French Open: Indonesian coach apologises for calling Pearly-Thinaah ‘putih’ and ‘hitam’
Seng Foo Lee
October 28, 2022 13:53 MYT
October 28, 2022 13:53 MYT
Indonesian coach Eng Hian issued an apology to Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah for referring them by their skin colours at the 2022 French Open.
During a Round of 16 match between the Malaysian pair and Indonesia's Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi on Thursday, he was overheard calling them “putih" (white) and “hitam" (black) during a break.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallists went on to win the match 21-16, 21-14.
After the match, a video of him uttering those words went viral, attracting criticism from badminton fans.
“I apologise to Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan,” he said in a recorded video.
“I did not have any intention to offend them or say anything unpleasant. From the bottom of my heart, I apologise for the language used.”
Permintaan maaf Coach Eng Hian terkait penggunaan sebutan 'hitam' dan 'putih' saat Ana/Tiwi melawan Pearly/Thinaah di R16 #FrenchOpen2022 kemarin. pic.twitter.com/cepEkwbkci — Rubber Game Indonesia (@rubbergameid) October 28, 2022
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