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Pickleball may be a relatively new sport, but that hasn’t stopped players from taking their games seriously.
In a recent video posted on X (formerly Twitter), one player is seen viciously kicking his opponent in the face after losing. The man drops to the floor, apparently unconscious, before struggling to his feet moments later.
“This video is absolutely insane,” The Kitchen Pickleball captioned the video on X. “It occurred after championship point from a tournament this weekend and the man that was assaulted, Peter Shonk, shared this video with us to post and wants everyone to know that he is OK.
“While I understand things get heated at tournaments this behavior is disgusting and completely unacceptable. I love pickleball as much as anyone I know but at the end of the day…it’s just pickleball. Thankful that Peter wasn’t seriously injured.”
The clip shows Shonk scoring the game-winning point in his pickleball match. However, when the two teams shake hands, Shonk knocks the paddle out of his opponent’s hand. Shonk then bends down to pick up the paddle, leaning over the net, when the other man kicks him in the face.
According to Shonk’s interview with The Kitchen Pickleball’s blog, the entire incident was an accident. “I was just fired up after the win. I went to tap his paddle, and it fell out of his hand,” Shonk said. “I immediately bent to pick it up [for him] — no bad intentions — but what happened next shocked everyone.”
The blog reported that Shonk was left unconscious for three hours and needed to go to the hospital. Despite what had happened, he decided not to press charges.
“I have a family, two healthy businesses, and I play pickleball for recreation and challenge. I don’t have time to waste with this guy,” Shonk told The Kitchen Pickleball.
In response to the video, many online commenters suggested that Shonk slapped the paddle out of the mans hand rather than knocking it accidentally.
“Hard to tell, but does Pete slap the paddle out of the other guys hands instead of shaking his hand?” One person asked. “If so, he’s the instigator here. Doesn’t deserve getting kicked in the face (arguably), but does he think he’s not in the wrong?”
“Peter is a douche. Actions have consequences,” another argued.
Meanwhile, others argued Shonk should have pressed charges: “Peter tried to pick up the paddle and was met with unusual force. Man should be charged with assault.”
Pickleball has seen participation boom 223 percent in the past three years. The easy-to-play mix of tennis and ping pong using paddles and a wiffleball has quickly soared from nearly nothing to 13.6 million U.S. players in just a few years, leading tennis purists to fear a day when it could surpass tennis’ 23.8 million players.
