Chinese Interviewers - Problems

[Fist of Fury]

People who know me, know that at times I have been known to lash out at certain players for their style of play and this has drawn a level of criticism

However, today I saw something that trumped anything I have seen before in a snooker interview. The chinese interviewers.

The lady in question was a very very poor interviewer. So bad were her questions, they visibly irritated both Ronnie and Joe and actually reduced Ronnie to stuttering.

One of the first questions she asked was "no disrespect joe, but what is it like playing RONNIE"

This was a howler...Ronnie's hands went straight to his head in frustration and Joe was left to tackle the question which was awful and made me cringe.

Then she asked Ronnie about when he said Higgins was the only man who could stop him. Ronnie explained that he didn't mean it quite that way and then proceded to stutter through an answer that would appear respectful and counter the awkward feeling.

It is compounded further by the interviewer then translating dialogue. A much better idea would be subtitles, but maybe chinese is harder to do that for.

The chinese interviewer asked reasonably poor questions other than that, few that they were, simply asking how they feel out there in 3 different ways.

In any case, those questions showed disprespect for joe and other professionals and I felt sorry for the both of them having to sit there through it.

I hope the chinese sort out this aspect of their coverage, because the rest has been top notch. I just feel, that their eagerness to adore ronnie has affected them to a level where they are being unprofessional and this is coming from me; a big Ronnie Fan.

edit: maybe the use of "chinese sort this out" was poorly written I was not blaming the chinese, rather, the fact ronnie is adored in China and has interfered with professionalism. This is strictly a problem for the chinese broadcasters

[In-off]

I agree, they come across as rather immature fans instead of proper broadcasters

[JiangYu]

Us Chinese people aren't exactly gifted with the best English but we do try our hardest. We may appear to be disrespectful but believe me, this is not our intention but rather the way we said it. We are very oblivious to how rude we may come across as.

Sorry about that but I agree, we need to brush up on our English.

[Fist of Fury]

to be honest with you, english wasn't too bad, but that lady especially, does seem to be a big fan and its hard to remain impartial when you are like that

Maybe this isn't a chinese problem, but more of who they have employed at the time?

I wasn't attacking chinese culture or anything (as it happens I am a big fan of chinese, wish I had the money to visit) , you understand and I can see how ronnie is widely admired :P but you expecta level of professionalism to place that to onside is all

[The Statman]

It isn't just the Chinese; and it isn't the language barrier.

The BBC Wales interviewer, after this year's Welsh Open final when O'Sullivan led Selby 8-6 and then lost 9-8, said to O'Sullivan, "Well unlucky, you didn't quite win the championship, but you did get the highest break prize."

Ronnie appeared genuinely nonplussed by this and said "Great!" which I think was a suitable reply!

[Black_cat]

Link, please, to the O'Sullivan/Perry post-match? Pretty please? Thank you.

[lagermike]

It isn't just the Chinese; and it isn't the language barrier.

The BBC Wales interviewer, after this year's Welsh Open final when O'Sullivan led Selby 8-6 and then lost 9-8, said to O'Sullivan, "Well unlucky, you didn't quite win the championship, but you did get the highest break prize."

Ronnie appeared genuinely nonplussed by this and said "Great!" which I think was a suitable reply!

Quite true The Statman. However, when you say that O'Sullivan led 8-6 you are not wrong, but it is worth mentioning that O'Sullivan also led 8-5.

[Fist of Fury]

It isn't just the Chinese; and it isn't the language barrier.

The BBC Wales interviewer, after this year's Welsh Open final when O'Sullivan led Selby 8-6 and then lost 9-8, said to O'Sullivan, "Well unlucky, you didn't quite win the championship, but you did get the highest break prize."

Ronnie appeared genuinely nonplussed by this and said "Great!" which I think was a suitable reply!

I was making the point that is seems more prominent in china because of his legendary status.

The last time, there were bad questions, one asked him how he lost and he replied "because im human"

So it does seem to be chinese especially but not due to cultural or language flaws, more because he is big over there, but professionalism has been poor with the interviewers. Is this lady the same one as last time?

[Mal]

Those sound like poor questions, and I'm sure Joe must be sitting their after that match and the way HE lost it (not Ronnie winning it with brilliance!) and be absolutely dumbfounded by a condescending question like that.

I don't know if anyone saw the interview of Stephen Hendry before his premier league match last week - It was partially tongue in cheek, but he slagged off Hendry's form, him not winning a match and never being able to win a title again and followed up by praising Selby. I think both Hendry and Selby didn't look impressed by the questions.

[poolqjunkie]

People who know me, know that at times I have been known to lash out at certain players for their style of play and this has drawn a level of criticism

However, today I saw something that trumped anything I have seen before in a snooker interview. The chinese interviewers.

The lady in question was a very very poor interviewer. So bad were her questions, they visibly irritated both Ronnie and Joe and actually reduced Ronnie to stuttering.

One of the first questions she asked was "no disrespect joe, but what is it like playing RONNIE"

This was a howler...Ronnie's hands went straight to his head in frustration and Joe was left to tackle the question which was awful and made me cringe.

Then she asked Ronnie about when he said Higgins was the only man who could stop him. Ronnie explained that he didn't mean it quite that way and then proceded to stutter through an answer that would appear respectful and counter the awkward feeling.

It is compounded further by the interviewer then translating dialogue. A much better idea would be subtitles, but maybe chinese is harder to do that for.

The chinese interviewer asked reasonably poor questions other than that, few that they were, simply asking how they feel out there in 3 different ways.

In any case, those questions showed disprespect for joe and other professionals and I felt sorry for the both of them having to sit there through it.

I hope the chinese sort out this aspect of their coverage, because the rest has been top notch. I just feel, that their eagerness to adore ronnie has affected them to a level where they are being unprofessional and this is coming from me; a big Ronnie Fan.

edit: maybe the use of "chinese sort this out" was poorly written I was not blaming the chinese, rather, the fact ronnie is adored in China and has interfered with professionalism. This is strictly a problem for the chinese broadcasters

In the title of your post, you said interviewers, but it sees that you were mainly annonyed by the lady interviewer in particular. Just wondering if you are having problem with Chinese interviewers in general, or just one interviewer?

If it is just that one interviewer, perhaps you should not have made it sound like it has anything to do with Chinese as a race or China as a country in general or the fact that Chinese is the first language of China?

As others have pointed out, poor questioning during interviews can be found in other countries with English speakers as well. Ronnie is not just big in China, he is a big icon worldwide.
Just my opinion.

[Monique]

The interview is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jE30-ETQwQ

Both players look pretty uneasy indeed.

[Fist of Fury]

In the title of your post, you said interviewers, but it sees that you were mainly annonyed by the lady interviewer in particular. Just wondering if you are having problem with Chinese interviewers in general, or just one interviewer?

If it is just that one interviewer, perhaps you should not have made it sound like it has anything to do with Chinese as a race or China as a country in general or the fact that Chinese is the first language of China?

As others have pointed out, poor questioning during interviews can be found in other countries with English speakers as well. Ronnie is not just big in China, he is a big icon worldwide.
Just my opinion.

in general they have been poor. This time and last imho I always cringe at the lousy questions, this was by far worst

[João]

"No disrespect but what's it like to play against Ronnie?"


/facepalm

[Valderie]

Those sound like poor questions, and I'm sure Joe must be sitting their after that match and the way HE lost it (not Ronnie winning it with brilliance!) and be absolutely dumbfounded by a condescending question like that.

I don't know if anyone saw the interview of Stephen Hendry before his premier league match last week - It was partially tongue in cheek, but he slagged off Hendry's form, him not winning a match and never being able to win a title again and followed up by praising Selby. I think both Hendry and Selby didn't look impressed by the questions.

Yes I saw that Mal. Stephen did manage to keep smiling but pretended to walk to his chair at one point - not the sort of interview you want before a match!!!

[Mal]

Yep, Stephen was professional and tried to keep upbeat, but you could see in his eyes that they weren't laughing. As you say, not the psychological boost you'd want when out of form.
If I was Sky, or whoever organised the interviewer, I would have condemned his interview technique - it's not Paxman!