PETALING JAYA: Professional men’s doubles shuttler Ong Yew Sin has not ruled out the possibility that gambling losses may have been a factor behind the online threats he received from an unknown individual a few days ago.
When contacted, Yew Sin said he initially chose not to respond to the negative remarks sent to him through the inbox of his social media account.
However, in recent days, the same individual had repeatedly sent messages containing threats that not only targeted him but also his partner Teo Ee Yi.
The world No. 35 pair Yew Sin-Ee Yi had suffered a first-round defeat to Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan at the Indonesian Masters on Tuesday.
As a result of the cyber abuse, Yew Sin decided he could no longer remain silent and chose to make the threatening messages public, recognising that the matter was serious and not something that should be taken lightly.
“There are usually a lot of comments like that. Most of them are fairly typical, such as people questioning why we lost,” said Yew Sin.
“But this time, the comment went further, with the person saying they wanted to come and hurt me and Ee Yi.
“When I saw the message, I thought about whether I should post it or not and how I should handle it.
“In the end, I decided to share it so people would know that this kind of thing is happening.
“Honestly, I did not really want to post something like this, but there were simply too many such comments,” said Yew Sin.
For him, the most logical explanation at this point for the abnormal behaviour of individuals who send threatening messages after national players lose is that they may have lost money due to gambling.
“I think it could be because of (gambling losses). In other sports too, if we do not place bets and our favourite team lose, we might feel angry, but that is all.
“We would not go and leave comments on the player’s social media. But I do not know about those who are involved in gambling or betting. When they lose money, it is different.
“It does not matter who your favourite player is. When you lose money, the feeling is not the same. Emotions can run high and people end up lashing out at players. This is something negative,” he added.
Yew Sin is currently still considering whether to lodge a police report regarding the threats he received.
Previously, Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Datuk Fadil Marsus has urged badminton players who receive threats to their safety to report them to the police immediately so that authorities can investigate and take appropriate action.
