Ma Long and Xu Xin not joining world championships?

[ZeroTT]

I saw a post on instagram from WTT that Ma Long and Xu Xin will not be joining the world championships.
They want to recover from playing 3 tournaments in a row and want to spend the time with the family and give chances to the new generation.

I can't believe this tbh. Ma Long is literally in the best form of his life and he forfeits the chance of a 4th world title ???

Why, just why?

I mean it's the world Championships, everyone wants to see the current Olympic and World champion defend his title here.

 

[mmak.kh]

Ma Long is already a legend without another gold medal/champion title.

Sent from my ALP-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[yoass]

Do any CNT members participate?

 

[Shine]

Do any CNT members participate?

Yeah basically the other top players from the CNT are playing except the 30+ year old : ML, XX and LSW.
MS: FZD, LJK, WCQ, LGY, ZQH
WS: CM, WMY, CXT, SYS, WYD
MD:FZD/WCQ, LGY/LJK
WD: CM/QTY, SYS/WMY
XD: WCQ/SYS, LGY/WMY

 

[Dominikk85]

Dima is also out, had an ankle surgery

 

[Corey]

They're human too, need some time to recover and be with family

 

[Lin Ruan]

its hilarious, ctta just do everything if need to get Olympics . I think the old player withdraw so the younger can get more opportunity . Not matter wttc exciting or not

 

[Lin Ruan]

just like they treat Olympic as final exam

 

[ZeroTT]

Yeah but the World Championship is 2nd most important Tournament after the Olympics imo.
When people list Ma longs achievements, the 2 most mentioned will be 2 times Olympic and 3 times world champion.

Why would you ever skip this?

This also diminishes the title of the future winner imo.
Let's say FZD wins the title now , everyone will comment, yes but he only won because ML wasn't there.
I imagine that is not the way FZD wants to be world champion.
You want to win the title by beating the best like ML.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

I can understand ML, he has already achieved so much, and nobody really can touch him anymore now that he has 2 olympic golds.

I am more disappointed that XX withdrew. He is one of the most talented players without winning a WTTC. Really wanted to see XX finally add the title to his career the way LSW finally did it.

 

[Shine]

This Olympic cycle is short and May be full of disruptions cos of covid
The team is already preparing them for their departure and for the younger ones to take over

 

[Dominikk85]

Now there is huge pressure on fan, without dima, xx and of course most importantly ma long he basically needs to win now.

 

[Lin Ruan]

Yeah but the World Championship is 2nd most important Tournament after the Olympics imo.
When people list Ma longs achievements, the 2 most mentioned will be 2 times Olympic and 3 times world champion.

Why would you ever skip this?

This also diminishes the title of the future winner imo.
Let's say FZD wins the title now , everyone will comment, yes but he only won because ML wasn't there.
I imagine that is not the way FZD wants to be world champion.
You want to win the title by beating the best like ML.

Agreed, what you worry is logical. WTTC usually is as important as Olympics IMO. I really don't like their decision. They just want to maintain the dominance of the men's team, but MaLong, Xuxin is old for the next Olympics (in their opinion) , so its the result, they treat this WTTC as an exercise for the younger player, even Malong and xuxin's withdraw decrease the chance of winning the WTTC champion for them.

 

[piligrim]

Yeah but the World Championship is 2nd most important Tournament after the Olympics imo.
When people list Ma longs achievements, the 2 most mentioned will be 2 times Olympic and 3 times world champion.

Why would you ever skip this?

This also diminishes the title of the future winner imo.
Let's say FZD wins the title now , everyone will comment, yes but he only won because ML wasn't there.
I imagine that is not the way FZD wants to be world champion.
You want to win the title by beating the best like ML.

Even if ML play and Fan beat him everyone will comment that ML let to Fan beat him. Like it was on recent Super League

 

[zeio]

Seriously, back around 2013 and 2014, ML was called all kinds of names in China and said to have "熬退(to endure in agony for the retirement of)" WH.

ML said openly in 2017 that his most regretful loss was to WH at WTTC 2013 and he felt like quitting TT for good after losing to ZJK at World Cup 2014. After Rio 2016 and WTTC 2017, he mentioned the honor of "catching up to" ZJK twice. He said after Tokyo 2020 he's glad to be regarded as one of the best players."

Winning more Olympics/WTTC/World Cup titles can't change any of that. It's just like Boll winning the ETTC 8 times. What more does it prove when he keeps dropping the ball in the Olympics, never meeting CNT players once in singles?

 

[TaiHaoPingPong]

Agree this is very disappointing. Especially ML has looked so sharp in the recent 3 tournaments I'd looked forward to seeing him in this. Even the fact that he only took part in the team event and not singles in the China National Games made me think he was saving energy for WTTC.

Although in the long run I doubt people will put an asterix next to FZD's title if he does win it, since players and their rivals are always coming and going; Ma Long has the most impressive record of titles of anyone and its not disregarded because they weren't won against Wang Hao

 

[Manto76]

Hasn't ML has some injury concerns in recent years? If so, and especially given his physically intense style of play, I could understand the CNT bosses wanting to preserve him for 2023 while at the same time building squad depth in case his injury flares up before then.

Similar to Roger Federer - he also played very selectively over the past few years.

 

[Manto76]

Now there is huge pressure on fan, without dima, xx and of course most importantly ma long he basically needs to win now.

Will Lin Yun-Ju be competing? If so he might be FZD's strongest challenger.

 

[vik]

Does it mean they will retire in near future? 2022?

Qin Zhijian, Head coach of the Chinese men's team and Secretary-General of CTTA, said: "Unfortunately, Ma Long and Xu Xin will not be part of the line-up for the World Table Tennis Championships Finals. Instead, our younger charges have the opportunity to compete against a stellar field in a world-class event that is led by our world number one, Fan Zhendong.

"We are preparing for the future with another good showing at the Paris Olympics firmly in our sights. We need to provide our young athletes with the big match temperament to excel at the highest level."

 

[Trismegistus]

This is incredibly disappointing. Particularly after ML's recent birthday message which seemed to indicate that he wanted to continue pushing himself and competing at the highest level for as long as possible.