WTT Finals: Wang pulls out of semi-finals in Hong Kong, sparking fears over season schedule

Wang Chuqin withdrew from the semi-finals of the WTT Finals on Sunday, the second world No 1 to pull out injured in the space of 24 hours, sparking concern among officials that there might be too many table tennis tournaments on the calendar.\nA day after women’s top seed Sun Yingsha forfeited her singles semi-final in Hong Kong, her compatriot followed suit before his final four contest against Sweden’s Truls Moregard had even begun.\nSteve Dainton, the World Table Tennis CEO, said Wang had woken up with a bad back and “was not feeling well”.\n“He tried to come and practice, and it got worse,” Dainton said. “He tried to take something to take away the pain, but it couldn’t go away. They were a bit concerned that if he plays, it may make it a bigger problem.”\nDainton, who has been overseeing the development of WTT since its establishment in 2019, added that he wanted to see the best players play.\n“Of course, we want to see them play, that would be the best,” the Australian said. “We want the fans to enjoy the matches, but injuries are quite common in sports; you see it in other major sports events like tennis.\n\n“The players have a big schedule. They play a lot of matches during the year. They get tired, too, so we understand. This is sport, and in sport, health issues can pop up.\n“It’s part of organising sports events, but maybe we have to have a look in the future at the scheduling, how we manage the events and so forth, because the health of the players is the most important thing, much more important than the rest.”\nWorld No 4 Moregard, who famously eliminated Wang in the second round of the Paris Olympics last summer, said it was a “very unfortunate” scenario for Wang and wished him a speedy recovery.\n“It’s like this in every sport. All athletes in every sport need to rest sometimes, and sometimes you get an injury,” the Swede said. “It’s a very tough sport, and unfortunately, this can happen.\n“[As for tournament scheduling] it also depends on how tight you do it yourself. You can play a few, and you can play a lot. We always tried to play as many as we could, but I also pulled out of two tournaments this year.\n“That’s because I’m a little bit scared that it will be a big injury, and I will miss many years, so we have to be clever.”\nA national team coach, who had won Olympic medals both as a player and a coach, said it was all about “striking a balance” both for WTT and the players themselves.\n“WTT is like a double-edged sword nowadays,” the head coach said. “Players are earning much more prize money, but at the same time, they also have become a moneymaking machine [for the organisation].\n“The decision to play in whichever tournaments rests on the shoulders of the players and their respective associations, but I’d say maybe WTT can take a look at the tournament scheduling.\n“Maybe they can plan the schedule better, or spread various events on different days for those players taking part in more than one event. No player should play more than two matches in one day.”\nIn the other men’s semi-final, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan beat Lin Shidong of China 4-3 and he will face Moregard in the final on Sunday.\nKuai Man will meet reigning champion Wang Manyu in the women’s final also on Sunday.\n