Source: REUTERS/Juan Medina
[Saba Sports News] On January 2, 2024, the second half of the Chinese badminton men’s doubles trials concluded, and the roster for the men’s doubles national team for the new 2025 season was also announced. Subsequently, fans began discussing whether Liu Yi should choose a new partner. Initially, these were just discussions among fans, but then someone uncovered an article allegedly written by a “friend” of Liu Yi that questioned the standards and fairness of the Chinese badminton men’s doubles trials, which sparked a significant backlash. The article, published two years ago by an account named “Zhang Pu,” who described themselves as a badminton player, discussed how Liu Yi and Liu Yang were originally a pair in the Anhui team but were forced to separate. Liu Yi paired with Chen Boyang from the Jiangsu team, while Liu Yang, who partnered with Huang Di from Jiangsu, was left in the training camp. The article questioned the standards and fairness of the trials and mentioned the combination of Liang Weikang and Wang Chang. This last remark triggered a ripple effect, leading many verified fans of Liang Weikang to voice their outrage, which fueled further discussions in Liu Yi’s social media comment section. Ultimately, Liu Yi was forced to disable comments on his posts, and the account “Zhang Pu” also closed their Weibo account and withdrew from the internet. From my perspective, what began as a conflict between fans ultimately affected the athlete’s personal life, which is quite inappropriate.