WTA threatens to pull tournaments out of China over Peng Shuai
Hindustan TimesAn outcry over the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai escalated on Friday as the Women's Tennis Association said it was prepared to pull its tournaments out of China if they were not satisfied with the response to her sexual assault allegation. A file photo of China’s Peng Shuai Former doubles world number one Peng has not been seen or heard from publicly since she said on Chinese social media in early November that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship. WTA chief executive Steve Simon told various U.S. media outlets on Thursday the tour would consider pulling tournaments worth tens of millions of dollars out of China. On Wednesday, WTA's Simon cast doubt on an email, which was also released by a Chinese state media outlet on Twitter, purporting to be from Peng and denying the allegations of sexual assault.