“Peng Shuai has symbolically been with us” Pascal Biojout, tournament director of Open BLS de Limoges releases an emotional statement


“Peng Shuai has symbolically been with us” Pascal Biojout, tournament director of Open BLS de Limoges releases an emotional statement

Pascal Biojout and Peng Shuai

Ever since Peng Shuai came forward accusing China’s former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault and then went missing only to ‘return’ when the Chinese government came under pressure from international agencies and the WTA, everyone around the globe has been concerned about the player’s safety who was the first Chinese player ever to win a Grand Slam.

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Peng is a former World No. 1 in doubles having won the 2013 Wimbledon Championship and the 2014 French Open and has 23 titles to her name in the doubles event while having 2 WTA titles in the singles discipline and reaching a career-high rank of World No. 14.

With the WTA season having finished for tournaments for the WTA-250 and above categories, the WTA-125 tournaments are still being played and one such tournament is the Open BLS de Limoges being played in the French region of Limoges. The tournament began on the 13th with the finals being played out on the 19th where Alison Van Uytvanck won the title defeating Ana Bogdan.

However, a heartwarming moment took place during the presentation ceremony when the tournament director Pascal Biojout had a few words to say, an event that happened for the first time since he became the tournament director in Limoges.

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“Since we started the tournament in 2014, it is the first time that I speak during the awards ceremony. I’m doing it today to show my support towards the Chinese player Peng Shuai, former World no. 14, who has been deprived since November 2nd of the possibility to move or speak freely by the authorities of her country. Peng Shuai has symbolically been with us during the whole week, from the first point to the last point, just by the court,” said Pascal.

Pascal also saluted WTA over decision to suspend tournaments in China over Peng Shuai’s safety

Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai

“The Open BLS de Limoges is not politically involved. However, we want to show our attachment to fundamental values such as freedom of speech, tolerance and respect of the moral and physical integrity of the people. I also would like to salute the strong decision taken by the WTA to withdraw all the tournaments in China since reassuring and non-ambiguous news about the players is not communicated.

“More than ever, the Open BLS de Limoges is proud to be part of the WTA family, and for those who would like to show their support, please share this message on your networks so the voice of Limoges can be heard by the player, even 8000kms away,” concluded the tournament director.

Also Read: “The email was entirely written by myself” A ‘free’ Peng Shuai claims that she herself wrote the email to WTA about her well being

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