Thai Table Tennis Chief Slams Malaysia for Dropping Team Events
Thai Table Tennis chief Natthawut Rueangwet accused Malaysia of dropping men's and women's team events from the 2027 SEA Games to favor host strengths like squash over Thailand's specialties.
Thai Table Tennis Association president Natthawut Rueangwet sharply criticized Malaysia's decision to drop men's and women's team events from the 34th SEA Games, calling it a host-nation tactic. The 34th SEA Games will be hosted by Malaysia from September 18-29, 2027. After the SEA Games Federation Council officially finalized the sports program, a total of 43 sports and 473 events will be contested. Five additional sports were approved after appeals: Padel, Dancesport, Teqball, Ice Hockey, and Kabaddi. Meanwhile, table tennis will feature only five events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed team, with both men's and women's team events removed. Regarding this, Natthawut Rueangwet posted on his personal Facebook page, stating it is a host-nation technique: sports the host excels in are packed with many medal events, while sports they are weak in have fewer medals. This has caused many events to disappear across several sports, including table tennis at the upcoming SEA Games, which will lack men's and women's team competitions. He further noted that Teqball, where Thailand is world champion, only has two gold medals, while Squash, a Malaysian strength, has been allocated eight gold medals.
