Japanese badminton star Chiharu Shida on Tuesday told Chinese fans to “stop stalking” her, adding that she was “very scared” by the unwanted attention.
Shida, who won women’s doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics last year, has a strong following in China partly because of her engagement with the local culture.
The 27-year-old, currently competing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, has been dubbed the “Badminton Goddess” by fans and media.
Photo: AFP
She hit out at some supporters on Tuesday, accusing them in an Instagram post of taking their fandom too far.
“Every time we compete in China we always experience the harm of stalkers,” Shida wrote in Chinese.
“It has already gone on for a year and a half, and recently I have felt very uncomfortable and very scared,” she said.
“From now on, please immediately stop stalking me ... but if the situation continues, I will think of a way to handle it,” she said.
Shida added that “not all fans are like this” and thanked the majority for their support.
China’s government has tried to curb extreme fandom in the past few years after sports stars and other celebrities experienced stalking and other abuse from particularly fervent followers.
Beijing’s cyberwatchdog closed nearly 4,000 online accounts and scrubbed 1.6 million posts from the country’s highly controlled Internet platforms to “create a good public opinion environment for athletes”, state broadcaster China Central Television reported this week.
In Ningbo, third seeds Shida and doubles partner Nami Matsuyama, who are ranked third in the world, yesterday beat compatriots Mizuki Otake and Miyu Takahashi to advance to the round-of-16.
In other women’s doubles matches, Taiwan’s world No. 16 Sung Shuo-yun and Yu Chien-hui beat India’s Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra 21-11, 21-13 in 35 minutes to advance to the second round.
In men’s singles, seventh seed and world No. 13 Lin Chun-yi of Taiwan beat Malaysia’s Leong Jun-hao 21-11, 21-19 to set up a match against China’s Lu Guangzu, while Chi Yu-jen of Taiwan defeated Sinapore’s Jason Teh 21-14, 21-19 to set up a round-of-16 match against fourth seed Li Shifeng of China.
In men’s doubles, Chiu Hsiang-chieh and two-time Olympic champion Wang Chi-lin overpowered India’s Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and K. Sai Partheek 21-19, 21-12 to set up a second-round match against China’s Chen Boyang and Liu Yi, while Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng and Yang Po-han and compatriots Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan also advanced.
In mixed doubles, Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan, and compatriots Cheng Chengkuan and Hsu made it through the first round, along with Taiwan’s Lu Ming-che and Hung En-tzu.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS