Joo Ven reveals social media abuse after Spain Masters exit

Soong Joo Ven revealed being subjected to vile online abuse after crashing out of the Spain Masters last week.

Match-fixing accusations and death threats on the Malaysian men’s singles shuttler and his family were among the latest abuse he received as he shared screenshots of the torment he had been subjected to.

“Some people will curse and swear on you which is ridiculous,” said the world number 50, who went into the Spain Masters carrying a heel injury before his defeat to Magnus Johannesen.

This is the reason why sometimes I’m scared of ig. Some people will curse and swear on you/your family which is ridiculous pic.twitter.com/zw8ornE8Cr
— Soong Joo Ven (@soongjooven) April 1, 2023

More alarmingly, he said this was not the first time it happened.

“Once, I was even abused after winning a match. I’m not the only athlete who has faced this type of abuse before. I read that Scotland’s women’s singles shuttler Kirsty Gilmour was also abused,” he told The Star.

Gilmour recently revealed she received rape and death threats after losing to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung at the Swiss Open.

According to her, the messages usually came from anonymous accounts with no pictures and followers.

In 2021, Instagram introduced a new feature allowing users to hide messages and comments from non-followers in a bid to stop the abuse especially towards public figures.