Chinese Town’s Tennis Ambitions Endangered by Peng Shuai Scandal The powerful 790 KFGO
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By David Kirton
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) – Hosting the Women’s Tennis Association finals was supposed to put China’s tech hub Shenzhen on the sports map, but the tournament’s suspension following the Peng Shuai scandal left its ambitions in limbo .
China’s “miracle” city, better known as the launching pad for the country’s economic transformation in 40 years, is one of China’s wealthiest and home to tech giants including Huawei Technologies and Tencent Holdings.
In January 2018, the WTA announced that Shenzhen had overtaken rival offers from Manchester, Prague, St. Petersburg and former host Singapore to stage what would “easily be the biggest and most important final of the WTA “of its history, said its chief executive officer Steve Simon at The Time.
The city of more than 17 million people neighboring Hong Kong had promised a state-of-the-art stadium, while local real estate developer Gemdale Corp released $ 14 million in prize money – double the pot from the previous final – winning the right to organize the event from 2019 to 2028.
But earlier this month, Simon announced that the WTA would suspend tournaments in China for the treatment of former No.1 doubles player Peng Shuai, who was not seen in public for nearly three weeks after accusing former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. [L1N2SN04V]
âUnless China takes the action we have requested, we cannot put our players and staff at risk by hosting events in China,â said Simon, taking a stance that has attracted support from the community. world tennis tournament but has embarrassed Beijing as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February.
Doubt over the tournament’s future highlights the conflict between China’s global sporting ambitions and Western criticism of Beijing’s authoritarianism. A handful of countries led by the United States have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, which means they will not send government officials.
China hosted nine WTA events in 2019, but the WTA confirmed on December 7 that the traditional Shenzhen Open, a separate event from the WTA Finals, will not take place in the first half of 2022. The China has been anything but closed to international visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. [L4N2SS1I0]
A spokesperson for the Shenzhen government said he was unsure whether the WTA would return. The Florida-based WTA said it was hopeful China would do what it asked by allowing a direct line of communication with Peng.
âThat’s why this is a suspension at this point, not a cancellation,â a spokesperson said.
SERVE MISSED
For Shenzhen, the WTA finals were to strengthen its cultural and sporting prestige.
At the end of 2017, then-mayor Chen Rugui personally pressured Simon to host the finals, saying Shenzhen is a young and open city and that the tournament would help “elevate the sport to a new level. “, According to an official report.
Chinese media have been enthusiastic.
âThis is not only a major event for Chinese fans and tennis, but a fantastic chance for Shenzhen to become an internationally renowned name,â the Shenzhen Evening News said.
The WTA Finals are the most prestigious women’s event after the four Grand Slam tournaments, and Shenzhen’s cash prize was $ 5 million more than at the equivalent men’s ATP finals, securing a star-studded draw. World No.1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia won the first WTA final in Shenzhen in 2019.
“This is the biggest tournament outside of the Grand Slam, it’s huge, it’s hard to overstate the importance of this in terms of prestige and level of players and money at stake,” said Mark. Dreyer of China Sports Insider.
GOOD POLITICAL WILL
Shenzhen tennis hopefuls also highlighted the confluence in China between the sport and the now struggling real estate sector.
Nine of the 16 teams in the struggling Chinese soccer league, which has become notorious for spending millions of dollars for global stars, are majority-owned by companies related to the real estate sector, including the China Evergrande group and the Kaisa group, short of debt. which owns the Shenzhen club.
Gemdale, which sponsored the tournament, operates several tennis facilities in Shenzhen, including an “international” training academy.
âTheir business model isn’t to grab it from ticket sales and all that stuff, it’s the political goodwill they get from the Shenzhen government,â Dreyer said.
Gemdale declined to comment.
As for the stadium, the plan is to preserve the facade of a 1985 arena – historic by Shenzhen standards – in a 3.6 billion yuan ($ 566 million) renovation that would bring its capacity to 16,000, according to announcements and someone knowledgeable about the matter.
Work is continuing as the stadium will host other events, said two people with knowledge of the matter. For now, there remains a dusty construction site in the central district of Futian.
(Reporting by David Kirton; editing by Tony Munroe and Richard Pullin)
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