Table Tennis
WTT Star Contender Goa: Ma Long, Chen Meng among 6 Chinese paddlers who withdraw
In a major blow to India's biggest table tennis event - the WTT Star Contender Goa, a host of Chinese paddlers have withdrawn from the tournament.
Ma Long at the Tokyo Olympics (Source: Getty)
In a major blow to India's biggest table tennis event - the WTT Star Contender Goa, a host of Chinese paddlers including the likes of Ma Long and Chen Meng have withdrawn from the tournament.
This development comes just a day before the qualifying rounds for the WTT Star Contender is to begin at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa.
The other Chinese paddlers to withdraw from the event include Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha, Wang Manyu, and He Zhuojia.
The World Table Tennis, via a tweet, announced that the withdrawals from the Chinese paddlers come on the back of injuries and covid-19 scares.
"Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu and He Zhuojia have withdrawn from WTT Star Contender Goa due to covid and injuries," WTT tweeted.
The commercial arm of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), also announced the replacement for all the six Chinese paddlers.
Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan, Wang Yidi and Quan Tianyi will replace Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng respectively, while Jia Nan Yuan will take the place of Wang Manyu.
Chinese Taipei's Liu Hsing-Yin, on the other hand, has been promoted from the qualifying round to the main draw.
The Indian challenge in WTT Star Contender Goa will be led by the likes of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, and Achanta Sharath Kamal.
The trio will be joined by Payas Jain, Wesley Do Rosario, Sreeja Akula, Suhana Saini, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Archana Kamath, Sanil Shetty, Diya Chitale, and Reeth Tennison.
