Table tennis and society

Considering the amount of dedication and hardwork we players put in to play well and become great players, could you tell me why tt is not given much respect in society? some people do not even consider it a sport.. along with that, could you also tell me why, unlike tennis,soccer,baseball etc, are financial remunerations so low in table tennis? everybody talks about c ronaldo,federer,tiger woods, but nobody talks about ma long, timo boll.... pretty unfair, dont u think?

Hi Azhar,

It is a sport that we love of course.  It has struggled to obtain big sponsorships and dollars.  There are a lot of issues that work against it.  I think the domination of China has reduced the spectators interest.  This is not the Chinese players fault but just the way it is.

I also think the players don't do themselves any favours by not reacting with the audiences when they win.  If you notice most winners even after World Championships show very little emotion unlike the Tennis players when they win a major event.  They always do an interview, thank the audience for coming.

We all need to keep working hard to make our game more popular around the world.