Bring back Fan Zhendong, Ma Long? Chinese table tennis fans rue Lin’s Macau loss
Hashtag ‘Chinese table tennis really needs to reflect’ tops Weibo’s trending list after Lin Shidong’s World Cup defeat by Hugo Calderano
Chinese table tennis fans voiced despair about the country’s men’s performances on Monday after Lin Shidong’s shock loss at the ITTF World Cup in Macau, with many calling for the return of Ma Long and Fan Zhendong.
World No 1 Lin’s 4-1 reverse against Brazil’s Hugo Calderano in Sunday’s final saw the hashtag “Chinese table tennis really needs to reflect” shoot to the top of Weibo’s trending list with more than 100 million views.
“Chinese table tennis should indeed reflect on itself, or more precisely, the Chinese men’s table tennis team should seriously reflect on itself,” one of the top comments read, lamenting “legacy issues such as Ma Long and Fan Zhendong” and suggesting “changes in the entire environment”.
Ma, last year’s World Cup winner, and popular Olympic singles champion Fan withdrew from the World Table Tennis rankings in December over a dispute about fines for players withdrawing from competitions, clearing the way for 19-year-old rising star Lin to claim the No 1 slot.
Olympic champions – such as Fan and Ma – were permitted to enter some tournaments even if they were not ranked, and exemptions were granted to allow players to miss events without being fined. This, however, has yet to lure back the pair.