(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF)

A surprise announcement today as the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced that Liu Guoliang has resigned.  Guoliang has been President of the strongest table tennis association in the world since 2018.  He is clearly one of the most influential figures in the sport – a great player and coach and under his leadership, China secured nine of ten Olympic gold medals in table tennis (at Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024).

China is losing a legend, but in this country there is no shortage of legends.  Guoliang’s resignation has lead to Wang Liqin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Champion, rising to the role of CTTA president. Liqin has been CTTA’s Vice President since 2018.  And, this created a vacancy at Vice President – and another Legend will be stepping up to fill that role, recently retired Ma Long.

Shifts in leadership often creates opportunities for adversaries and competitors.  The rest of the world has been looking up at China for nearly three decades – it remains to be seen if this change will provide some room for other countries to gain ground.  If their past successes as players are any indication, the world can expect many more years of Chinese dominance in the sport.

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