World Table Tennis

The ITTF is well awre that China is flooding the world with China-born and China-trained players and has appealed to China to help stop this trend and instead pleaded with China to send more top coaches to other countries to spread the game. The ITTF is not too happy to see so many Chinese players representing countries like the Congo, Australia, UK, USA, Dominican Replublic, Australia, Spain, Singapore and moans that 25% or more of all the competition lots are all Chinese players flying the flag of convenience.
The ITTF has passed a new rule that prohibits Chinese players, under very strict conditions, from playing for other countries.
For players who are under 15 years of age when they become citizens of the third country the player can only be eligible to play for her adopted country after a 3 years wait. If the player is aged between 15 to 18 then the wait is 5 years. For those between 18-21 then the wait is 7 years. For those above 21 years of age they are banned from playing for any other country.
But these rules seem to have been side-stepped in Singapore's case. Can anyone throw more light on this? I seem to remember that dispensation from these ITTF rules can be given by the exporting country, China.

 

Where did you find that ITTF rule? Sending top coaches to spread the game sure would help...the other ingredient is world class training partners which other countries do not have, other than to gain experience during competition. With state sponsored system, drafting very young talents and succumb them to 'military type training' system (in the west that would be like child abuse) which I am not sure what country could copy CHN, having world class training partners, etc., CHN has a huge advantage...Rules to restrict movement of players, IMHO, is a kiss of death to TT, the disparity between CHN and the rest of world esp in women is simply too big a gap...take away the 3 CHN girls from Sing, Tie/Huang from HK and then what do we have, only Jap and Kor to challenge CHN, that's about it and you can guarantee CHN domination which is worse than now...with the just announced OLY12 rules limiting 2 entry per nation, I would really like to see players that could not make the CHN team (say even Guo Yue, LSW or DN if they can't make the 2-person team) be allowed to play for other nations, imagine GY play ZYN, no guarantee who will win, can go either way

 

The new ITTF ruling on foreign players were passed in early 2008 but only took effect in late 2008. So, Singapore's Feng got through by the skin of her teeth.
But there are dark horizons in the future for Singapore table tennis. The new ruling will kill off any more "talent drain" and flags of convenience. In less than a decade all these Chinese players would have gone back to China. You will then have local Singaporean players who may even struggle against Malaysia. It will be a very hard fall.
This same fate applies to Hong Kong too. But at least local Hong Kong table tennis players are much better than local Singapore players.

 

Forgot to direct you to www.china.org.cn/sports/news/2008-03/01/content_11208527.htm

 

Thanks for the link...how could I miss it but I am sure it wasn't posted on ITTF as I follow ITTF daily
The rules forbids player switching association but did not say what if the players actually become citizen of another country, will they be allowed to play for that country then? I am referring to the statements ".....players over 21 years old will be banned from registering in other associations to play World Championships and World Cup, unless they have been resident there".

If players are merely switching associations so to play for another country, I can see your point and that of ITTF that these players are taking away the opportunities from locally born players deprieving them of a chance to play and killing of local interest in TT. I am surprised that ITTF even allows that in the first place. But take Sing for e.g., their 3 girls actually become Sing citizen so they should be allowed to represent Sing right?

I think this rule actually hurt CHN players more. CHN is like a TT production machine, producing countless world class players but not enough playing positions or jobs. Now with OLY12 limiting only 2 entry per nation to prevent CHN clean sweep, the opportunities to make the 2-person CHN team is hopeless for a lot of excellent players. So unless the players name are Ma Lin, Chen Hao, Zhang Yin Ning, Guo Yue, etc, then their dreams of playing international competition will be greatly diminished, and the only hope is for some rich nations which are generous to open the doors for them, to absorb them as Sing did. I cannot imagine WC without LSW, LXX, WLQ, Ma Long, in them.

The other statements in the link "In the globalizing world, most of players are traveling from this country to another, and they mainly earn money from national teams rather than clubs. The new rule means some of them could be jobless," is so so true.

ITTF should recognize like it or not, CHN dominates TT and will continue this trend. No countries can operate like CHN with drafting them young policy, state sponsored full time training and pension after career is over, excellent coaching, world class training partners and facilities, local leaque further promoting and developing more players, etc, etc. If restricting movement of CHN players and forcing other nations to develop their own players, we can wait probably forever till we see some nation that can actually take CHN on. Imagine actually paying to watch mediocre players play in a WC or OLY....that would be too painful.

If you look at badminton, France women baddy without Pi would be nothing. Ditto for Netherland with Mia, HK with WC and ZM.

 

The new rules say players 21 years and over cannot register with another association (meaning another country) and cannot represent another country. The rationale is that the the older you are after 15, the greater part of your training has been in China. When a Chinese player reaches 21 and he then wants to represent another country he is considered as not elligible.
See www.tabletennis.about.com/b/2008/03/11/ittf-restrictions-on-chinese-imports-causes-controversy.htm and an example of a recent list of new registrations of players wishing to play for another country www.ittf.com/stories/pictures/ITTF_Eligibility_Registration.pdf

So the future looks bleak for Hong Kong and Singapore. However, these Chinese exports will not all lose their jobs as the Chinese Super League is a big "employer" for perfromers. Just look at Singapore's Olympics hero who married a rich Chinese businessman and is now playing in the Super League in China.

 

What happened to ZYN ?? did not play since OLY08 ??
When is the WC ???

 

ZYN is 27, I think, and has played 11 years already winning 2 OLY WS gold, 2 WC WS gold and 2 WC WS silver. WC individual events are held in the year before WC team championship, i.e. the just concluded 50th WC team championship was held in Moscow and won by Singapore, while the 50th WC individual events were held in 2009 and ZYN won her 2nd WS gold.
ZYN is still active. I think she is probably going for her 3rd Oly gold but may not play till closer to OLY12 where she may need to get WR points to qualify. If you are asking about the next 51st WC individual events, it will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlandon from May 8-15, 2011. The 51st WC team championship will be held in Dortmund, Germany on April 1. I guess ZYN will play her last WC individual events next year, going for her 3rd WS gold. She did not play this year's WC championship, so I can't see her playing in 2012 in Germany even though it is an Olympic year.

 

There must be a balance in getting imports. When done wholesale, from coaches to all the team members, it also means the host country has almost no local talent at all. When the imports are mainly coaches, then it is to build local talents with the help of the best coaches. Or you can go for something in between the two.
Wholesale imports will end up like the badminton experience and may be even worse.

 

Sounds good on paper. Tennis pro makes big $$$ because of the huge sponsorship from endorsement and TV broadcast. The 4 slams of tennis payout >$1M for winners and even the 1st rounder makes more dough then the winner of a SS...and pro tennis babe looks great in skimpy outfit..so how to go pro lah?

 

Sing better enjoys this win and it will be very difficult to repeat this success. As you said, the new ITTF rules stops import, that would basically stop the Sing experience and HK too. What Sing and HK have done importing FT to represent them is not something every other nations can adopt. MAS would not go for it as TT is an obscure sport popularized by one race. Other countries may recognize investing/winning in TT as hopeless payback when facing the giant CHN. HK and Sing are rich countries but also an expensive place to live. Playing pro TT would not entice the locals to bank their career into this poorly paid sport, same for baddy too. For the young CHN FT, they have nothing to lose...come to Sing, do well and make it, then great, otherwise what's there to lose? If ITTF thinks this will grow TT by eliminating FT, I say the reverse will happen. Obviously, Sing and HK TT will sink without FT, but still good playing against MAS, Laos, Cambodia, etc though
Winning WC TT gives the Singaporeans something to talk about, proud and put TT in the headlines. Sure the imports, and not the locals that win TT for Sing. If Sing did not import FT, they will be no WC TT gold and hence no celebrations, media coverage, etc., and TT in Sing will never be talked about (oblivion), so how can that be any more worse off than winning WC as you said? Fast forward in time, who would remember who won WC for Sing, it is in the history book, the same way LCW won the 100th AE crown