Crisis deepens as paddlers sink to new low

Alarm bells ringing after Team China's abysmal performance at Grand Finals

Time is running out for China's table tennis chief, Liu Guoliang, to revitalize the nation's flagging fortunes in its beloved sport ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The enormity of Liu's task was highlighted by an embarrassing, some might say disastrous, performance by the national team at last week's ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon, South Korea.