The women’s doubles final at the 2026 Asian Games saw the revival of a decade-long rivalry between two compatriots. The final was played between two Taiwanese pairings as Hsieh Su-wei and Liang En-shuo clashed with Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien. The match proved to be a close affair and saw Hsieh and Liang triumph 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. But the real drama unfolded after the match as longtime rivals Hsieh and Chan didn’t shake hands. When asked about the incident by a reporter, Hsieh had an unfiltered reply in store.

“If you respect me, I’ll respect you, okay?” Hsieh told the reporter. “If you ask me disrespectful questions again, I’ll slap you in the mouth. I’m joking. Do I look that fierce?”

Notably, Chan did try to mend the differences between the two after the Asian Games final. She held her hand forward and offered to shake hands with Hsieh. But the latter was in no mood to accept the handshake. This is the second time in less than a month that the two didn’t shake hands after a match.

The two had previously faced each other in a doubles clash at the US Open. While Hsieh partnered with Jelena Ostapenko, Chan played alongside Maya Joint. Hsieh and Ostapenko won the match 6-4, 6-4, but the two Taiwanese players didn’t do the customary handshake after the match. Chan had some rough words in store for Hsieh after she was ignored at the Asian Games.

“At the US Open, I didn’t shake her hand, and ​that’s because in previous times I didn’t get any response and ​I felt that there was no point in sticking my warm face to a ‌cold ⁠b**t,” Chan told Reuters. “But today, I felt this is a match for (Taiwan). Before the match, I decided that I would stretch out my hand after the match. But I still didn’t get to shake her ​hand.”

Hsieh didn’t stay silent following these remarks and remarked that she didn’t shake hands with Chan because they don’t respect each other.

“It’s ​important to respect your opponents on court,” ​she said to Reuters. “If my opponent doesn’t respect me, what’s there to say? I wouldn’t feel ​like shaking hands, that’s it.”

It is not a surprise that tensions are boiling over between the two once again. Their feud is very well known among Taiwanese fans and has been going on for a decade now. Both Hsieh and Chan have made it clear that they don’t really like each other through their actions. Their feud appears to be nowhere close to being over.

The feud between Hsieh Su-wei and Chan Hao-ching reportedly began in 2016

The feud began close to the 2016 Rio Olympics and had serious implications for the Taiwanese team. Both the players and their camps hurled accusations against each other. Hsieh has often accused Taiwan’s tennis federation of siding with Chan in terms of funding and coaching support.

The feud reached new heights at the 2016 Rio Olympics after Hsieh’s brother wasn’t allowed to travel with her by the federation. The same wasn’t the case with Chan, whose father was allowed to travel with her as her coach. Though Hsieh is the senior of the two, the federation prioritized Chan’s coaching accreditation instead. This eventually resulted in Hsieh leaving the national team.

Since the incident, both Hsieh and Chan haven’t quite seen eye to eye. They have made a name for themselves in the doubles circuit. Hsieh is the more successful of the two, winning nine Grand Slam titles, two of which came in mixed doubles. She now also has an Asian Games Gold under her belt.

While Chan is yet to win a major, she has reached four finals so far in her career and is regarded as one of the best doubles players from Taiwan. Though both players have been on the doubles circuit for years now, it doesn’t seem that they are in the mood to end their feud. Though Chan has tried to reconcile with Hsieh, her attempts haven’t been successful. So, it doesn’t look like the situation is going to change anytime soon.