M'sian Fan Apologises To Ng Tze Yong After Chanting "Are You Sleeping" At French Open
The Malaysian men's singles player hopes that the fan won't repeat his behaviour.
By Sadho Ram — 01 Nov 2023, 03:03 PM
Malaysian shuttler Ng Tze Yong has shared an apology from a fan, who repeatedly chanted "Are you sleeping?" during his match against China's Li Shi Feng in the French Open semi-finals over the weekend
In the apology sent to Ng via direct message on his Instagram, the fan identifies himself as Darence.
Ng shared a screenshot of the message in his Instagram Story today, 1 November.
According to the screenshot of the message, the fan stated that he wishes to "apologise for what happened" when Ng was on the court on Saturday — "specifically the 'are you sleeping' comment".
He claimed that the reason he kept chanting the line was because he was using "reverse psychology" to motivate the national shuttler, adding that he now understands how it could have killed his morale instead.
"I won't do it next time," read the message from Darence to Ng.
In the semi-final match against his Chinese opponent, the Malaysian men's singles player lost in straight games, 21-17, 21-13, while the fan could be heard repeatedly chanting, "Are you sleeping?"
The fan claimed that people are sending him death threats over the incident
"I hope that there can be peace from both ends, as a lot of fans are slandering and giving me death threats," he claimed, while also stating that he just wants to be "able to freely express" himself.
Watch the video below:
Responding to the fan, Ng said he accepts the apology
"I accept your apology, but just don't do it anymore," Ng replied.
"I understand you as a fan hope that we can win the match, so maybe at that moment you didn't think too much about it. Thank you for your continued support. Peace," he added.
The national shuttler also asked all his fans to please stop sending Darence death threats.
