So what’s next for Singapore table tennis after Olympic success?

After the euphoria of winning an Olympic medal dies down, what is next for the future of Singapore table tennis? The question is asked because the current strategy of recruiting foreign talent will probably see a natural death.

Why? Because from September 1st, new global rulings will come into place to prevent the easy switching of nationality. The recent Beijing Olympics saw China-born players take up 25% of all playing slots. At the 2007 Women’s World Cup, 13 out of 16 players were from China.

And what are latest rules by the International Table Tennis Federation? Players aged over 21 years cannot play for their new country at World Championships and World Cups. Players aged 15 to 18 years old must wait five years before competing for their new country, while those 18 to 21 years of age will be made to wait seven long years. Those who are below the age of 15 years must cool their heels for three.

The ITTF felt that their world championships and world cups were less attractive because of the Chinese dominance. The Olympic Games are exempt from this ruling because only the International Olympic Council has jurisdiction over the Games.

If there was a strong second tier of locally born table tennis players, this ruling would have little effect on Singapore but that is not the case. Earlier in the year, the Singapore Sports Council announced a list of model National Sports Associations and the Singapore Table Tennis Association was not on that list because they were adjudged not to have a sustainable youth development system in place.

At the Korat SEA Games in 2007, Singapore won gold by fielding China-born athletes Gao Ning, Yang Zi, Cai Xiaoli, Wang Yuegu, Li Jiawei and Sun Bei Bei to win both the men’s and women’s team gold. No Singapore-born players were good enough to play, an indication that they had not even been developed to South East Asian standards.

China-born Feng Tianwei is only 22 years old and so has many more years ahead of service to Singapore but there will be no Feng Tianweis coming along anymore. Either STTA has to find China-born athletes before the age of 15 or ramp up its youth development programme.

REDpoll