WTA finally bows to China as tournaments are set to be reinstated despite no contact with Peng Shuai
WTA to resume tournaments in China despite mystery around Peng Shuai whereabouts
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Former Chinese Tennis star Peng Shuai might still be incommunicado with WTA, but after a three-year hiatus, the WTA is set to resume women’s tennis in China. The WTA suspended all the tournaments in China in December 2021 in a knee-jerk decision. This decision was taken when Peng Shuai suddenly dropped out of public view after she raised sexual harrasment allegations against Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
Peng Shuai was unreachable by WTA in November 2021, the few weeks following her allegations against the Government official on social media. China’s internet is known to be state-controlled and highly censored. Hence it was no surprise that Peng’s post was deleted within 20 minutes.
WTA had asked the Chinese government to investigate the accusations made by Peng. “A return to the region will require a resolution to the Peng situation” WTA officials had mentioned at that time. Peng Shuai has resurfaced a few times since the incident. It included an interview with L’Equipe and a couple of controlled interviews with the International Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee.
Prior to the Peng Shuai controversy, WTA tournaments in China were canceled in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, though all WTA events across the globe were held, the events in China were still canceled due to China’s Zero COVID policy. China finally opened its borders to tourists on March 15 2023. The World Team Table Tennis championship final was the first sports tournament to occur in China on October 2022 after COVID.
WTA has decided to host seven tournaments in China though its demands on resolution for Peng Shuai have not been met and the player is still not contactable. The tournaments will be held in September and October with WTA Finals at Shenzhen. An official announcement by the WTA is in the offing. Why this decision has been taken is still unclear. But if history has taught us anything then we know that it’s difficult to ignore the superpower China.
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Timeline of Peng Shuai allegations, disappearance, and interviews
Image Credit: BBC
A quick look at the Peng Shuai controversial disappearance
2nd November 2021: A post on Weibo on sexual assault and yearslong affair with Zhang Gaoli
2nd November 2021: The post is deleted from the website and Peng Shuai disappears from the public eye
17th November 2021: Chinese state-run media releases email allegedly from Peng
21st November 2021: IOC president says he had a video call with Peng
1st December 2021: WTA suspends all tournaments in China and Hong Kong
19th December 2021: Peng denies sexual assault allegation in a cryptic video appearance
6th February 2022: Peng announces Retirement in an interview with L’Equipe
8th February 2022: Last seen publicly during the Women’s Freestyle Skiing Freeski Big Air Final on Day 4 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic
Peng Shuai received great support from all big names in women’s tennis, especially at the time of her disappearance. Serena Williams posted on Twitter “I am devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai. I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible” Four-time grand slam winner, Naomi Osaka had taken to Twitter to spread awareness about the Peng Shuai issue.
“Censorship is never OK at any cost. I hope Peng Shuai and her family are safe and OK,” wrote Osaka. Novak Djokovic expressed his approval of the WTA announcement of disbanding tournaments in China in December 2021. He had said “I support fully the WTA’s stance because we don’t have enough information about Peng Shuai and her well-being” on Twitter.
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Deeksha Nigam
(173 Articles Published)