Kuala Lumpur: The recent “middle finger” incident involving World No. 2 men’s singles player Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan and World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia has caused quite a stir in the badminton community recently.
In the picture of Chou showing a middle finger when he was hugging Lee after the match started circulating on the Internet since last week, and Chou had quickly issued a clarification of that incident which happened in the semi-final of 2018 Chinese Taipei Open.
As another party involved in that situation, Lee Zii Jia also took to his social media to help clear up the misunderstanding with the following statement (translated from Chinese to English by BadmintonPlanet):
“In the 2018 Chinese Taipei semi-finals, the two of us competed intensely. After the match, I walked over to his side and hugged him.
At that time, we were all tired. As for the recent videos and pictures we saw online, they have attracted a great deal of attention.
I strongly believe in Chou’s attitude and behavior. Sometimes, the angle of the videos and pictures was not an accurate depiction of the real situation. Because I could feel his sincerity when we hugged.
Chou and I are also very good friends off-court. We always greet each other when we meet.
Please don’t misunderstand and criticize Chou Tien Chen again, and I am looking forward to another wonderful match with Chou.”
Chou Tien Chen also responded to Lee’s message with the following message:
“We real athletes value one another for sure! Show my best respect to you!
我們運動選手當然會彼此互相重視！向你表示我最佳的敬意！”
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Meanwhile, Chou’s teammate World No. 19 Yang Po Han also expressed his support for Chou and spoke out about the incident on his own social media page:
“Recently, I have seen a lot of comments on the Internet criticizing Xiaotian (Chou Tien Chen’s nick name) and questioning the spirit of the sportsman. I also have something to say.
As far as I know, Xiaotian, whether it is in technical training or discussing muscle-linked movement training, it can be said that he is a badminton fanatic😅
As far as my personal understanding of Xiaotian is concerned, he is straightforward and very honest. Any unreasonable and unfairness will be directly raised.
For friends, Xiaotian’s care and concern for us is even more incomprehensible. People who know him will know that his presence around him will be like his own brother.
When you have difficulties and problems, there will be patience to teach you and discuss the problem together.
So when I first saw the video of this incident
The first thought was that Xiaotian could not be intentional with this gesture. Moreover, after the fatigue bombardment of both sides in the finals (the Taipei Open had already toured several stations before the Taipei Open, besides, Xiaotian’s world points actually didn’t have to play this level of competition at all. ) But because he is at the home court in Taiwan, he chose to insist on defending the home court, even if his physical condition has reached the level of fatigue that is easily injured ((Then why can I understand this kind of fatigue? Because I also fight everywhere like Xiaotian and adjust my diet at any time And time difference)
The only difference from Xiaotian is that Xiaotian reaches the finals in every event. I only win one
《理解認同的朋友們可以分享出去》
最近看到了很多網路上對小天的抨擊與質疑運動家精神的言論，我也有話想說。
就我了解的小天，不管是在技術訓練或是探討肌肉連動性動作訓練上，可以說他為羽球痴無誤😅
就性格上我對小天的理解，他是有話直說並非常正直的，任何不合理不公正，也會直接提出。
對朋友而言，小天對我們的照顧與關心更是大家無法理解的好，認識他的人就知道他在身邊的存在就會像是自己哥哥一樣
在你有困難和問題時，會有耐性不厭其煩的教你並一起探討問題的所在。
所以在我第一次看到這次事情影片的時候
第一想法就知道這手勢小天不可能是有意的，況且是在決賽雙方激戰疲勞轟炸下後（台北公開賽前已經巡迴數站，況且論小天的世界積分其實根本不用再打這等級賽事）但因為是在台灣主場，所以他選擇堅持捍衛主場，即便身體狀態以到了容易受傷的疲勞程度（（那又為何我能理解這種疲勞？因為我也是和小天一樣的到處征戰隨時調整飲食與時差）
和小天唯一差別就是小天每個賽事都打進決賽，我是贏一兩場而已，所以我很佩服他
運動競技有輸有贏，
「勝不驕敗不餒」也是小天與高姐一直以來的表現給我們這些後輩們與大眾的好榜樣。
當然清者自清，我相信小天也這麼認為，起初我也認為大家應該能理解，也沒過問過小天此事，因為我懂他的為人！
這次會想打一篇單純是因為自己看不下去輿論這樣子講一位這麼認真和品德這麼好的台灣運動員，我覺得我沒辦法再這樣冷眼旁觀讓此事件風向被一些YouTube 影片與留言越講越偏，放任這些亂帶風向，
#我受不了 #清者自清 #謝謝大家看完 😊
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