At the conclusion of a pickleball tournament in Mexico, a winning player was kicked in the face by an opponent, who took exception with his celebration.
After the final point was won on Sunday, a player wearing a Mexican national team soccer jersey, who was later identified as Peter Shonk, cheered as his team won the final point.
Shonk can be heard yelling ‘C’mon!’ and ‘Let’s go!’ before approaching the net to shake hands with the opponents.
His final winning yell of ‘F*** yeah!’ comes as he tries to shake the hand of one of the players and inadvertently, knocks the other player’s racket to the ground.
The incensed opponent in pink shorts takes a few moments before delivering a kick to Shonk’s face. Shonk was not seriously injured and will not press charges, per The Kitchen Pickleball.
After the kick, Shonk’s teammate runs up to confront the pink-shorts opponent, with a bit of chaos ensuing on the courts without any more strikes thrown.
Shonk was kicked in the face on Sunday by an opposing player after winning a tournament
The guys who kicked Shonk will reportedly be banned from all future tournaments at the venue.
Shonk also lost memory from the kick for about three hours. He did stay down in pain and crumpled the net upon being kicked in the face.
The situation calmed down after players from other courts stepped in to diffuse the situation.
‘We broke the internet,’ Shonk said on his Instagram story with a re-post of the clip of him being kicked in the face.
Another social-media post from Shonk identifies the tournament as the Quintana Roo Invitational.
