Ex-China table tennis player says clubs hold key to return of Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha

Former China table tennis player Ma Te said he believed that Wang Chuqin’s and Sun Yingsha’s participation at the Chinese Table Tennis Super League Finals would be decided by their respective clubs.\nMa’s comments, which were shared during a livestream on his Douyin account on Wednesday, come after Wang and Sun withdrew from the WTT Finals in Hong Kong because of injury.\nDiscussing whether Wang would play at the Super League Finals, Ma said this depended on what Wang’s club decided, adding that players would not be fined if they did not play.\nSun’s Shenzhen University team and Wang’s Shandong Weiqiao team have both trained at the venue in Nanjing, but fans have not seen either Wang or Sun on court, leading to ongoing discussion about whether they will appear.\n“Both of them are feeling somewhat better, but the degree of recovery depends on their different injuries,” Ma said. “A week is definitely too short for a full recovery.”\nWang trained at a sports centre in Beijing on Monday for the first time since withdrawing from the WTT Finals, but it is believed that he will be only a spectator at the Super League Finals.\n\nMa said players had been focusing on recovery and adjustments after the WTT Finals, “while a week may not seem long, for core players who have faced a packed schedule, it is already a relatively adequate period for rest”.\nMa responded to fans’ concerns about the lack of updates about the players, saying: “This is actually a good thing.\n“It means they are resting well and adjusting their treatment as needed. Everyone should give athletes time to recover and wait for them to return to competition when they are ready.”\nWang withdrew from his semi-final and Sun forfeited her semi-final through injury at the WTT Finals.\n