Shake-up in Singapore table tennis
Men's head coach Yang Chuanning and women's head coach Jing Junhong (centre foreground) with some members of the Singapore's table tennis team. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — With less than four months to the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore’s national team – which have reaped numerous titles and medals for the Republic – have been rocked by a major shake-up in its coaching line-up.
The Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) announced today (Nov 5) that national women’s team head coach Jing Junhong has been redeployed as the chief coach (youth development) with immediate effect, with deputy head coach Liu Jiayi to replace her. Men’s team head coach Yang Chuanning has been sacked from his post after “extensive consultation with the players of the men’s team”, and TODAY understands that the male paddlers had complained about the coach’s performance during a review. The STTA is finalising a replacement for Yang, with assistant coaches Wang Xiang and Zhu Jiang to take over for now.
The announcement by the STTA follows their investigation into a dispute between Jing and national player Yu Mengyu at last month’s Polish Open. A week before the tournament, Yu and teammate Feng Tianwei had requested for a change of coach from Jing to, it is believed, Yang. While the STTA agreed to evaluate the request, changes could not be made immediately due to time constraint.
During the tournament, Jing had reportedly insisted on taking colleague Hao Anlin’s place to coach world No 24 Yu for her women’s singles round of 16 match. Yu claimed she was told by Jing to accept the change, but the paddler stood her ground until team officials and the match umpire stepped in to mediate. Yu then complained that the dispute had affected her performance in women’s doubles final, which Yu and Feng lost.
Following the incident, the STTA convened a three-man investigation panel which yesterday decided to give Jing a verbal reprimand, while Yu was handed a warning letter for “being disrespectful and for causing embarrassment to Singapore and the STTA”.
In its statement, the STTA said: “Through the investigations, the STTA determined that the Jing and Yu were disrespectful and reprimanded both for having an open dispute at an international competition.
“The STTA have stressed to the coaches and players alike that they should always keep in mind that they should always be at their best behaviour when representing Singapore.”
Yu was singled out for her behaviour in the incident, as the association added: “Yu has failed to understand the severity of the issue and did not agree that the issue has caused embarrassment to Singapore and STTA. She felt that she was not in the wrong and placed the entire blame on the coach. Yu showed no remorse for her actions.”
Jing accepted the decision of the panel. “I deeply regret the impact of my actions and apologise for not having weighed my actions more carefully,” said the former national paddler. “I will accept any punishments imposed by the investigation panel and STTA.”
In light of the blow-up and subsequent investigation, the STTA decided to review its coaching support for both teams. This led to Liu’s – who was previously head coach of the English national men’s team – appointment as women’s team head coach, while Yang was dismissed. In addition to a new men’s team head coach, the STTA will also source for additional coaching support for the women’s team.
The upheaval in the STTA’s coaching set-up also comes just nine months ahead of 2016 Olympic Games, where the women’s team will be aiming to defend their two bronze medals in the women’s team and singles. “The changes in the men’s and women’s teams come at a critical juncture as the STTA works toward the Rio Olympics 2016,” said STTA president Ellen Lee. “We hope that the players and the coaches will rally around each other for the good of the country.”
