Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/18
By: Joseph Yeh
It should have been the proudest moment in the career of Taiwanese tennis ace
Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然, right). Image taken from the United States Tennis Association’s official website By Joseph Yeh, CNA staff reporter
Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) when she became the first Taiwanese player to win a U.S. Open title, along with the women’s doubles partner Martina Hingis, last Sunday.
Instead, Chan was forced to issue a letter of apology to local fans. Rather than being lauded as the “Pride of Taiwan” as athletes invariably are after winning glory overseas, she is arguably the most disliked sports person in Taiwan and finds herself embroiled in the biggest PR crisis of her life.
The reason many Taiwanese have taken a dislike to Chan can be traced back to the 28-year-old’s premature departure from the Taipei 2017 Universiade late last month.
After winning gold in the women’s doubles, Chan was scheduled to play in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles a few hours later on Aug. 28, but announced her withdrawal on medical advice suffering from heatstroke. As a result, her mixed doubles partner, Hsieh Cheng-peng (謝振鵬) was forced to forfeit the match.
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