Champs taking a break

Veteran Grand Slam winners Ma Long and Ding Ning were absent from the list when Team China’s table tennis squad for next month’s Asian Games was released on Tuesday.

Chinese paddlers are targeting gold in every event except mixed doubles at the quadrennial continental competition, which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Aug 18 to Sept 2.

The coaching staff has decided to rest men’s team captain Ma, 30, who won gold at the 2010 Guangzhou Asiad, and women’s captain Ding, 28, whose medal collection is only missing an Asian Games singles title.

Grand Slam winner Zhang Jike and the world’s top male pen-hold paddler Xu Xin will also skip the Games.

World Cup champions Fan Zhendong, 21, and Zhu Yuling, 23, will lead Team China, which also includes teenagers Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.

“We want to give more opportunities to the younger members of the team since the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are already in sight and those youngsters are the future,” said coach Li Sun.

“The older players might need some extra motivation after such a long reign in the sport. Our youngsters are good; we just need to see if they are as good and as competitive as the older players.”

Meanwhile, ITTF World Tour Asarel Bulgaria Open organizers on Tuesday announced that a total of 19 Chinese players, including Olympic and world champions Ma and Ding, will participate in the event, which takes place from Aug 14 to 19 in Panagyurishte.