The Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has now said that they will support Feng Tianwei's participation in international competitions and as a Team Singapore athlete.

Wholeheartedly? It depends, as it is "subject to specific terms and conditions being met by both parties".

Feng, the current World Number 5 and three-time Olympian, had earlier been dropped from the national set-up by the STTA. Following her axing, anonymous criticisms were levelled against her character and conduct. They also included STTA deputy president David Sim in his personal capacity on Facebook.

Supporting Feng to continue "pursuing her participation"

In their latest statement, STTA appears to imply that they still support Feng but it remains to be seen what are the criteria that Feng will need to fulfil in order to get selected for future international competitions.

Nevertheless, Feng's spexScholarship will be continued to be supported by the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI), for now.

Interestingly, we noted that the criteria for the scholarship will include "character reference from coaches/administrators/peers and, if necessary, independent character reference"

Here is STTA's full statement on Nov. 4:

Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has confirmed their support for current World Number 5, Feng Tianwei to continue pursuing her participation on the ITTF World Tour circuit and as a Team Singapore athlete, subject to specific terms and conditions being met by both parties.

STTA will continue to consider the three-time Olympian for selection to represent Singapore in international competitions and will reveal the selection policies in due course.

With this commitment in place, the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) will continue to support Feng's spexScholarship as governed by the High Performance Sports (HPS) Steering Committee.

Said Toh Boon Yi, Chief SSI, “Feng Tianwei has satisfied conditions of the spexScholarship programme. For the scholarship to continue, it was dependant on the ability for her to continue playing at the highest levels of the sport and be in fair consideration for selection to represent Singapore.”

Said Wong Hui Leng, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), “We are happy to agree with the HPS Steering Committee to continue supporting Feng Tianwei through the spexScholarship. As the National Sport Association, we will continue to work with all stakeholders to develop table tennis in Singapore.”

Related Article:

3 ways Table Tennis Association can afford to show a bit more class dealing with world-class Feng Tianwei

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