OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Table tennis: China's Ma brushes off 'bat doping' claim

China's world number one Ma Long has played down claims that top table tennis players are illegally doctoring their bats, saying all paddles are checked before matches.



HONG KONG: China's world number one Ma Long has played down claims that top table tennis players are illegally doctoring their bats, saying all paddles are checked before matches.

The 27-year-old, one of the Chinese stars playing this week's Asian Olympic qualifiers in Hong Kong, dismissed the idea that players were "doping" their bats with special chemicals.

"I don't think this happens because before the start of each match there are umpires checking every bat," the reigning world champion told AFP through a translator.

Germany's former world number one Timo Boll has claimed about 80 percent of international players are doctoring their bats' rubber surfaces to increase the acceleration of the ball, or "catapult effect".

So-called "speed glue", which make the ball travel faster and spin more off the bat, was banned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 2008.

"The rubbers are treated with chemicals to increase the catapult effect when hitting," Boll was quoted as saying by a German newspaper earlier this year.

"This applies not only for the Chinese players, but for Europeans and other Asians too."

ITTF president Thomas Weikert has reportedly conceded it's hard to detect speed glue, as the testing process is costly and involves removing rubber from the bats.

"The fact is, at the moment, there is no testing method to detect (Boll's allegations)," he said last month, according to Singapore's Straits Times.

"An example of how difficult it is - you need a lot of money and of course the players have to tear off their rubber."

Ma, who wasn't selected for singles at the 2012 Olympics, beat London gold-medallist Zhang Jike on Thursday to reach the final of the qualifying event.

"It's obviously every athlete's dream to win an Olympic medal but I haven't had the chance to play yet," he said.

- AFP/ec

No testing method for bat 'doping' currently, clarifies ITTF chief


Chua Siang Yee

Days after quashing fellow German Timo Boll's claim that most players are using illegal material on their bats, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) chief Thomas Weikert said yesterday that he was misquoted.

Boll, a two-time World Cup winner who played in China for several years, had told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that 80 per cent of players treat the rubber on their bats with chemicals to give their shots a catapult effect.

Speaking at a press conference to announce major outcomes of the ITTF's annual general meeting, Weikert - who became president in 2014 - said: "Sometimes there are false comments in the newspapers.

"The fact is, at the moment, there is no testing method to detect (Boll's allegations). An example of how difficult it is - you need a lot of money and of course the players have to tear off their rubber."

Weikert said he has received various proposals since, including a bounce test from Japan, and a test from a German professor.

He added: "If you do not have a method that is cheap or (practical), then you have to do other things."

The ITTF chief said he will meet bat manufacturers this week to get feedback on this issue. Adding that the goal was to ensure a level playing field, he suggested the ITTF could even tweak its rules such that everyone has the same advantage.

At the press conference, it was confirmed that Hungary will host the 2019 World Championships.

Weikert also told The Straits Times that Singapore had submitted an unsuccessful bid to host a Super Series event last year, but said he expects the Republic to bid again for a 2017 tournament.

With the World Team Championship possibly facing a reduction of teams, he said Singapore could host the premier tournament one day.

"Why not? I saw some venues which are possible and maybe we have a structure with less teams, it's possible," said Weikert.

- Straits Times (of Singapore), 2nd March 2016

I can just picture a syringe stuck in the side of a sponge

I can just picture a syringe stuck in the side of a sponge

Hang on when the glue attracts to the sponge vocs and chemicals are produced anyways. So if you abide the ITTF rules you are still caught out 'bat doping' even with free voc glue. You would need the rubber to be on your bat for a least a week or two for the vocs to dissipate and that is way too long for pro players. They cannot enforce any of the rubber regulations for the Olympics in Rio they stuffed up themselves getting all the research and data wrong.

The ITTF says "bat doping" is hard to detect, but then again, bat doping perfectly legal if done by preferred manufacturers.

World no. 1 Ma Long eyes table tennis medal at Rio 2016


Thu, Apr 14 2016 CDT

by Elizabeth Broomhall


Hong Kong (AFP)

World number one Ma Long of China earned a spot at the Rio Olympics after eliminating Fan Zhendong at the Asian qualifiers in Hong Kong Thursday in a dramatic showdown between the compatriots.

The 27-year-old star overpowered Fan four games to one in the finals, bringing him one step closer to his first Olympic medal for men's singles.

Ma was overlooked for the London 2012 singles event despite being considered one of the best table tennis players in the world at the time.

But he is now bouncing off a stellar 2015 during which he bagged the World Championship, World Cup and World Tour grand finals titles.

"The Olympics is different from the other competitions so mentally I need to work harder," he told AFP after the match.

He said the four-yearly event was the most important in his sporting career.

Ma is among 10 table tennis players -- five men and five women -- to earn a spot at Rio 2016 after the first stage of the Asia qualifiers in Hong Kong, which saw one male and one female player selected from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Middle Asia.

A Chinese quartet consisting of the world's top four men competed, but number three Xu Xin was stunned by Taiwan's unheralded Chuang Chih-yuan in the quarter finals while reigning Olympic singles champion Zhang Jike, ranked fourth in the globe, was beaten by Ma in the semis 4-2.

Another six men's and six women's singles places will be up for grabs in the second stage of the qualifying event kicking off Friday and open to the remaining players.

Xu told AFP the Chinese team would not be competing in the second stage but are hopeful for their share of further Olympic spots to be allocated in May based on world rankings.

- 'Perfect end' -

Among the women, it was China's reigning Olympic singles champion Li Xiaoxia who came out on top Thursday, triumphing 4-0 over Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa.

At number five Li is one spot behind Ishiwaka in the world rankings, but the 28-year-old showed no mercy in the final match.

She is now set to defend her title at the upcoming Rio Games, which she said would likely be "the perfect end" to her table tennis career.

Earlier in the qualifiers there were some shock upsets among the female players, with 19-year-old Hong Konger Doo Hoi Kem defeating China's world number one Liu Shiwen in a nail-biting match that ended 4-2 and marked Doo's first ever victory over a Chinese player.

She went on to knock out South Korea's feisty Jeon Jihee but was beaten by Li in the semi-finals.

Another teenager, Japanese Ito Mima, aged just 15, overpowered world number two Ding Ning, also from China, but had to bow out in a semi-final contest with Ishiwaka due to injury.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore dominated the entire first stage, with Feng Tianwei, ranked seventh globally, nabbing an Olympic place among the women and fellow Singaporean Chen Feng being selected for the men.

In the South Asia group, only India was involved, with Soumyajit Ghosh selected for the men's Olympic singles and Manika Batra for the women's.

Qatar's Li Ping and Lebanon's Mariana Sahakian were respectively successful in the men's and women's qualifiers for West Asia, while in Middle Asia it was Nima Alamian and Neda Shahsavari -- both from Iran.

Table tennis has been part of the Olympics since the 1988 Seoul Games but has been dominated by China.

The Asian giant sealed its second straight clean sweep of all four table tennis gold medals for the second Games running in London 2012.


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I see nothing contradictory in that. Are you trying to imply it is? And it's not "perfectly legal if done by preferred manufacturers". It's "perfectly legal if done by ALL manufacturers."

Iskandar

... the whole situation came about because of this rule:

>> 2.04.07 The racket covering shall be used without any physical, chemical or other treatment.

Why did this come about? It was to eliminate epoxy-tipped long pips and "anti-fied" rubber. The "ban" on booster, er, dope, is a side effect. And the tricky part is, if boosting is to be allowed, how would you modify this rule to allow it but not the other stuff? Easier said than done, but I'd like to see them try. Either that or continue with the status quo and just let the Igors of this world rant and rave about it.