China came close to winning a gold Olympic medal, despite there being calls for the entire team to be disqualified due to their behavior in a previous match.
China’s women’s hockey team went up against the best in the world and almost went home with a gold medal during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Matching up against the Netherlands - the world’s no. 1 team - in the final, China almost looked like they were going to do it, scoring in the first 6 minutes of the game.
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However, a late goal by the Netherland’s Yibbi Jansen sent the game into a penalty shootout, which saw China lose 3-1 and settle with the silver medal.
An impressive feat which their coach, Alyson Annan, is very proud of and said she hopes the team will build on this going forward.
The coach said: “I think China is a force in sport, and has an amazing sporting culture. These athletes are incredible, they’re devoted and they work hard.
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“Just giving them a bit of confidence makes them great, so I hope that out of this comes something more.”
However, things weren't so rosy in the semi-finals when a surprising brawl erupted during China's match against Belgium.
It was so stunning, that many viewers called for China to simply be disqualified from the tournament.
Footage of the clash circulated on social media and showed Chinese player Yunxia pelt the ball at Delphine-Dapne Marien at a close range causing the Belgian to instantly drop to the floor, clearly in pain.
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This happened only in the final seconds of the match with game tied at 1-1.
Her teammates then rushed into the face of Yunxia to confront her for her actions, including Belgium’s Judith Vandermeiren, who got right into Yunxia’s face and pushed her away.
As a result, she received a yellow card and a 10 minute suspension, but continued to argue her point, with a video capturing her saying: “I’m protecting my team-mate. You cannot do that.”
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Commentators were also unimpressed with the actions of the Chinese player, with Eurosport commentator Charlie Brougham condemning it.
He said: "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."
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On Twitter, one person wrote: “If it's a yellow for a push fair enough. But how is it not a red for deliberately hitting another player after the final whistle? Straight as a roundabout."
Someone else penned: "Absolutely disgraceful from the Chinese hockey player and from the referee. Issuing a yellow card to the Belgian No.7 at all is mental, but issuing it first like this is shocking!"
And another added: "The Chinese player took a look before hitting it. That was seriously foul play. It's a red card."
Gerrard Kaonga