Table tennis player wins $45,000, destroys walls, loses prize money
There are good ways to celebrate a big win. This is not one of them.
Zhang Jike won the Liebherr Men’s World Cup, defeating Ma Long in Düsseldorf, Germany, and proceeded to celebrate by kicking the surrounding walls to pieces. Why? What had those poor walls done to him?
Nothing, that's what, and that's why the International Table Tennis Foundation fined Jike his entire winnings for the tournament: about $45,000. Ouch. That's $22,500 per kick.
"It was not acceptable behavior and I am sorry," Jike said in a statement. "This was a perfect victory, I have been under a great deal of pressure, with people questioning my form." Yeah ... kicking a foam wall to bits probably won't quiet that questioning, sir.
Now for the real question: which of the two fans ended up getting his shirt?
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.
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