By: Serach Nissim
A former Olympic table tennis star from Taiwan displayed anti-Semitism, criticizing her daughter’s Orthodox Jewish doubles partner as “ugly” and “embarrassing”, berating her conservative style of dress.
As reported by the NY Post, at the July table tennis nationals competition held in Texas, Fei Ming Tong verbally attacked Estee Ackerman before the doubles competition. Tong allegedly used the F-curse, and called Ackerman a “piece of s–t”, saying that her modest outfit, consisting of long sleeves and a skirt, was “unprofessional” and “disgusting,” Ackerman and her father Glenn told The Post.
Ackerman, 20, a senior at Stern College for Women in Manhattan, wears shirts with long sleeves to cover her elbows, with skirts and leggings to adhere to the Jewish Orthodox rules of modesty. The rant took place at the Fort Worth Convention Center, the biggest event of the year in the U.S., with Tong screaming, “No one wears that!” Estee Ackerman recalled. Ackerman has been playing ping pong since she was 8 years old, achieving high national rankings, and she managed to beat international tennis champion Rafael Nadal in a game when she was just 11 years old. Her current ranking in the sport puts her at 40th in the United States and 7th in Israel, and she says she’s proud to represent her religion. “It’s not like my dress was an impediment at all to my competition level. That’s definitely not the case,” said Ackerman. She said the trash talk left her in tears. “It was extremely painful,” she added.
“This was discrimination,” Glenn Ackerman said, adding that Tong had once trained Estee and knew she is Jewish. He noted that the only rule regarding dress at the tournament is the prohibition against wearing white, because it’s the same color as the ball. Tong didn’t stop just with a rant. After berating her daughter’s partner, Tong also pulled her daughter, Lucy Chen, out of the doubles event right before the quarterfinals match, leaving Ackerman without a partner and thereby eliminated. Per the Post, Ackerman was still able to compete in other events, and won a silver medal in the hardbat contest, which is played with an old-school paddle.
The CEO of USA Table Tennis, Virginia Sung, said the incident with Tong was under investigation and the organization could not comment.
“I’m all about bringing peace and joining forces with different people in the sport,” Ackerman told Jew in the City. “It’s very sad and absurd that I experienced what I did. I just want people to compete in a healthy environment, one which I’ve usually experienced in my time in table tennis.” Ackerman already faces enough hurdles moving forward in the sport, as she missed the trials for the 2020 Tokyo games because they were held on Saturday, and she doesn’t play on the Sabbath. USA Table Tennis would not alter the schedule to accommodate her.
Tong, who finished ninth at the 2000 Sydney games, told The Post that Ackerman was one of her “best and favorite” students. She didn’t acknowledge any problem and didn’t think there was any issues between her and Ackerman. “I wish her all the best for her great future,” Tong said.
