Zhang Yi, Ma Lin's wife weeps in court. Photo: Xiao Limin

By Wu Jie

The champion table tennis player, Ma Lin's divorce case came up Thursday at the Daxing district court, according to bjgy.chinacourt.org.

Ma's wife and their lawyers appeared in court, Ma didn't appear as he was in the middle of a game. They exchanged evidence and listened to the judge's pretrial mediation.

Ma, the plaintiff, said in his testimony, that he was introduced to Zhang Yi in April 2004 and they were married four months later. But constant friction and quarrels haunted them. Ma attributed it to a lack of understanding of what marriage was about and incompatible tempers.

Ma is a national table tennis player who frequently plays games all around the world and his wife is an actress who has a tight filming schedule. Separation intensified the discord between the couple. They have been out of touch and living apart since December 2008. Consequently, Ma filed for divorce. Zhang wept during the mediation phase and refused the divorce. "I love him. We have never quarreled. We got to know each other in 2002, not 2004. He never talked to me in person about the divorce. I won't agree to the divorce," she said.

The case will be heard in private session on December 1 at the Daxing district court. Ma Lin is obliged to attend the court after Thursday's verdict. "There are two major disputes in this case. One is that Zhang Yi refused the divorce. The other is the distribution of common property," said Xu Limin, an official at the court.

There is only one confirmed common property, an apartment in Daxing priced around one million yuan ($146,477) bought when they got married, Xu added.

Zhang doubted that Ma only owned one property and her lawyer asked the jury to investigate Ma's assets. Ma claimed the men's double and men's single titles at the Athens and Beijing Olympics. His prize money, revenue from commercials, plus apartments that were awarded to him are valued in the millions of yuan, said the defendant's lawyer.

Ma's lawyer insisted that the commercials were made with his teammates and the income belonged to the national team. According to marriage law, the jury will investigate all common assets, taking into consideration the innocent party when distributing the property, Xu told the Global Times.