Beijing, Dec 28 (IANS): Renowned Chinese table tennis stars Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng announced their withdrawal from the world rankings on Friday, citing new regulations imposed by World Table Tennis (WTT). According to their announcements on Chinese social media, both of them have formally signed a notification declaring their "retirement from all ITTF-sanctioned events" on Monday.

As defined in the ITTF Statutes, the ITTF-sanctioned events include the events sanctioned by WTT.

Fan, the reigning men's singles champion of the Paris Olympics, shared the news earlier this morning. He stated that he is unable to comply with WTT's new regulation, which imposes fines on players for not participating in events, reports Xinhua.

However, he emphasised that this decision does not signal his retirement from the sport. Instead, Fan plans to continue competing in various tournaments and contributing to the ping-pong community.

Chen, who successfully defended her Olympic title against world No. 1 Sun Yingsha in the women's singles final at Paris 2024, announced her withdrawal from the world rankings in the afternoon.

Chen noted that WTT's new regulation regarding fines for withdrawing from competitions posed a tough choice for her, with her ongoing physical challenges that make it impossible for her to compete in every high-intensity tournament.

Both Fan and Chen delivered excellent performances at the Paris Olympics, winning gold medals in both singles and team events, but neither has participated in any international competitions since their Olympic triumph.

The ITTF rankings, which are updated dynamically, rely on players' performances across a rolling schedule of sanctioned events.