Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei has announced that she is withdrawing from the women’s doubles event at the Rio Olympics. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Hsieh said that she will only be competing in the women’s singles event.
Hsieh’s announcement comes amid a dispute with Chinese Taipei Tennis Association officials over funding to bring her coach with her to Rio de Janeiro. Taiwan competes at the Olympics under the name ‘Chinese Taipei’ and uses a specially designed Olympic flag to avoid controversy over its political status at the games.
With Hsieh’s withdrawal, her double’s partner Chuang Chia-jung loses her spot on this year’s Chinese Taipei Olympic team. While the decision to withdraw from the doubles match may hurt Taiwan’s chances at winning a medal in tennis at this year’s Olympics, Taiwanese athletes have also qualified for events in sports including archery, table tennis, shooting, judo, taekwondo, athletics, and weightlifting.