Former China coach Wu attacks World Table Tennis, state of ‘national game'
Published: 12:00pm, 16 Feb 2025
A former coach of China's national table tennis team has launched a scathing attack on the state of the game, arguing that it is wrapped up in commercial interests and does not respect athletes.
Wu Jingping singled out the actions of World Table Tennis (WTT), slamming the body for prompting his former protégé Fan Zhendong – the Olympic champion in men's singles at the Paris Games – to withdraw from the global rankings.
Wu, who coached the Chinese national team from 1991 to 2021, also said that today's table tennis was no longer the national game he grew up with.
'It is very sad to see the mess that table tennis has become,' Wu wrote on Weibo on Saturday.
'When the 'national game' is wrapped up by capital to stand for commercial competitions, it has already changed. China's Paris Olympics singles champion Fan Zhendong withdraw from the global rankings. Photo: Xinhua
'Now the 'national game' is no longer the 'national game' that we have been fighting for for decades, and the foundation created by our older generation has been almost squandered.'
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