Chinese hockey player sparks fury after smashing the ball at opponent at the end of Olympic match
A Chinese hockey player sparked fury after she smashed the ball into her Belgian opponent at the end of their Olympic semi-final.
China won the match after a penalty shootout to secure their spot in the gold medal final, where they will take on the Netherlands.
The scores were level at 1-1 following the conclusion of the fourth quarter, with Belgium's Charlotte Englebert cancelling out Zou Meirong's first half opener.
But there was a notable incident at full-time when Chinese midfielder Fan Yunxia, who was clearly frustrated with the draw, hit the ball towards opponent Delphine-Daphne Marien.
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Marien attempted to jump out of the way, but the ball struck her hard in the leg and she fell to the ground.
Several of Marien's team-mate confronted Fan, with the forward requiring treatment before the penalty shootout took place.
You can see the incident below.
A Chinese hockey player smashed the ball into a Belgian player after the whistle at the Olympics 🏑💥
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 7, 2024
Just listen to the boos 😬#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/w4zl184KQ4
The referee punished Fan with a yellow card - meaning she avoided becoming the second hockey player in the space of four days to be sent off. However, some fans believed she should have been sent off.
A red card, which is a relatively rare occurrence in hockey, was shown to India men's player Amit Rohidas against Team GB after it was deemed that he hit an opponent intentionally in the face with his stick.
China have never won a gold medal in either the women's Olympic hockey events, although only made their debut at Sydney 2000. They have never entered a men's team into the Olympics.
The women's team did pick up a silver medal at their home Olympics in Beijing in 2008, losing 2-1 to the Netherlands - also their opponents this time around - in the final.
They narrowly missed out on a bronze medal four years earlier, losing to Australia in the bronze medal match at Athens 2004.
Ryan Smart