The 14-year-old Chinese table tennis player ruined his chances of reaching the national youth squad and missed a crucial early development window after hitting his opponent following a loss.
Cao Yanhao was put in the public eye on Tuesday night when the Jiangsu Table Tennis Association issued a disciplinary notice imposing a province-wide reprimand, canceling his results, and banning him from provincial tournaments for one year.
The day before, Cao was beaten 3-0 by his teammate He Ruichen in the semi-finals of the under-14 Jiangsu selection trials for the national youth training camp, beaten 11-0 in the final game, before hitting his opponent, and video footage of the incident was quickly circulated.
The video showed Cao hitting his last shot into the net before his opponent approached for a casual handshake, when Cao dropped the ball and hit him squarely in the head.
As his opponent faced the court barricade, Cao kicked him in the lower leg before the venue staff stepped in to restrain him.
In a disciplinary notice issued the next day, the Jiangsu Table Tennis Association said that the athlete had punched his opponent after losing, disrupting the order of the match and causing adverse effects.
