WTA cancels events in China over failure to investigate
The Women’s Tennis Association has suspended all of its tournaments in China because the country has refused to investigate sexual assault allegations made by former WTA player Peng Shuai against an ex-Communist Party official.
Peng, 35, said former high-ranking official Zhang Gaoli, 75, forced her to have sex with him in 2018. Gaoli had retired from the party earlier in the year.
After Peng posted her story online Nov. 2, it was scrubbed from the internet in China within an hour and she was not seen publicly for weeks.
“I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete [in China] when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault,” WTA chair and
CEO Steve Simon said Wednesday in a statement.
It’s no small move for the WTA, which held 10 tournaments in China in 2019 and heavily promoted itself in the country.
Two weeks after Peng reported the assault, Simon threatened to pull WTA events from China unless the country conducted a “full, fair and
transparent” investigation into the reported attack by Zhang.
In her post, Peng said she had a consensual relationship with Zhang for several years but it ended in 2011. The two reunited for a single day in 2018, and that day Zhang took Peng back to his house in Beijing and forced her to have sex with him, she wrote on hina’s version of Twitter.
“I never consented that afternoon, crying all the time,” she wrote. “Even if I’m an egg throwing myself at a rock, even if I’m a moth flying at a flame, courting my own destruction, I will still speak the truth of us.”
Elsewhere: Novak Djokovic has won his singles and doubles matches to lead Serbia into the semifinals of the Davis Cup with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Kazakhstan.
The top-ranked Djokovic kept Serbia alive in the quarterfinal by defeating Alexander Bublik in straight sets in his singles match, then teamed up with Nikola Cacic in the deciding doubles for a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov. Serbia reached the last four for the first time since 2017 and will face Croatia, which got past Italy on Monday. Serbia broke serve at 2-2 and 5-3 in the third set of the doubles to seal its fifth semifinal appearance
ETC.
Soccer: Chelsea stayed top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Watford in a match that was halted for 32 minutes in the first half after a spectator suffered cardiac arrest. Substitute Hakim Ziyech grabbed the winner for the leaders in the 72nd minute. … In other Premier League action, Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool piled more pressure on former manager Rafael Benitez with a 4-1 win over local rival Everton, breaking a scoring record in the process. Jordan Henderson and Diogo Jota were Liverpool’s other scorers in the 239th Merseyside derby as the Reds became the first top-flight English team to score at least twice in 18 straight matches in all competitions. … Neal Maupay scored with an overhead kick in the 89th minute to give Brighton a 1-1 draw at West Ham. … In the Spanish League,
Karim Benzema scored a first-half winner as Real Madrid edged Athletic Bilbao 1-0 to extend its winning streak to seven matches in all competitions. … In the French League, Paris Saint-Germain dropped points at home for the first time this season by drawing
0-0 with Nice as Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi came up empty.
College football: The latest meeting on expanding the College Football Playoff wrapped up without a resolution as the people involved agreed to keep talking. CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said there remains a strong consensus among the management committee, comprised of the 10 major college football conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, to expand the four-team playoff field.