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Tokyo 2020: Chinese netizens ask why women’s teams are better than men’s

  • Hashtag has had more than 100 million reads on Weibo after women’s football team qualified for Tokyo 2020
  • Footballers join women’s basketball team and Olympic champion volleyballers at Summer Games but men miss out

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China’s women’s football team celebrate qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo: AFP
Following the success of Chinese women’s football team in qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, netizens are asking why the country’s women are outperforming the men.
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The hashtag “Why China’s three major women’s teams have better results than the men’s team” has been read more than 100 million times on the country’s Twitter-like Weibo.

China’s women’s teams have qualified for football, basketball and volleyball in Tokyo, while the men’s teams have failed to do so.

It is the same story with rugby sevens, where the women won the Asian qualifiers, and field hockey.

China’s Xu Yunli (11) celebrates with teammates Zhu Ting (2) and Yang Fangxu (3) during the gold medal volleyball match against Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: AP
China’s Xu Yunli (11) celebrates with teammates Zhu Ting (2) and Yang Fangxu (3) during the gold medal volleyball match against Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: AP

There is some hope that China’s men will join their female counterparts in Tokyo – though the odds are against them.

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