Zhang Jike fined 45.000 euros!

[Dan]

Hi dan, Serena won this event and broke her raquet on route and nothing happened to her.

Wow that was in the first set to!

 

[wilfred888]

Yeah kids are totally gonna break barriers when they win games, just like they followed ZJK after ZJK won his first titles and ripped their shirts off too

 

[ZED]

Well if you think about it, I'm pretty sure the 45.000 euros doesnt mean a lot to ZJK; he makes so much thru sponsorship already and other tournaments (for example Dubai).

Maybe LGL did tell ZJK to surrender the prize money in sportsmanship?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Baal]

I think it is theft; 45000 fine for that!!!!! Absurd. People wonder why players have no respect for ITTF.

 

[GiorgosTT]

Hey, i think TableTennisDaily should run a competition of "Do the Zhang Jike!" in the spirit of "Do the Rumgay"!

Guys, record yourselves winning a game, then smashing anything in sight!

Winner will receive a limited edition Butterfly Zhang Jike Super ZLC blade (broken in pieces!)

 

[Baal]

I am very cool about this (in reply to whoever it was who said to cool down and think about this). I consider that the ITTF response is so ridiculously disproportionate that it comprises the sports administration equivalent of kicking barriers. In other words, the leadership of the ITTF lost their cool and took all his prize money. This degree of fine and punishment is truly unjust. And given some of what the ITTF has done in recent years, one wonders if it is corrupt.

 

[Persistence TT]

I am very cool about this (in reply to whoever it was who said to cool down and think about this). I consider that the ITTF response is so ridiculously disproportionate that it comprises the sports administration equivalent of kicking barriers. In other words, the leadership of the ITTF lost their cool and took all his prize money. This degree of fine and punishment is truly unjust. And given some of what the ITTF has done in recent years, one wonders if it is corrupt.

Well every big organization is corrupt one way or another. TMS international is shararah's company (the company who broadcasts all the world tours for those who dont know it yet...now you know it !)

And we all witnessed that the husband of the woman who patented the new plastic ball was a member of the ITTF commitee

 

[Der_Echte]

ZJK tryin' to be epic like Jimmy Hendrix, but in 2014, it is WAY harder to do something that hasn't ever been done since we humans have lived a very long time.

Later, this guitar auctioned for a ridiculous sum that would make Ur head spin.

 

[sunilcse04]

Personally I feel this seems to be a plot from the Sponsor.. It seems they own ITTF' back.. Otherwise it makes no sense on holding his prize money for breaking some worthless barriers that too after the match ! Crap.. am going mad now and gonna break my Laptop.. Hope Lenovo wont blacklist me from buying their products !

 

[GiorgosTT]

I agree that we need character in sports, but i'd take Robredo's reaction in defeat rather than Zhang Jike's reaction in victory...

(For the history, Robredo lost his second consecutive final to Murray, having blown away 5 match points in each!)


As for those who say that Serena broke her racket and nothing happened to her, i thing there's a difference..
Tennis players break their rackets in frustration, blaming themselves mostly, while Zhang Jike had a "you didn't think i could win but i won and you can all **** off" kinda attitude. Obviously there was a lot of pressure on him, but i think it was an overreaction there.

Then the Ittf overreacted themselves, not necessarily by the amount of the fine, but by relating the fine with the winnings of the tournament, which is plainly wrong. Either disqualify the guy and give first place and prize money to Ma Long (that would be totally unacceptable in my opinion), or grant him first place prize, then issue him a fine and a carefully worded warning (that is the course of action i think should be taken).

Anyway, i think that with the importance that the Chinese are giving to respect and honour, Zhang Jike will face a more severe punishment from within the CNT, something that we may never hear about.

 

[SpinQuark]

I think the ITTF have dealt with this poorly:

Competition is ultimately all about emotion. The ability to control your emotions, to withstand great pressure, to remain able to function despite your emotions. This is why we all love sport so much because in the end, like life, it is played in the mind. It is not surprising to see emotion burst out when the tension of that control is released by victory and sometimes in unexpected ways. I recall Jack Nicklaus throwing his putter high into the air after the final putt and then looking up and ducking in worry about where it would fall and that man has been one of the greatest sportsmen by conduct, even without his achievements. So let's not see the ability to celebrate emotionally ground out of the sport.

By rushing into Judgement the ITTF have (1) made the story about the celebration incident when it should have been about the event, the sport, and the sportsmen and (2) chosen to poor cold water onto the winners enjoyment seemingly before he has even left the stadium and (3) chosen to act in haste and repent at leisure. This has only been exacerbated by their decision to make the punishment relate directly to the competition prize itself which creates the feeling that they are trying to strip the winner of their win altogether and humiliate them.

I might have expected something more akin to an announcement that the ITTF would be considering the destruction of the barriers w.r.t. the sports code of conduct at a meeting to be held shortly. Zhang Jike having been advised of this before it was announced. This would have allowed him/China to speak of it at the press conference which I presume follows these events - apologising and accepting that the ITTF would review it. A few days later the ITTF could announce a fine of a certain amount with no direct relation with the prize money. Sportsman respected, professional standards upheld, PR managed. Or am I missing something?

 

[Tinykin]

You've said it all, and so eloquently.

 

[Shiro]

I also agree with the ittf. That is just ridiculous. 45,000 euros for what? only pieces of card board/foarm that are painted? Zhang jike should still get the money but be forced to pay for some of the damage he caused. He only destroyed 2 pieces of cardboard

 

[Persistence TT]

Guys relax we are talking more about the celebration and less about the game itself. I dont think it matters anymore, Im sure ZJK doesnt give a f*** about it since 45000 $ is small amount of money, considering that in china he made commercials with big mobile phone companies and coca cola...the ittf overreacted but no harm done in the end

 

[skyea]

It's US$45,000 from http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/world-cup-2014.html

 

[juliotakeuchi]

Terrible decision by the ITTF, they had to charged him the broken barriers and make him to do some special work on behalf of the federation like sports workshops in schools or something like that, i think this decision is only to save money....

 

[MegaZZ]

I think everybody has already made the pertinent points:

1. Zhang Jike should get some sort of either warning and/or financial punishment.
2. A formal process should be in place like a committee with different parties (which I doubt occurred), but I think 45, 000 Euro is clearly over the top and what does it really have to do with his prize money? It seems the figure 45,000 Euro was chosen precisely because it was the prize money and not because the figure matches to the penalty for this particular type of bad behaviour.
3. I believe the following is a good idea, a financial penalty (say 1000-5000 USD) and warning that similar behaviour in the future would result in temporary suspension next time (something like 3-6 month ban). I am sure ZJK would be a lot more worried about a potential ban rather than 45,000 USD...

However, as a final remark I do think ZJK won precisely because of his "beast" psychology (which was so destructive when vented), actually Ma Long does need this, its his final hurdle and not because of technical issues (although I am sure he will never do something so destructive, at least not in public).

Also I have heard before that ZJK ripped off the shirt first time back in WTTC in 2012 after beating Wang Hao in the finals because the chinese team didn't believe he could do it, afterwards he received serious punishment within the team as actually the shirt has chinese flag and well lets say ripping apart chinese flag in public is not taken lightly by the chinese sporting committee. Lets hope though that the punishments (for there will be punishments within the CNT for sure) are more appropriate for ZJK's sake

 

[Greco]

Talking about the shirt, a different thing happened here when a player did this. A Tenis player, Berlocq did this when defeated Kohlschreiber in the Davis Cup:
(It was a very important point, and the german player was the favorite)

Obviously, nobody took it like an offense, in fact, he has done it a few more times.
I suppose Zhang will recibe some kind of punishment from the Ctta for this, it's not easy to understand for me, our cultures are so different.

 

[Baal]

I think the ITTF have dealt with this poorly:

Competition is ultimately all about emotion. The ability to control your emotions, to withstand great pressure, to remain able to function despite your emotions. This is why we all love sport so much because in the end, like life, it is played in the mind. It is not surprising to see emotion burst out when the tension of that control is released by victory and sometimes in unexpected ways. I recall Jack Nicklaus throwing his putter high into the air after the final putt and then looking up and ducking in worry about where it would fall and that man has been one of the greatest sportsmen by conduct, even without his achievements. So let's not see the ability to celebrate emotionally ground out of the sport.

By rushing into Judgement the ITTF have (1) made the story about the celebration incident when it should have been about the event, the sport, and the sportsmen and (2) chosen to poor cold water onto the winners enjoyment seemingly before he has even left the stadium and (3) chosen to act in haste and repent at leisure. This has only been exacerbated by their decision to make the punishment relate directly to the competition prize itself which creates the feeling that they are trying to strip the winner of their win altogether and humiliate them.

I might have expected something more akin to an announcement that the ITTF would be considering the destruction of the barriers w.r.t. the sports code of conduct at a meeting to be held shortly. Zhang Jike having been advised of this before it was announced. This would have allowed him/China to speak of it at the press conference which I presume follows these events - apologising and accepting that the ITTF would review it. A few days later the ITTF could announce a fine of a certain amount with no direct relation with the prize money. Sportsman respected, professional standards upheld, PR managed. Or am I missing something?

This is exactly correct, well stated. As it is now, ITTF are guilty of the same thing he is, which is reacting inappropriately in the aftermath of a big event. It also evinces no respect for the players and what they go through. And $45,000 for what he did is simply unjust. Consider the fines levied in other sports for things a lot worse than this and to me it seems pretty obvious.

 

[Iczy]

The opinion on this topic will surely be divided into two extremes.
On one hand, he did a good job and by his nature, that is his way of expressing himself. (The outcome-is-all-important view)
On the other hand, he displayed violent behavior, not proper for a professional athete, let alone a grand-slam champion. You don't want everyone emulating him from now on. It would be pure chaos if anyone can destroy anything in the arena if he can afford to pay for the damage. (The means-is-all-importan view)