SINGAPORE – A Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) official castigated former national player Feng Tianwei on Facebook, just days after the STTA dropped the three-time Olympic medallist from the national team.

According to screenshots on website The Middle Ground on Friday (Oct 28), STTA deputy president David Sim called out the world No. 6 for her “ill-discipline, disrespect n misconduct (sic)” and said the 30-year-old was “a disgrace to the nation”.

He was responding to comments on his Facebook page from other users.

Read also: It’s over for table tennis star Feng Tianwei

The Middle Ground also reported that Sim had implied that the STTA had leaked news of Feng’s misdemeanours to the press. This misconduct was cited in a report that alleged, among other things, that Feng had submitted “false claims amounting to a few hundred dollars”.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the STTA said: “The recent Facebook comments made by Mr David Sim, deputy president of STTA, are his personal views and he is not speaking on behalf of STTA.

How much Olympic athletes get for their gold medals

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“Regarding the recent media reports, Feng Tianwei was cautioned about the proper claiming procedure but she did not falsify nor claim more than what she was permitted.

“Once again, we wish Feng Tianwei all the very best for the future.”

Read also: Was Feng Tianwei axed because of disciplinary issues?

The latest saga comes three days after the STTA dropped Feng from the national team, in a move that shocked the local and international fraternity.

In a press statement, the association said Feng “does not fit into the STTA’s current plans for rejuvenation” as she will be 34 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

China-born Feng is Singapore’s most bemedalled Olympian. She won one silver and two bronze medals in three Olympic appearances.

Read also: Table tennis: Feng Tianwei cut from national squad in shock move by STTA

She also anchored the Singapore team to a stunning win over China in the final of the 2010 World Team Table Tennis Championships.

But Feng and the team fared poorly at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. She lost in the quarter-finals of the singles event to Japan’s Ai Fukuhara, while the women’s team lost in the bronze-medal match to Japan.

This article was first published on Oct 28, 2016.
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MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – Jose Mourinho admits Henrikh Mkhitaryan is struggling to adapt to life at Manchester United but insists he has no intention of selling the Armenian just three months after his £26 million ($31 million, 28 million euros) signing.

Mkhitaryan has played just 104 minutes of Premier League football this season since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the close-season.

After problems with a thigh injury, he has been physically fit for a number of weeks but still unable to force his way into Mourinho’s first team plans, even failing to make the bench in the midweek League Cup victory over Manchester City.

Mkhitaryan has not been involved since a harrowing experience in the home league defeat to City when he was substituted at half-time.

But despite the 27-year-old’s tough introduction to life in English football, Mourinho still believes he will become an impact player in the Premier League and has no intention of parting company with him in the near future.

“Some players, with their profile they are adapted to come and play, some others they need more time,” Mourinho said on Friday.

“Time to feel the intensity and the aggression, the game without the ball, the competitiveness.

“Many times players come from different countries. The style of football is different and the reality is different for sure in terms of competitiveness.

“There’s no other country where it doesn’t matter the team you play against, you have to play at the highest level.

“If you don’t you have no chance. Mikhi needs time to become the top player he can be.” Mourinho attempted to make a distinction between being physically fit and match fit in explaining why Mkhitaryan is struggling to stake a claim for a place.

But the United manager pointed to two similar examples as way of inspiration for how the midfielder can turn his Old Trafford career around.

“Willian, he arrived at Chelsea and had problems to play,” said Mourinho. “He went through a process then after he became a top player, then the next season he became absolutely phenomenal and still is.

“When (Angel) Di Maria arrived at Real Madrid he also had to learn a lot about his game and a new reality.

“Sometimes it happens – sometimes with defenders but it’s easier for them. For attacking players sometimes they arrive and go straight to success. Other times it takes a little more time.

“In Mikhi’s case the process was interrupted by an injury that kept him out for about a month.

“To be out for a month in this process and then be fit but not fit to play you have to go through a process of getting match fitness then you need competitive level to do it.

“Of course we believe in him and of course we believe that sooner or later there will be no problem.” Another United midfielder, Michael Carrick, is also battling to earn a regular starting place in Mourinho’s first-choice line-up.

Mourinho, who has not handed a league start to the former England international this season, insists that the only problem he has with the veteran is that, at 35, he is coming to the end of his successful career, rather than the start of it.

“It’s one thing to be 25, another thing to be 35,” Mourinho said.

“That’s the logic of things. But the only thing I can say is he’s phenomenal.

“I can’t expect from Michael what I can expect from (Marcus) Rashford or (Ander) Herrera in terms of playing three, four, five, seven consecutive matches. But he’s phenomenal and when he is on the pitch, he gives us important things.

“He’s not just a player, he is somebody who has a big understanding of the game and it’s a pity sometimes you can’t stop the clock. Of course, I wish he was 25.”