Singapore Smash still star-studded despite Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng’s absence

China’s Wang Chuqin (left) and Sun Yingsha will return to the Singapore Smash for the 2025 edition. PHOTO: ST FILE

David Lee

UPDATED Jan 24, 2025, 01:32 AM

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SINGAPORE – Olympic champions and crowd favourites Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng will not be in town for the Jan 30-Feb 9 Singapore Smash after in December 2024.

The trio of Chinese players, all of whom are former Singapore Smash winners, are ominously missing from the player list on the US$1.5 million (S$2.04 million) major tournament’s website, even as the organisers announced a star-studded field and wild cards on Jan 23.

Fan, who won Olympic men’s singles and team gold medals in Paris, as well as the 2022 and 2023 Singapore Smash men’s singles titles, posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Dec 27 to say that he did not agree with ITTF rules that impose fines on players who choose to skip World Table Tennis (WTT) tournaments.

He added: “I cannot accept it, but I respect the international federation. So I can only withdraw from the world rankings. I am still me, I won’t retire and I will work hard to participate in different competitions.”