Asian Table Tennis Championships: China women’s coach Ma Lin rapped for skipping ceremony
His absence after Japan’s 3-1 win over the 19-time champions – the women’s team’s first loss since 2005 – sparks waves of online opprobrium
Ma Lin, China’s table tennis women’s team head coach, has been heavily criticised for skipping the prize presentation ceremony after the favourites were handed a stunning defeat by Japan in the final of the Asian Table Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
Defending champion China lost 3-1 to Japan after Miwa Harimoto snatched two points – including coming back from two games down to defeat world No 1 Sun Yingsha – to seal the win in Astana, Kazakhstan over the 19-time winners.
It was China’s first team loss at the event since 2005. After the defeat, Ma’s absence from the prize presentation ceremony sparked waves of criticism.
“There was no preparation, no strategy, and negligence over players’ conditions,” a Weibo user from Shanghai wrote. “He couldn’t pick the right moment for a timeout, and only let the players sort it out themselves during the timeout.
“He didn’t even dare to face defeats; standing in the middle [for photos] with a win and disappeared with a loss, leaving the players alone. Why is such a person qualified to be the head coach of the women’s team?”
