Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Official photographs and a video published by a tournament in China appear to show missing tennis star Peng Shuai among attendees.
Peng's whereabouts have been a matter of growing international concern. She had not been seen or heard from since accusing a former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a social media post on November 2.
Editor-in-Chief at Chinese state-owned newspaper The Global Times tweeted the footage of Peng at the Fila Kids Junior Tennis Challenger Finals. Peng was seen dressed in a dark blue jacket and white trousers.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which has been vocally calling for proof of Peng's whereabouts, called the evidence "insufficient." It added that the footage does not address the WTA's concerns.
Tennis community mounts pressure
The head of the WTA had earlier cast doubt on the validity of an email which Chinese state media on Wednesday said was penned by Peng Shuai.
"I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her," WTA chief Steve Simon wrote earlier this week.
"The WTA and the rest of the world need independent and verifiable proof that [Peng] is safe," Simon said, adding he has "repeatedly tried to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail."
Expressions of concern, outrage and support have come from across the tennis world, including men's world number one Novak Djokovic, former tennis superstars Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, amongst others.
