Asian Games 2023: Chinese fans fume over South Korean ‘provocation’ in taekwondo final
- Video goes viral on social media showing South Korean athletes in mixed taekwondo team final seemingly provoking Chinese opponents
- South Korean tennis star Kwon Soon-woo apologises after smashing racket and for refusing to shake hands with Thai opponent in Hangzhou
Chinese fans reacted angrily on social media to a third unsavoury Asian Games incident featuring South Korean athletes, after an aggressive end to the taekwondo mixed team final.
Tensions soared in the gold medal match on September 25, with a post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, saying Chinese athletes were “provoked three times” by their opponents.
The accompanying video went viral on Thursday. It showed a South Korean athlete seemingly egging on his Chinese opponent and indicating he approach him.
In another clip, a South Korean athlete appeared to lightly shove a Chinese athlete as he approached him.
The referee, in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, tried to stop the two competitors, and even slightly held back the South Korean.
Once again, Chinese sports fans took out their frustration by posting on Weibo, with one fan writing: “How on earth did they manage to be so offensive?”
“Koreans are here to compete or to be embarrassed and conspicuous,” another wrote. “They throw rackets, refuse to shake hands, bite people, slap opponents.”
“I did something reckless that I should not have done as a national team player,” Kwon wrote. “I sincerely apologise to all the people who supported the national team’s game and to the crowd at the stadium … I sincerely regret and reflect on the actions that were seen after the match.”
In each instance, Chinese sports fans complained about the South Korean athletes’ behaviour on social media.
China ultimately won the mixed team taekwondo gold medal, triumphing 84-77 in the final, with South Korea taking silver.
