Four besotted paddlers dismissed from national team
HONG KONG: Four players have been dismissed from China's national table tennis team for dating teammates in the run-up to this year's Olympics in Athens, a news report said yesterday.
Head coach Cai Zhenhua kicked out the players – three women and a man – because he said the romances were affecting their performance and training, according to the South China Morning Post.
Cai reportedly told the team on Friday in a meeting after the dismissals: “This year is an Olympic year. ... As athletes you have to make every sacrifice that is required for your team.”
Two of the dismissed players were Bai Ying, 19, girlfriend of China's world number one player Ma Lin, and Fan Ying, 17, the world number 20 and girlfriend of world number three Wang Hao, the Post said.
The other two were Hou Yingchao, 21, and his girlfriend Li Nan, 21, whom the newspaper described as the world number 10 and widely tipped as a medal contender.
Cai told the remaining players that the expulsions would give other players a chance to correct their behaviour, saying that they were not the only players with a “problem with falling in love”, the report said. – dpa
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