Feng Tianwei out: Rejuvenation, and a new emphasis on going local

What does the STTA’s shock decision to drop Feng Tianwei, and its recent sacking of Li Hu mean? What implications do these moves have for its national teams? Will we see more local-born paddlers in the men’s and women’s national teams soon? Here’s the TODAY Sports Desk analysis of the new development:

1. IS THIS THE END OF FENG TIANWEI’S TIME AS A NATIONAL PLAYER? 

In a nutshell, yes - Feng’s career as a national paddler, flying Singapore’s flag at major Games and Championships has ground to a halt. 

Her current contract with the Singapore Table Tennis Association ends on Oct 31, and the STTA will not be renewing it. The STTA’s statement also states plainly that Feng “does not fit into the STTA’s plans for rejuvenation” and highlights the fact that she will be 34 when the 2020 Tokyo Olympics come around. 

STTA president Ellen Lee also goes on record to say that the national body wishes to thank her for all that she has done for Singapore table tennis. “We would like to take this opportunity to wish Tianwei all the best in her future endeavours,” said Lee.

It doesn’t mean that Feng’s table-tennis career is over though. She can still compete on the ITTF Pro Tour and the various leagues around the world, but she probably has to finance them herself from here on.

2. HOW ABOUT YU MENGYU? 

Yu’s future remains unclear though - the STTA would only say in its statement that it will monitor her injuries closely. She has shoulder and back injuries, and her doctor has yet to determine how long she needs to make a full recovery.

Reading between the lines, it appears the STTA is taking a wait-and-see approach with the 27-year-old who is Singapore’s No 2 women’s player and reached the quarter-finals of the women’s singles competition at the Rio Olympics. 

Feng and Yu were the two players who fell out publicly with then national women’s head coach Jing Junhong, which subsequently led to Jing being reassigned as the STTA’s chief coach of youth development. 

So the implication of the STTA’s statement on Yu is that if she doesn’t live up to expectations, then she could face the same outcome as Feng.  

3. DOES THIS MEAN MORE LOCAL-BORN PLAYERS WILL BE DRAFTED INTO THE NATIONAL TEAMS?

Not really in the immediate future. 

For now, the STTA is certainly keen to promote Clarence Chew as one of the mainstays of the men’s team from here on, and plan to groom him accordingly. 

“With Gao (Ning)’s impending retirement from the team, Clarence Chew will be primed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.... The STTA will work closely with him on his training and competition plan,” it said in its statement.

However, the STTA also added that it will be “placing emphasis on Chen Feng who had proven himself by earning the Rio ticket in the singles event”. The 22-year-old Chen is ranked 117th in the world. 

With Gao only expected to retire after the 2018 Asian Games, it means that the men’s team will feature Gao, Chen and Clarence.

The women’s team, however, still looks to be filled with naturalised citizens. 

Yu aside, the STTA said that early twentysomethings Zhou Yihan, Lin Ye and Zeng Jian “will be able to lead the national team for the next two Olympic cycles”.

“The immediate task is to improve their world rankings in the next four years,” said the STTA in its statement.

“This will give STTA between four to eight years to groom the next generation of athletes for succesion.” 

Does the STTA hope to see a local-born paddler in the women’s team soon? 

Well, STTA president Ellen Lee did say in the statement that her association also hopes “to field a local-born talent to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics”. 

4. SO WHEN WILL WE SEE MORE LOCALS IN THE NATIONAL TEAMS?

It looks like the STTA is hoping to achieve this within the next eight years.

By stating that it will be placing greater emphasis on local youth development, and will be working closely with its stakeholders - identified as the Singapore Sports School, Sport Singapore, educational institutions, athletes and parents - to provide paddlers with high potential “with the best support in their pursuit of sporting excellence”, it looks like the national association already has a set teen players between the ages of 13 to 16 in mind. 

Indeed, the STTA’s go-local approach is best spelt out in its declaration that it will be pursuing tie-ups with local and overseas universities, and initiating a bursary scheme to help finance the studies of needy student athletes.  

In other words, its message to promising young local paddlers from now on seems to be this: Give us your all, and we will help to allay your worries in other areas such as getting a degree or having to look for part-time jobs because of tight family finances.  

5. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SINGAPORE’S TABLE TENNIS MEDAL HOPES AT THE SEA GAMES?

Singapore should still be the favourite for a number of table tennis gold medals at next year’s SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. 

After all, Gao, who won the men’s singles, doubles and team event, will still be around. His doubles partner, Li Hu, has been sacked by the STTA though, so it remains to be seen who will be his new partner. 

Gao, Clarence and Chen Feng were also three of the five members in the Singapore team that won the gold.

The women’s competition seems a bit more dicey though.

While Zhou and Lin are the reigning doubles champions, they are only two of the five-member team that won the gold. 

If Yu is still in the STTA’s plans by then, then Singapore’s hopes of retaining the title should be strong. 

If she isn’t, it will be interesting to see if Zeng and Isabelle Li will be able to rise to the challenge.