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

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I agree 80%. There is not enough Money in the scene and if we cannot guarantee top Players to play at Events, there is even less.
yep, so we will just go back to ITTF standards with very little pay.
money today is way more than 2018/2019 for example.

However I do think, that there should be 1/2 skips per year for all pro Players, in case they want to take a Break/play a regional League. Probably 1 Champions skip and 1 Grand Smash skip (also useable for another Champions event) that is free of any monetary or WR Points penalty.
This I think can be planned better.

Firstly, WTT does give the schedule in Oct, for different countries to plan domestic competition.
schedule clash is part of pros life since young, so this is all manageable with moving schedules.

Right now, you can skip by doctors note, but you can't skip and play somewhere else.
but then, how many times you allow to skip? 1 time, 3 time? 5 time?
note, there is only 10 events, and if too many skip per tournament, then they might as well just cancel the tournament.
And Grand Smash Qualifier Field is currently also automatic entry which is not really needed. in case there are too few open entries, players that exceed NER could be allowed in Qualifiers. That would also allow associations like China, Japan, Korea, Germany, France to enter a wider variety of players.

Smash qualifier is not mandatory, players can reject the automatic entry.
WTT put player on entry list, player/national federation needs to go and decline (just 1 admin step)

regarding countries expanding NER limit, this is a seperate topic on its own.
NER is to protect China/Japan to hijack a competition and have all players in the quarter finals from the same country. So, NER is very fair in my opinion.
There is plenty of events for other players to enter (if they fail to play due to NER).
 
says So many upsets lately
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FZD has made a comment on weibo

“I am unsure when the specific policy for penalizing players who withdraw from tournaments was first introduced, but I am certain that there was no official notification before, stating that withdrawing from a tournament would incur a fine. I personally speculate that this is because WTT had not yet finalized a complete tournament schedule before the end of this year. I received the formal notification last week, which stated that starting next year, WTT will strictly enforce the newly released penalty regulations. This Monday, upon receiving the document, I signed and submitted it on the same day.

Thank you all for your concern. I deeply love table tennis as a sport, and while I feel saddened, I sincerely wish the international organization continued success and growth.”

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FZD has made a comment on weibo

“I am unsure when the specific policy for penalizing players who withdraw from tournaments was first introduced, but I am certain that there was no official notification before, stating that withdrawing from a tournament would incur a fine. I personally speculate that this is because WTT had not yet finalized a complete tournament schedule before the end of this year. I received the formal notification last week, which stated that starting next year, WTT will strictly enforce the newly released penalty regulations. This Monday, upon receiving the document, I signed and submitted it on the same day.

Thank you all for your concern. I deeply love table tennis as a sport, and while I feel saddened, I sincerely wish the international organization continued success and growth.”

View attachment 33911
I think this was shared here already.

Problem is between CTTA and FZD, not WTT based on this statement.

I'm not sure if CNT blocks players to view WTT website, but with the help of VPN, FZD can check the full schedule here https://worldtabletennis.com/events_calendar

I can't believe FZD can say there is no full schedule for 2025.
In Oct, a preliminary schedule (of which the smash/champions date are all accurate) was shared with CTTA too.
FZD's complaint does not have merit, and if there are many unknowns, then CTTA needs to explain it also
 
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when there is ZPP, WTT does pay for accommodation and prize money just for pitching up. there is no entry fee or costs for meals/accommodation - it is all free.
only cost is flights.

the fines many are talking about out there (being clueless) are fines for withdraw from WTT events and then playing another TT related tournament.

Smash and Champion is where the money is, and that is where the action is.
if you have 30 of the top 30 players entered, you can attract better sponsors and better viewership (this is where the potential money is).
But the problem is, what happens when 15 of them withdraw because there is nothing forbidding them of doing it?
maybe 3 of them got injured and has medical certificate.
and 5 of them withdraw because Waldner decides to have another cup and pays better
and 7 of them want to do something else.

how do you host a tournament when your participation is not guaranteed?
does ATP and Badminton not have fines or penalties for withdrawing?

the one got injured won't get zpp
the one that goes to play another tournament will get zpp + fine
the one that don't pitch for something else, if not tt related, won't get those heavy fines.

So as much as I agree (I started it on TTD) that scheduling is a nightmare, WTT has 10 events where it is mandatory (6 Smash and 4 Champions) and it only affect top 30 players.

If players like Harimoto wants to play 22 events a year, that is his problem
WTT wants 10 + 1 final.
ITTF wants 1 WTTC and 1 WC
Continental maybe 1 each.

asking a pro to take part in 10~15 internationals a year is not unreasonable imo.
plus, get a doctor note and say your fingers is sore, and need rest x 3.... your problem solved?
Which tournaments have ZPP?
 
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Which tournaments have ZPP?
the only mandatory events are smash and champion (and finals if you qualify)

all other events is player entry before deadline or cancel before deadline
if you enter other event before deadline and withdraw after deadline, you will also have zpp

so all event can have ZPP, but ZPP for FZD was for him not playing smash and champions and the 1 x final.

if you enter event and withdraw too late, it is only fair that you get zpp too.
otherwise, how do events survive with people just withdrawing left right and center?

I think a lot of people don't understand how zpp works.
the players should, but seems like FZD doesn't, or he is purposely making a scene with Chen Meng.

No matter what, his weibo post is also directed to CTTA/LGL, and not just WTT
 
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What to expect in the next 24 hours that could give more information to this drama?

1) to see if FZD is still on the world ranking list tomorrow (Singapore time 8am)
If no, that means CTTA signed and accepted and submit to WTT for removal of FZD as he "retired" from internationals. Meaning this retirement has the approval of CTTA.

If yes, still on the world ranking list, that means CTTA did not sign and accept and did not submit the retirement to WTT. This means this is no longer a WTT issue.

2) long awaited statement from CTTA/LGL

still there
 
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Hahaha new strategy - mess up the order so that people think it's updated. Woots!
lol
we know last week was Week 52, this week is Week 53 or Week 1
base on working week calendars, it is week 1.
No matter what number you call the week, the new list didn't arrive yet and that is why the popcorn supplier is making lots of money now.


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says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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Well, they are lucky to have an extra week (53) this year to deal with this because 2024 is a leap year (29 days in Feb), pushing 12/31 on Tuesday but they have always treated the WR as a 52-week cycle.
 
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Well, they are lucky to have an extra week (53) this year to deal with this because 2024 is a leap year (29 days in Feb), pushing 12/31 on Tuesday but they have always treated the WR as a 52-week cycle.
I still believe this week is work week 1
based on ending the week, not starting the week.
we shall see, soonest enough
 
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Several verified official Weibo accounts posted but then retracted the news after realizing that ITTF/WTT has not updated the WR yet.

马龙可能也退了 (ML is probably retiring as well)
https://tieba.baidu.com/p/9375546212
 
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