Tuesday, August 31, 2010

China winning ways shut up the French crowd

By China Watcher

At the recently concluded World Badminton Championship 2010 in Paris, France, China won all five titles a feat that they have achieved only once at the World Championships in 1987 in Beijing. The 5 titles are the Men and Women Singles, Men and Women Doubles and the Mixed Doubles.

China has already won 3 titles on that day given that the matches involved players among the Chinese. I watched the final 5 matches on Sunday and it is no surprise that the French crowd was cheering for the opponents. Why? If you remember, this is the city which has given the honorary citizenship to the hated dissident Tibetan independence leader, the Dalai Lama. By openly cheering against the Chinese players at every point within a game, it indicates that the French do not want a Chinese to win, a sign which is extended to the ordinary Chinese people.

A survey taken last year during the height of the Tibetan spiritual visit to France revealed that Parisians have a soft spot for the wily Tibetan leader. More than 50% of the Paris citizens do not like the Chinese. I think if a survey is conducted in China after the announcement of the results, it would also indicate a distinct dislike of the hypocritical French people.

Although the sport is not a top sport in the Western world as compared to other racquet games like Tennis, it is still one sport where the Asian people shall continue to assert its authority. Tennis popularity is where it is today because it is played by people in the West and at one time, completely dominated by the Caucasian.

China has proven to the other Asian communities that they can excel in sports which do not require strong physical attributes but with “skills and brains”.

It was certainly and eventful day. The winning of the 5 titles was good not only, to assert the Chinese near domination in the sports but also to silent and shut up the largely Parisians crowd.