Table tennis chiefs promise action after spectator chants ‘yellow banana’ during Chinese star Liang Jingkun’s match at World Championships in Houston
- Chinese state-run media reacts angrily after incident in sixth seed Liang’s victory over Britain’s Liam Pitchford
- International Table Tennis Federation bosses insist ‘it’s taken very, very, very seriously’
Table tennis authorities have vowed to take action to “prevent the recurrence of racist incidents” after spectators shouted “yellow banana” during Chinese men’s star Liang Jingkun’s round-of-16 match at the World Championships in the United States.
Chinese fans and state media reacted to a member of the crowd at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, repeatedly chanting “yellow banana, yellow!” during sixth seed Liang’s thrilling 4-3 victory over Liam Pitchford.
World No 9 Liang, who staved off a dramatic fightback from Pitchford having led 3-1 in Friday night’s men’s singles tie, was up 8-4 in the deciding game when the fan began his chant during a break in action.
The 15th-ranked Pitchford had taken out a banana to eat, while Liang went over to speak to his coach, as a handful of other fans began to join in with the chant.
“Although it looked as if the man was saying that Pitchford was eating a banana, given that the word ‘banana’ is an insult to the yellow race in English slang, and based on the actual circumstances, it is also reasonable to suspect that he was actually making a racist insult against Liang,” read an article in The Global Times.