Note: this is a translation of an editorial that first appeared in Southern Weekly on May 14.  The original can be found here.

Can our national sport evade the fate of a fad?
By Shi Zhe （史哲）
 
 
If you say that the men’s national soccer team is in grave danger because they are too soft, then you could probably say the national ping pong team is in serious danger because it’s too strong.  The Chinese team sliced and diced the competition in this year’s World Ping Pong Championships in Yokohama, taking the top spot in all five individual events. But perhaps for Chinese ping pong this will be the straw that ends up breaking the camel’s back.
 
Concern was written all over the face of the coach of the national team, Cai Zhenhua, who is often consumed thinking about the sport. He has always been able to reach his ambitious gold medal targets.  This chief officer of our national sport summarized his reaction to this year’s world championship saying, “Our opponents’ performances were weaker than expected.  If world ping pong continues in this way it will be very dangerous [for Chinese ping pong].”  This wasn’t the first time Coach Cai has expressed this concern.
 
The danger he referred to is a general loss of interest in the sport due to a lack of competition with a Chinese team that is completely dominant.  This may result in the elimination of ping pong as an Olympic sport.  Naturally, the national sports authorities and those who have a strong sense of patriotism do not want to see such an unfortunate situation, since it would snatch a set of almost certain Olympic gold’s from China’s hand.  In order to address this, Cai Zhenhua created a plan a few years ago to raise the level of international play.  He called it the “Wolf Raising Project,” ［养狼计划］which is now more urgent than ever because of what happened in Yokohama.
 
The fact that to date the project has only produced a few puppies notwithstanding, the question remains whether or not producing some real wolves can guarantee that Chinese ping pong will continue to thrive well into the future.  Whether or not Chinese ping pong can continue to thrive does not depend on opponents or the sports’ status as an Olympic event.  Every country has popular sports that are not in the Olympics, such as football, which is the most popular sport in the United States, and cricket which is played all across the British Commonwealth.  Chinese no longer need to find self esteem in gold medals in the national sport. 

What is equally important as China’s preeminent skills in ping pong is the tacit agreement people have made with this sport over the years.  It’s called the national sport not just because of our athlete’s skills, but also due to the tacit agreement people have made with it over the years.  It will not fade away just because of some calculated interests or momentary outcomes.
 
So if you say Chinese ping pong is in danger, this is not because of [lack of] opponents.  Rather it stems from a departure from the logical progression of the game because of human ambition.  In the end this destroys whatever amicable feelings people have for the game as well as the psychological dependence built up over the years.  However, what is unfortunate is that this kind of danger is already imminent.
 
A reflection of the danger can be seen in television ratings, where ping pong used to be major draw on the CCTV sports channel along with the NBA.  This year’s world championships, however, did not even reach a rating of .5%.  Key match ups between highly skilled foreign players and Chinese only had a rating of 1%.
 
With one foot in the free market and the other in state planning, the national ping pong league is also in danger.  It has been around for fifteen years now and the market for this in China cannot be any more mature.  Even though this is a premier program on the CCTV sports channel, no company wanted the naming rights for the 2008 league matches so they were forced to play without sponsorship.  Clubs are finding it difficult to get fresh talent and, save selling the rights to host matches, revenues are down, especially in ads and ticket sales. The loss of corporate sponsors is only the depletion of one means of support.  Clubs often have to buy tickets in blocks or they are given for free to make sure the atmosphere in the stadium stays energized.

There is also danger in that ping pong stars can a bit ill-groomed and arrogant.  National team players were seen being generally disrespectful to media during the press conference for the Yokohama Ping Pong World Championships, sending text messages and talking privately to each other.  During matches, players were lazy in simply picking up the ball and giving it to the referees.  When they returned to China it was as if they were only thinking about themselves, nearly forgetting their trophies.  Ping pong is a sport that emphasizes affinity [with fans and players].  These kind of prima donna antics will only upset fans and alienate them from the sport.
 
Even if ping pong is removed from the Olympic stage or there are no more quality opponents, Chinese ping pong will not fade away.  But if it loses the market and loses the fans and viewers, merely leaving a few lonely players and a coach hoping for a loss, then it will be difficult to stop Chinese ping pong from going downhill.  The lifeblood of sports is in its attraction and development.  Fortunately, most fans and viewers are still here; corporations are still willing to be sponsors; players have a fair amount of status and a decent income; and the beginning of marketization of ping pong has not been that bad.  Now just let this sport sweep away the gold medals and other interests.  Let it follow its own natural course of development.  There is still time for this to happen.