It would have been a pleasant surprise for fans to see the retired star back in action after accusing Zhang Gaoli, a retired Vice Premier of China, of sexual assault. She had been named on Sunday’s practice schedule for the tournament but the schedule was amended and she was replaced by world number 40 Zhang Shuai.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenburg slammed the blunder as he wrote: “The practice schedule has been changed now, from Peng Shuai to Zhang Shuai. Sigh. What a f****p.” The 36-year-old announced she would be hanging up her racket in February 2022 and discussed the fallout from her 2021 social media post, in which her allegation against Gaoli was made.
On November 2 last year, Peng took to Chinese social media platform Weibo to accuse former vice premier Gaoli of sexual assault in a lengthy post which was then removed within half an hour. Gaoli, who served on China’s top ruling council, the Politburo Standing Committee, between 2012 and 2017, has not responded to the allegation while a spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign ministry denied all knowledge of the allegation when asked about the subject at the time.
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