Beijing: With the 2022 Thomas Cup Finals entering a 2-day countdown, Zhang Jun, the president of the Chinese Badminton Association confirmed that China’s former World No. 2 men’s singles player – Shi Yuqi has been suspended from the Chinese national badminton team and was banned from participating in any international tournaments for one year.
Zhang said an internal committee has slapped Shi with 1-year suspension following his bizarre behavior by choosing to retire after trailing 5-20 against Kento Momota of Japan in the second set of the first men’s singles match in the 2020 Thomas Cup semi-finals tie between China and Japan.
Shi Yuqi and Momota Kento were actually fighting very fiercely in the first game before Shi lost to Momota 20-22. But in the second game, Shi fell behind quickly to 2-11, and at 5-20, Shi Yuqi proposed to the referee that he would like to retire because of paronychia. In reality, it was normal for athletes to retire due to an injury, but since it was the match point, many badminton fans took to social media to criticize Shi for the lack of sportsmanship.
After the match, when Shi was asked by a Danish reporter why did he retire from the match, Shi replied with a very immature answer by saying: “Well if he is still at the 20th point, that means I didn’t lose.”
The next day, Shi Yuqi was spatting with fans criticizing him on his social media, he ended up posting a long post explaining the reason for his withdrawal was because he wanted to make Momota feel uncomfortable despite winning the match.
In a recent interview with Chinese media, Zhang Jun explained why Shi was not selected for this year’s Thomas Cup.
“About Shi Yuqi, something not good happened in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup last year, he withdrew from the match at match point. And after the match, he made some irresponsible and immature comments. Therefore, after an internal review by our coaches, we have decided to suspend him for a year,” said Zhang.
“He will not be competing at this year’s Thomas Cup. During the one-year suspension, we hope he could take the opportunity to perform self-reflection and look at his own problems and actions,” added Zhang.
“Hopefully he could find a solution to his mistakes and will be stronger and be a more competitive player when he re-join the national team,” explained Zhang.
(source: BadTalk)
Yes, Shi’s behavior during and after the 2020 Thomas Cup semi-finals seemed foolish, but honestly, a one-year suspension to the number one men’s singles player in China and someone who has contributed a lot to the Chinese badminton was too harsh for the mistake he made. Athletes around the world often made crazy comments as well.
In Mar of 2022, NBA fined one of its biggest superstars, Kevin Durant USD $25,000 for telling a fan to “shut the f*** up”. That’s it.
Somehow this got reported? But my wife is just like KD when I say I’m getting one more drink. pic.twitter.com/qcNZygISMm
— DeLo (@DeLo_77) March 17, 2022
Shi has been absent from international tournaments for more than six months, we really hope the Chinese Badminton Association would reconsider its decision and would lift the suspension on Shi Yuqi as soon as possible.
