Barely five months after winning the Paris 2024 men’s and women’s singles events respectively, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng have decided to retire from the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings on Friday.
The Chinese paddlers took the decision in unison due to the fines imposed on players who did not take part in international tournaments.
Fan, 27, made the announcement on his Weibo page, clarifying that he would still compete at the National Games in November after sharing a letter to the sport’s governing body that said “retirement notification”.
Chen, 30, shared the same letter bearing her name.
“The new regulations on withdrawal penalties recently issued by WTT, because my body is currently unable to bear every high-intensity event, out of respect for the international organisations, I signed the document on Monday and finally made the choice to withdraw from the world ranking,” she wrote on the Weibo post.
“I had already anticipated that Paris might be my last Olympics, and I would go all out to fight for my country,” Fan said.
“After successfully completing the Olympic mission, due to the huge psychological effect of the Paris cycle, I had not yet made specific plans for my future career except for the next National Games.
“Recently, WTT (World Table Tennis) issued a new rule that fines will be imposed if you do not participate. I am really not willing to accept it, but I still respect the international organisations, so I can only choose to withdraw from the world rankings.”
Chinese-born South Korean table tennis player Jeon Ji-hee also joined them.
As per the WTT 2025 handbook, published on December 20, players who miss the WTT Grand Smash, WTT Champions, and WTT Finals would be fined, the amount of which depends on the athletes ranking.