Paris Olympics: Huge melee breaks out after China's Fan Yunxia 'rifles' hockey ball at Belgium's Delphine-Daphne Marien
Published 08/08/2024 at 10:16 GMT
China's Fan Yunxia lost her cool and smashed the ball into the leg of Belgium's Delphine-Daphne Marien at the end of the fourth quarter during their semi-final clash. After the incident, a huge melee broke out, with Fan and Judith Vandermeiren shown yellow cards for their involvement. The semi-final went to a shootout, with China winning 3-2 to progress to the final.
'It was reckless!' - Watch as China's Fan sparks melee by whacking ball into Belgium opponent
A huge melee broke out at the end of the women’s hockey semi-final between China and Belgium after a Chinese player fired the ball at her opponent from close range.
China came out on top, winning 3-2 in a penalty shootout after the match was tied at 1-1, to progress to the final where they will face the Netherlands on Friday.
Beforehand, Chinese midfielder Fan Yunxia completely lost her cool as the clock ticked to zero in the fourth quarter, firing the ball viciously at Belgian forward Delphine-Daphne Marien and hitting her in the leg from a short distance.
“Well, that’s a little unnecessary from Fan, she just hammered the ball as the hooter sounded and hit one of the Belgian players. The whistle goes, and she just rifles it straight at the player,” said Eurosport commentator Charlie Brougham.
The Belgian players reacted instantly by charging towards Fan, leading to pushing and shoving, before the whole field became involved.
The local crowd were cheering throughout the match in support of Belgium and didn’t take kindly to Fan's actions, with boos ensuing around the venue as spectators made their feelings clear.
“Everybody’s come out on the pitch, it was reckless from Fan, I think it was frustration more than anything else, she didn’t mean to hit the player,” said Brougham.
Officials managed to separate both sets of players, and following a VAR referral, Fan and Belgium's Judith Vandermeiren both received a yellow card in the aftermath of the incident.
Both players were suspended for 10 minutes as part of their punishment.
The Chinese side seemed to accept Fan’s punishment, but Vandermeiren was far from impressed with the officials’ decision, shouting “you cannot do that” as the referee raised the yellow card.
Field Hockey - Paris 20204 - Semifinal - China - Belgium - Clip - Chinese player hits a Belgian o...
Image credit: Eurosport
China opened the scoring 18 minutes into the second quarter, with Zou Meirong firing in from a penalty corner.
With just two minutes left on the clock in the last quarter, Belgium were awarded a penalty corner for obstruction and Emma Puvrez scored with a brilliant finish.
With a shootout needed to separate the sides, Belgium's Ambre Ballenghien, Justine Rasir and Marien all missed, handing China the victory and a chance to qualify for the gold medal match.
Ma Ning scored the winning penalty for China, nutmegging the Belgian goalkeeper with a brilliant piece of skill.
China will face the Netherlands in the final on Friday, while Belgium meet Argentina in the bronze medal match.
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