China’s reigning world champion table tennis star...

China’s reigning world champion table tennis star said Beijing officials have barred her from competing in the Seoul Olympics after she refused to throw a semifinal match at the world championships last year.

He Zhili, a Shanghai-born athlete who went on to win the title, said she is being punished for defying Coach Zhang Xielin’s order to lose to teammate Guan Jianhu in the semifinals of the 39th World Table Tennis Championships in New Delhi last year, according to a Shanghai newspaper.