According to Detiksport, Chou Tien Chen refused the post-match press interview following his shock defeat to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in two straight games in the first round of the Indonesia Masters 2020.

The match ended in 40 minutes with a score line of 12-21, 17-21.

“Chou Tien Chen doesn’t want to be interviewed. His manager (Victoria Kao) also said so,” a media translator told the journalists present.

Chou, accompanied by Victoria Kao, reportedly ignored the media and sat down in the athletes’ lounge while eating a banana.

A no-show at a post-match interview may be regarded as failure to fulfil media obligations. A 1500$ fine might be issued for this.

However he walked through the media mixed zone, detiksport reported. Though it is mandatory to walk through the media mixed zone, players are not obligated to stop for interviews. Chou Tien Chen might just be on the safe side.

A similar situation happened when Lin Dan refused to be interviewed in Hong Kong Open 2017. The question of a monetary fine was also raised by some media outlets back then.

Meanwhile Danish veteran Mathias Boe rightly mocked the Badminton World Federation for a similar fine he received last year. He made it a point and showed that media mixed zones are non functional and almost nonexistent in badminton tournaments.