Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, attends a meeting of the sports panel of the third session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo by Wang Jing/China Daily]
"I thank them for their vocal support, and I hope they take care of their throats," a poker-faced Wang said during her victory speech, amid boisterous chants of "We only love Sun Yingsha!" echoing at the sold-out arena.
The overenthusiastic support for Sun, who has over 10 million followers on micro-blogging platform Weibo, also turned her teammate and Paris Olympics gold medalist Chen Meng into a victim of online abuse, after Chen outplayed Sun 4-2 in the singles final last summer to defend her Olympic crown.
The growing influence of fandom culture has since emerged as a pressing issue to tackle by China's sports authorities, with the General Administration of Sport of China and multiple governing bodies, including the CTTA, having proposed a series of measures and regulations to safeguard athletes' rights and educate fans on giving fair and responsible support for their heroes.
Citing the undesirable behavior of some supporters, such as smearing opponents and leaking their personal itineraries, an increasing group of high-profile athletes — including men's Olympic champion swimmer Pan Zhanle, table tennis sensation Wang Chuqin and tennis superstar Zheng Qinwen — have disbanded their official fan groups on Chinese social media in recent months.
"I think it's a critical process for a sporting event's promotion that we need to better educate fans and persuade them to enjoy the event and support their beloved athletes in a responsible and civilized way," said Liu, CTTA president and a CPPCC National Committee member.
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