The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July.
The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas.
The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵).
Photo courtesy of the Sports Administration
It added it will send an official letter to the association, suspend all subsidies until an apology is issued and replace the secretary-general of the association if necessary.
In a statement released Saturday, the table tennis association said that Yeh and several other players were advised to prioritize the Asian Youth Championships in Uzbekistan over the WTT United States Smash in Las Vegas due to scheduling conflicts.
As a member of Taiwan’s national U19 team, Yeh is expected to represent the country in four designated youth tournaments, including the Asian Youth Championships -- but not the WTT tournament in the US, the association said.
Chuang said he informed the association as early as April that Yeh intended to focus on three open-age international events, including the WTT US Smash, and not participate in the youth championships.
Despite this, the association passed a resolution in early May requiring the 17-year-old to take part in the Asian Youth Championships.
Chuang said the young player, who won the U19 women’s singles title at the WTT Youth Star Contender in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 4, received an invitation to compete in the Las Vegas tournament later in May.
According to Chuang, CTTTA Secretary-General Yeh Kuo-chin (葉國欽) said he would respect the player’s decision not to compete in the Asian Youth Championships, but the association would still not send her to the WTT tournament.
Chuang only found out Yeh had been left out of the WTT US Smash after the tournament draw was released and did not include her.
Yeh’s mother said yesterday that the CTTTA secretary-general should apologize for the mistake and promise such incidents would not be repeated.
"The association should be on the players’ side and help them," she said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS