Online community attacks selection criteria for China’s Asian Games table tennis teams

China’s table tennis authorities have come under fire online after announcing their selection criteria for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September. The Chinese Table Tennis Association released the criteria on Tuesday, with different standards for the men’s and women’s teams. The selections will determine the five-player line-ups for the team events, with the same five players used for the five individual events: men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles. Under the criteria for the men’s team, the top three Chinese players in the ITTF singles rankings on May 25 will be named to the squad. The highest-ranked Chinese player in the doubles and mixed doubles rankings on the same date will also be selected, provided he has not already qualified through singles. The final place will be decided by the men’s coaching staff, taking into account the Asian Games schedule, playing styles, doubles and mixed-doubles ability, development potential and expert opinion. The women’s team selection is more complicated. The top two Chinese women in the singles rankings on May 25 will be selected, along with the highest-ranked Chinese player in the doubles and mixed doubles standings who has not already qualified. One additional player, born on or after January 1, 2004, will be selected from the singles rankings, and the final place will be decided through an internal trial. Based on current ITTF rankings, the men’s team would probably include Wang Chuqin, Lin Shidong and Wen Ruibo (top three singles), Huang Youzheng (top doubles/mixed doubles) and one coaching staff pick. The women’s squad would feature Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu (top two singles), Kuai Man (top doubles/mixed doubles), Chen Yi (born 2004) and one internal trial winner. The criteria have quickly become a hot topic on Weibo, with fans questioning why the men’s and women’s teams were being chosen differently and suggesting the process had been tailored to specific players. “Who is this standard trying to help? It’s too obvious,” one fan wrote. Another said the criteria looked like “selection rules set around specific players”. The women’s selection criteria drew particular criticism, with fans questioning why the top three men would qualify directly while only the top two women would do so, and why the men’s final spot would be handed to the coaching staff while the women’s last place would be decided through a trial. The biggest debate centred on the spot reserved for a player born after 2004, which many fans believe could favour Chen Yi, who was born that year and is currently ranked world No 6 and lost a spot of World Table Tennis Team Championship in the internal trial. “Why is 2004 such an important cut-off?” one fan asked. “If you want to develop young players, why not set the line at U21, U19 or U17? Making it 2004 feels far too tailored.” Others argued the rule should have been applied more broadly if the aim was truly to bring in younger talent. “If you want to train the younger generation, then let all players born after 2003 compete for the team,” one fan wrote. The controversy deepened after the national team’s coaches explained the thinking behind the criteria. “While comprehensively training the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, we are also discovering and developing new talent for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics,” national team head coach Qin Zhijian said. Women’s head coach Ma Lin said: “Selecting players born after 2004 is to allow young athletes to familiarise themselves with the atmosphere of major competitions and gain practical experience through matches.” But the explanations did little to calm fans, many of whom pointed to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where China still won all five table tennis gold medals despite sending a team with an average age of just 20, after several major seniors including then defending Olympic champions Ma Long and Ding Ning were rested. At that event, the men’s team was led by the then-21-year-old Fan Zhendong, while the women’s side featured Chen Meng as the oldest at 24 and a 17-year-old Sun Yingsha. Fans also compared China’s youth pathway nowadays with that of other countries, arguing that the promising players elsewhere were being promoted much earlier. “Look at Japan – Miwa Harimoto was born in 2008. Their young players are already mainstays,” one fan wrote. “Shin Yu-bin from South Korea, who was born in 2004, won an Olympic medal two years ago.” Others said China’s structure appeared too cautious. “If you want to develop players for Brisbane, why not bring up 15-year-olds now?” another asked. “What exactly is a 22-year-old being developed for?”

Online community attacks selection criteria for China’s Asian Games table tennis teams

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Women’s criteria draw most flak, with fans questioning why top three men will qualify directly while only top two women will do so

Women’s criteria draw most flak, with fans questioning why top three men will qualify directly while only top two women will do so