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Europe whacks at table tennis ruling
By Tang Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-15 11:18
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BEIJING - The leader of the table tennis authority in Europe blasted the decision by the international governing body to reduce the number of singles entries per country at the Olympic Games, saying it lowers the level of competition.
Stefano Bosi, chairman of the European Table Tennis Union, said the International Table Tennis Federation is undermining the sport and promoting it in the wrong way. Last December, the ITTF reduced berths in the singles events at the 2012 London Olympic Games from three to two players per country. Another vote on the proposal by the sport's ruling body is expected in May.
The change, according to the ITTF, is for the good of the sport. It is aimed at having more countries compete at the Olympic Games and to increase the chances for non-Chinese players of winning a medal.
Bosi, however, said the proposal restrains table tennis powerhouses such as China, which won every singles event in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
"It is not China's fault if they win. Chinese players are the best and they deserve the medals. So what we have to do is not reduce their opportunity to win but to be better than the Chinese," Bosi told China Daily during the 2010 Asia-Europe All Star Table Tennis Challenge in Beijing on Tuesday.
Bosi is not the first to criticize the change. After the December vote, Chinese officials and coaches said that the team was crushed by the proposal and that a lot of players had been working very hard to make their Olympic dreams come true.
Though Bosi believes that participation from more countries is important for table tennis and for the Olympics, he said: "We can't pay too much attention to participation than to the technical aspects of the sport.
"It is a big risk to exclude some of the best players in the world because we will then lose an opportunity to show the best playing at the Olympic Games," he added.
The European chairman has said he will be firmly against the change even though he believes the proposal will pass in May.
"I think the proposal will be valid, unfortunately, because there are not only Asian and European countries but also a lot of other members. This is the rule of democracy," he said. "But I think it is a wrong path. My philosophy is to make the level of competition as high as possible. This is a completely different philosophy."
Officials from China said they would vote for the proposal in May after a few discussions with ITTF president Adham Sharara. They also said they would keep the right to have a different opinion.
China Daily
