Table tennis
Cross-frontier players
So many countries are importing China's world beaters that the international body is planning to restrict the practice. By Seah Chiang Nee
Aug 25, 2008

The role played by China-born table tennis players in the Republic winning its first Olympics medal - a silver - in 48 years has stirred some pride in many Singaporeans, as well as repercussions over the issue of imported talent.

Unaware to almost everyone is the extent of how far this practice has become worldwide that the troubled International Table Tennis Association (ITTF) is considering legislation against this growing ping pong globalisation.

"Now players between ages 15 and 17 must live in their new country three years before competing internationally; players 18-20 must wait seven years; and anybody 21 or older can't switch competitive nationalities," reported the San Diego Union Tribune.

The intention, said the newspaper, is to force countries to develop players good enough to compete with China's 1.3b population, which regards the sport as a culture.

Sports migration is - and has long been - prevalent in many other sports, from football to badminton, from track and field to judo - but few could match table tennis because of China's overwhelming dominance in both quantity and quality.

"Most countries, though, figure if you can't beat the Chinese you just naturalise them," said the Union Tribune.

About one-fourth of the table tennis players representing various countries east and west at an Olympics or World Championships these days are Chinese born, including all four members of the US Olympic team. And of course all three players in Singapore's silver medal team.

Gao Jun, donning America's colours, reached the fourth round in women's singles in Beijing before being knocked out by Wu Xue of (yes) the Dominican Republic. She was a superstar in China before moving to the United States in 1994.

The lone woman not representing China to reach the semi-finals at the Beijing Olympics was Singapore's Li Jia Wei; she was born in Beijing and lured away by Singapore talent scouts at age 14, the Tribune added.

Will the ITTF be able to stop the trend? Is its action justified in the first place?

The chances of global action succeeding in stopping migration of human talent (including table tennis) is next to zero.

In the new global system people can freely choose to take up - or give up - citizenship in any country they like - subject only to acceptance. Neither is it justified to say whether a sportsman or woman should or should not emigrate and play in another country.

But its objective of leaning on countries to train up their own players, rather than take the easy way out to buy foreigners is a laudable one.

However, ITTF can make a difference if it were to change stricter laws on eligibility of players when participating in international tournaments and that could deal a blow to the immporting nations.

Why is table tennis under so much pressure compared to other sports. The answer lies in China's tremendous buildup of talent over the rest of the world. (Read: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/olympics/20080824-9999-1s24olyping.html#

With sports becoming more professional, China will likely be an exporter of players for years to come.

By Seah Chiang Nee