Just one day before the opening of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Taiwan’s top professional women’s singles tennis player Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) has announced via Facebook that she will be retiring from tennis in Taiwan and will never play for the national team again.

Last month, Hsieh dropped out of the women’s doubles at Rio in protest after a decision by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) — the official name of Taiwan's olympic organization — to not allow her coach to travel to Rio with the Taiwanese team due to regulations limiting the number of coaches who are allowed to accompany players at the games.

Hsieh said in her post today that deputy leader of Taiwan’s Olympic delegation Tsai Tzu-chueh (蔡賜爵) banged the table and yelled at her when she went to negotiate for her coach to travel with her to Rio.

Taiwanese sports officials say they are still hopeful Hsieh will play at Rio, CNA reported.

The tennis star’s father, Hsieh Tzu-lung (謝子龍), also made a comment on his Facebook page, saying he “supports Hsieh’s decision wholeheartedly” and that the announcement was “good news.” He said he was relieved that his daughter no longer had to feel angry about regulations surrounding his daughter’s status as a national tennis player.

In a press conference video released by the Chinese-language United Daily News, Hsieh’s father was asked whether Hsieh would continue playing if the CTOC apologized.

“Do you think that’s likely to happen?” he answered.

The Taiwan Sports Affairs Council was unavailable for comment. The CTOC has since released a statement on its Facebook page explaining the incident, saying the meeting between CTOC officials and Hsieh lasted five minutes.

“Everyone should be tolerant and work together to bring honor to the country,” it said, adding that the committee would stick to the original competition arrangements.

First Editor: Olivia Yang
Second Editor: J. Michael Cole