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Head coach Liu quits Singapore table tennis team

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-14 11:42

SINGAPORE-- Liu Guodong, who helped Singapore win its first Olympic medal in 48 years, is to quit as coach of the women's national table tennis team.

Singapore's table tennis team (From L - R) Wang Yue Gu, Feng Tianwei, head coach Liu Guodong and Li Jia Wei applaud spectators after defeating South Korea's team during the Women's Team table tennis semi-finals round of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Peking University gymnasium in Beijing on August 15, 2008.  [Agencies]

He has turned down a new two-year contract offered to him by the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), local daily The Straits Times reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to the newspaper over the telephone on Monday, Liu, who is now on a short break in South Korea, called the contract " insulting and insincere."

The 34-year-old said the salary he was being offered did not match his expectations, however he maintained that its was not about the money, "it's about recognition and respect for the contributions I have made to Singapore."

"What they have put on the table is simply insulting and insincere. They are forcing me to leave."

He said the new deal would also take away many of the decision- making powers that a head coach should have.

"Under the new contract, the STTA would have overall control over the direction of the team. If I don't have any say, I can't deliver results. And if I can't deliver results, there is no point in me staying on," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Chinese coach, who joined Singapore team in 2006, will now serve his last day on December 31.