Absolute madness! Pickleball is known for camaraderie, inclusiveness, and sportsmanship. However, time and again, we’re now seeing the popular sport in America getting plagued with extreme violence. Just a few days ago, we saw a horrifying scene in a pickleball game in Mexico, and now, a similar moment took place at the Major League Pickleball. What’s all the fuss about, though?

During a recent match at the pickleball stars Will Howells and Christian Alshon were caught in a nasty exchange! Everything started off pretty well with both the teams engaging in a long rally, but then suddenly when Howells’s partner hit the ball at the net, we saw Alshon celebrating the point in an emphatic manner. He yelled at his opponents during his celebration and later on, Will Howells was seen throwing the ball towards Alishon. It hit Alishon on the neck and he was then spotted complaining to the umpire about the incident. 

The Kitchen Pickleball shared a glimpse of that incident on their IG handle with a caption, “Better than a kick to the face. 🤷🏻‍♂️” Later on, Will Howells was seen dropping a comment on that post saying, “Oopsies.” He further added, “Upon reflection, I should’ve hit it much harder. Doesn’t matter though, still caught a W🔥.” Truly Insane!

The victim in this incident, Christian Alshon is the first player in MLP history to win championships at both Challenger and Premier levels. He has a lot of popularity in the pickleball world. However, some of the fans didn’t like his recent gesture of coming in to yell at someone in the face and then complain with a “softball toss.” This is the second controversial incident in a span of just a few days in pickleball! Previously, we saw a pickleball game in Mexico taking an ugly turn after a player knocked the paddle out of his opponent’s hand. Later on, when the player, went on to pick up the paddle, he received a straight kick to the head from his opponent. How did the frustration levels soar sky-high in that match?

Recalling the horrifying head-kick incident in the pickleball match in Mexico

According to a previous post from The Kitchen Pickleball, the incident took place during the championship point at a tournament over the weekend. The victim was none other than Peter Shonk! The kick was so hard that Shonk appeared to lay on the ground motionless for several seconds after that. Later on, his teammates Sylvain Bouchard and a few others were seen confronting the player who had allegedly kicked Shonk on the head. Thankfully for him and the fans, Peter Shonk wasn’t injured seriously and he stood up on his feet a moment later.

How did it give rise to such an extreme action? Well, in what appeared to be a match point, the kicker who was donning pink shorts received a serve before approaching the net, where he stepped over the non-volley line. So, when the player who kicked Peter Shonk stepped over the line, he gave away a foot fault and ultimately lost the match. Then Shonk was seen celebrating their victory by yelling, “c’mon let’s go f-k yeah.” Perhaps this is what might have ignited the frustration in his opponent.

According to various reports, Shonk “lost memory for 3 hours” after getting that kick straight on his head. Later on, he even came up with an explanation saying that he didn’t intentionally knock his opponent’s paddle out of his hand. “I was just fired up after the win. I went to tap his paddle, and it fell out of his hand. I immediately bent to pick it up (for him) — no bad intentions — but what happened next shocked everyone,” said Peter Shonk. Did he take any action against the kicker?

Well, in reply to this, he simply said, “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.” Now, the Howells-Alshon incident is quite less severe as compared to that, but still, it will be interesting to see if Christian Alshon comes up with any statement on this in the next few hours. Share your thoughts on both of these controversial incidents in the most popular sports in America!