Tai Tzu Ying slept in a hotel located two kilometers west of the Adidas Arena, located at Porte de la Chapelle (18th century Paris). Mikael Ropars / Badmintonphoto
Engaged in the French International Badminton Championships, Taiwanese Tai Tzu Ying (world No. 3) was the victim of an attempted intrusion into her Parisian hotel room. Four months before the Olympic Games.
Everything seemed to be going well at Porte de la Chapelle, for the “general repetition” of the Olympic Games. The best badminton players on the planet gathered, from March 5 to 10, in Paris to compete in the French International Badminton Championships. A decisive meeting for the champions of this sport, crucial for Olympic qualification.
The atmosphere was festive, the young people were vocal in the stands, the champions were there, satisfied with the playing conditions. The show lived up to expectations, the journalists – including Asians, the majority in the room press – came in large numbers (170 accredited, a record) to cover this event. In short, everything seemed perfect. However, an external incident tainted the image of this Parisian week for world badminton.
“Someone opened the bedroom door in the middle of the night and we even tried to get in”
Tai Tzu Ying, on Instagram
On her Instagram account, Taiwanese champion Tai Tzu Ying, third player in the world and world badminton star – she was world number 1 for 214 weeks, a record -, noted and shared an important dark point in her adventure in the French capital. Resident of a hotel located, according to The Parisian2 kilometers west of the competition site, in the new Adidas Arena (Paris 18th century), Tai Tzu Ying denounced the attempted intrusion of an unidentified individual into his hotel room. “Someone opened the bedroom door in the middle of the night and we even tried to get in”she testified on Instagram.
To protect herself, the one who stopped in the semi-finals in Paris barricaded herself with what she found on hand, namely a luggage rack and furniture from her room. His compatriots followed him, like Yang Po Han, 26th player in the world. The Taiwanese added on her social networks that “the neighborhood seemed dangerous.”
