By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asia Weekly
Welcome to another edition of Layup Training. In the last column of 2021, let’s take a look at the world’s attention to Peng Shuai, the attack on Li Sunisa, and the unfortunate death in Las Vegas.
Chinese tennis star missing
Peng Shuai
After Peng Shuai accused China’s former deputy prime minister Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her through social media, the tennis industry expressed concern about Peng Shuai’s health. In addition, she also pointed out that she later had three years of wishful thinking with him. After these allegations were made public on November 2, these posts quickly disappeared from Chinese social media. In addition, Peng is missing and cannot be contacted, which makes many people worry about her safety. The Chinese government has not reported or investigated these claims. In fact, they seem to have reviewed anything about the situation.
The Women’s Tennis Association issued a statement on Peng.
“The Peng Shuai incident is of deep concern.” It added: “These allegations must be investigated in a comprehensive, fair, transparent and unreviewed manner.”
The 35-year-old former world doubles champion claimed that the 75-year-old Zhang forced her to have sex.
On December 1, the WTA chairman announced that all WTA events would be suspended due to concerns about Peng’s safety. The former tennis grand slam champion reappeared after being completely out of reach within a few days.
Photos and videos of the tennis star in Beijing were posted on social media and circulated by Chinese government officials. She disappeared, and then she reappeared, but did not answer where she went and whether she was imprisoned in a conspicuous place.
Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Conscientiously, when Peng Shuai was not allowed to communicate freely and seemed to be forced to refute her allegations of sexual assault, I don’t understand how I could demand our The athletes go there to compete.” A statement on the organization’s website. Simon emphasized the importance of people speaking freely and received the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, as well as “a lot of international support.” This move has been widely praised by the tennis industry.
The International Olympic Committee stated that it had arranged a “personal meeting” with Peng. As Beijing prepares for the Winter Olympics in February this year, Peng’s concerns about suppressing her accusations may become an important story.
Olympic medalist Li was sprayed with pepper in the attack
Li Sunisa
US Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee reported that she was a victim of hate crimes in Los Angeles. While hanging out with friends, Lee said she was sprayed with pepper and called racial slander.
Li is the first Hmong American to win a gold medal. She replaced Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics and won the individual gold medal in women’s gymnastics all-around. In addition to the gold medal, she also won two other medals in Tokyo. Lee is very popular, which provides opportunities for freshmen at Auburn University. It is worth noting that Lee is a celebrity contestant who dances with the stars on ABC.
However, for someone sitting in a passing car yelling at Li and her Asian friends, her identity is of little significance. When the car passed by, the group of people were sprayed with pepper.
“I am very angry, but there is nothing I can do because they ran away,” she said in a recent interview.
UNLV student died in charity boxing event
Nathan Valencia
Nathan Valencia, a Filipino-American college student from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), died on November 23 after participating in amateur boxing “fight night” in Las Vegas. The 20-year-old has never received any proper sports training, but participated in a boxing charity event organized by the local fraternity.
Valencia fell to the ground after the game and was taken to a local hospital. He died of internal bleeding a few days after being hospitalized. His mother recalled that she did not want her son to participate, but he wanted to participate for charity. The family’s lawyer pointed out that UNLV and the Brotherhood had ignored “multiple security measures failed”-one of which was the lack of medical professionals in the venue. It was also mentioned that the referee had no experience in the game with the participants. In contrast, Washington State requires medical professionals and ambulances at the scene of fighting sporting events.
According to the family’s lawyer, the charity boxing event is an annual event recognized by the school.
Jason’s contact information is info@nwasianweekly.com.
