Indian Olympian Sharath Kamal, a member of the ITTF Task Force formed to resolve the ranking boycott outbreak among top players, has highlighted sponsorship issues as a primary reason for the sanction.
As per the rules, fines will be imposed on top players, if they don’t appear in the mandatory WTT events.
Notably, the WTT has increased the prize money pool for the players while also imposing higher sanctions, which can reach $5,000.
“It’s not a good look for the sport,” he told HT. “We had a fantastic Olympics in Paris, where TT was a huge success as per the IOC. There was more money coming in. The sport was in the limelight. From that viewpoint, it’s not come at the best time. It’s also a wake-up call.”
“The main issue is mandatory tournaments. Fines are imposed because of that,” Sharath said. “There’s a new structure for tournaments, which is offering higher prize money. But the thing is they want top players to keep playing. Players say they have no contract with WTT. The WTT in turn is like if we are not able to make sure that top players are competing, it is tough to attract sponsors. Both sides will have to understand each other’s viewpoint.”
The co-chair of the ITTF Athletes Commission cited the example of WTT Star Contender Goa, which attracted huge sponsorship interest, and top paddlers like Ma Long and Fan Zhendong also registered.
However, he mentioned that as the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Europe affected the commencement of WTT tournaments, top players catered to lower-tier events.
“There were not enough higher-tier tournaments. Stronger players came to weaker tournaments; they did not get enough prize money, and weaker players did not get enough points. Those disparities were too much. Hopefully it will ease out now,” Sharath said.
In the coming months, he is committed to restoring some peace and talking to players, including Paris 2024 gold medalist Fan Zhendong who was among the first players to boycott the ITTF rankings.
“It’s a bit of a grave situation. It’s three players now; it could be more going ahead because a lot them are complaining,” Sharath. “It is important to restore some peace.”