston was one of a kind event. So they could have brought the big guys as well and honor the audience for the last time.
It was a super cool event, I was there and it was a blast. but it was also kind of bittersweet..

Just to give you an example, after the final, they let all the players leave the arena, besides Fan.
While we were waiting for him to show up, they basically kicked everyone out. Literally they closed the place to let Fan go back to the hotel without being bothered by us (the spectators/fans)
On the other hand, Boll was signing endless gadgets to a never ending line of people.

What I saw those days was a bunch of chinese super champions, being scared/wierd by people cheering them.
While European players were totally cool and participating with the audience.

They might dominate on the table, but when lights go off, they are nowhere near the class of the rest of the athletes.

Maybe it's the "British" in me, but I always cringe at the over the top celebrations (from some players, including a lot of non Chinese players), before they even shake hands or acknowledge their opponent.

As for the Chinese meeting the fans etc - It must be hard when you don't speak the language, and have no way of communicating with the fans.

It's a shame, and it's made worse when legends like Timo do what they do, but I guess it's just part and parcel of the sport!

 
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In his latest Q&A, Timo Boll said that he thinks ML is a bit tired of table tennis and doesn't have the drive he had before. Coming back to top form after his physical problems to win Tokyo took him a lot of energy, physically and mentally. I think that makes a lot of sense.

So maybe we are doing the chinese federation unjust here with our speculations.
 
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In his latest Q&A, Timo Boll said that he thinks ML is a bit tired of table tennis and doesn't have the drive he had before. Coming back to top form after his physical problems to win Tokyo took him a lot of energy, physically and mentally. I think that makes a lot of sense.

So maybe we are doing the chinese federation unjust here with our speculations.

I think it is very unlikely that ML is tired of table tennis. ML said on multiple times that he wants to keep playing for a long time and that his desire to win has not diminished (or something like this).
While I agree that is difficult to play at the highest level for many tournaments in a row, it is hard to believe that a hungry player like ML didn't want to play in some of the most prestigious tournaments because he was tired (not only WTTC, but also in the singles event of China National Games, which from what I could understand is the most prestigious sports competition there, happens every 4 years just like olimpics)

 
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