Highlights

Ma urged to divorce wife quickly to save career

By Tang Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-14 09:19

When Tiger Woods messed up his personal life he decided to take indefinite leave from golf in an attempt to save his marriage.

However, that is not the case with former men's singles table tennis world No 1 Ma Lin who has been asked by his coach, Liu Guoliang, to end his marriage to save his career.

Wherever China's three-time Olympic champion shows up these days he is besieged by media inquiring about when he will divorce his little-known actress wife Zhang Ningyi (previously known as Zhang Yi).

Ma filed for divorce in the Daxing district court in Beijing in September but the case is still up in the air due to disputes over the division of property.

"I gave him a deadline; his career will be at risk if he cannot solve the problem soon," coach Liu said during a press conference in Chengdu on Tuesday.

"I hope the divorce saga will end before March or he will probably miss the World Championships which start in Moscow in May."

Ma, the men's singles winner at the Beijing Games, has been struggling to find form since the divorce proceedings started.

The 29-year-old lost to Xu Xin in the quarterfinals of the 11th National Games in Shandong in September. He was also knocked out by national teammate Zhang Jike in the first round of the ITTF Pro Tour Finals in Macao last week.

"I think his poor run has a lot to do with his family problems. Nobody could avoid being affected by such an issue, let alone a top athlete, a public figure," Liu said. "Tiger Woods has taken an indefinite break from golf, I don't want to see Ma like that.

"It is the hardest time of Ma's life. We are hoping he will get through it as soon as possible," Liu said.

Coach Liu has also urged Zhang to cooperate.

"Time is really very precious for Ma. If Zhang really loved him, as she claimed, they should sit together and talk over the issue. She should support his career."