The man who was seen getting kicked in the face after a pickleball match in a viral video has broken his silence.
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Peter Shonk, who was on the receiving end of a kick to the face that briefly knocked him unconscious, says that even though he “lost memory for three hours,” he has “no interest in pressing charges” against his attacker.
“I have a family, two healthy businesses and I play pickleball for recreation and challenge,” Shonk said in an interview with The Kitchen Pickleball, a blog dedicated to the sport. “I don’t have time to waste with this guy.”
The clip of the kick went viral earlier this week, racking up more than 2.4 million views on X as of Friday afternoon.
The on-court altercation occurred at a tournament in Mexico, surprising many given pickleball’s reputation as a friendly sport.
On match point, the eventual kicker received a serve before approaching the net, where he illegally stepped over the non-volley line. The foot fault gave his opponents a point and ultimately the match.
On the other side of the net, Shonk celebrated, screaming “C’mon, let’s go! F*** yeah.”
Both teams approached the net to shake hands and that’s where it escalated – fast.
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The man who had foot-faulted appeared to hold out his paddle, which Shonk knocked out of his hands.
It appeared to have been by accident, as Shonk then leaned over the net to pick up the fallen paddle. That’s when his opponent kicked him in the face, sending Shonk into a heap on the ground.
“I was just fired up after the win,” Shonk told the outlet. “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.”
As Shonk fell on the net and to the ground, his teammate confronted the kicker, shoving him in the face as others stepped in.
Shonk doesn’t seem to mind the added attention.
He shared an Instagram story posted by one of his teammates, who said: “We got the Dub with the craziest ending everrr,” along with a medal from the 2024 Quintana Roo Invitational in Mexico.
He also shared a clip, writing “We broke the internet.”
The incident originally went viral with the post from The Kitchen Pickleball account.
In the post, the blog wrote that Shonk “wants everyone to know that he is OK.”
“While I understand things get heated at tournaments this behaviour 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,” the account posted.
“Thankful that Peter wasn’t seriously injured.”
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