A former Olympic table tennis star caused a stir in the national competition earlier this month when she berated her daughter’s Orthodox Jewish doubles partner.
Fei Ming Tong, who came ninth at the 2000 Olympics representing Taiwan, is said to have called Estee Ackerman, a 20-year-old ping pong prodigy, “ugly” and a “piece of shit” in the US. National Table Tennis Championships.
He also reportedly dropped F-bombs and called Ackerman’s conservative style of dress “unprofessional” and “disgusting,” Ackerman’s father told the outlet. New York Postbefore pulling her daughter, Lucy Chen, out of the competition and leaving Ackerman without a partner.
The altercation left Ackerman in tears, he said.
“This was discrimination,” Glenn Ackerman said, noting that both Tong and her daughter, as well as the Ackermans, live on Long Island, and Tong once even trained his daughter knowing she was Jewish.
It’s unclear what led up to the confrontation, and the Ackermans insist his attire didn’t hinder his performance at nationals, where he even won silver in the hard-hitting competition, which is played with an old-school paddle.
USA Table Tennis is now investigating the incident, CEO Virginia Sung told the Post, but was unable to comment on the matter.
Fei Ming Tong, a former ping pong star from Taiwan, is said to have reprimanded his daughter’s Orthodox Jewish doubles partner at the US National Table Tennis Championships earlier this month.
Estee Ackerman, a 20-year-old ping pong prodigy, wears shot-sleeved shirts that cover her elbows along with skirts and leggings whenever she competes, in keeping with her religion.
Ackerman, now a senior at New York City’s Stern College for Women, has been playing table tennis since she was just 8 years old at the insistence of her father, who taught his two sons to play in hopes that it would help develop their hand-eye coordination. , according to the Long Island Herald.
When he was 11 years old, he beat tennis star Rafael Nadal in the game, and in 2016, he tried out for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
She went on to win multiple gold medals at the US National Table Tennis Championships, but was forced to miss the 2020 Olympic trials because part of the tournament required her to play on the Jewish Sabbath, which runs from sunset to sun on fridays. at sunset on Saturdays.
After the altercation, Tong is said to have removed his daughter, Lucy Chen (right) from the doubles tournament, leaving Ackerman without a partner.
Ackerman has been playing ping pong since he was just 8 years old and his father said Tong once even coached Ackerman knowing she was Jewish.
He has tried out for the Olympics and even once beat professional tennis player Rafael Nadal in a game.
In all of her competitions, her father said, Ackerman wears shot-sleeved shirts that cover her elbows along with skirts and leggings.
She wore one of those outfits at the national competition earlier this month, her father said, when the only dress requirement was that participants not wear white because it would collide with the ball.
“It’s not like my dress was an impediment to my level of competition,” Ackerman told the Post. ‘That is definitely not the case.’
In fact, after Tong took his daughter out of the competition, Ackerman was able to compete in other events and saw his overall rating improve during the competition.
Meanwhile, Tong told the New York Post that she was not aware of any issues between her and Ackerman.
She said Ackerman was one of her “best and favorite” students, and wished him “all the best for his great future.”