In the 25th round of the CBA regular season's New Year's Day match, Liaoning visited Beijing, which was quite worrying and angry for many Beijing fans. Despite Beijing's eventual 15-point victory over Liaoning, an unexpected injury and controversial refereeing decision during the game left many Beijing fans with lingering resentment. Many fans scolded Wang Lanqin and criticized the on-duty referees for their inaction.
The incident occurred at 4 minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Beijing organized an offensive set. Chen Yingjun attempted a three-pointer just before the shot clock expired but unfortunately stepped on Wang Lanqin's foot, twisting his ankle. The referee immediately blew the whistle to stop the game, but it was not to call a defensive foul on Wang Lanqin.
There are two major controversies here: first, did Wang Lanqin intentionally step on Chen Yingjun's foot? Second, why did the main referee Li Chengxin, after reviewing the video replay, neither add a defensive foul to Wang Lanqin nor give a technical foul, nor award the three free throws that Chen Yingjun should have received, but instead only gave Liaoning a minor defensive foul?
Referring to media person Fu Zhenghao's statement: even if the whistle was not blown at the first moment, as long as the referee reviewed the video, they could still add a technical foul. A few years ago, in the last moments of the Beijing-Shenzhen game, Liu Xiaoyu was given a technical foul, which led to a reversal in the outcome of the game. Beijing's coaches and players were extremely dissatisfied, causing a commotion at the technical table, leading to a boycott of the game. After the game, Jie Libin was suspended for four games and fined 20,000 yuan, while Zhai Xiaochuan was fined 30,000 yuan.
Li Chengxin's actions undoubtedly further tarnished the reputation of the CBA, as technical fouls are judged based on the outcome rather than the player's intent. Xu Limin should also be criticized in this matter; he should not have silently accepted the explanation provided by Li Chengxin.
After the game, Wang Lanqin, who stepped on Chen Yingjun's foot, also faced criticism from fans. Some fans posted online: "We're all young players, shouldn't you learn more about protecting players from Zhao Jiwei? Don't ruin other people's careers."
In fact, judging from the slow-motion replay, Wang Lanqin probably did not intentionally step on Chen Yingjun's foot. After all, Wang Lanqin has been playing in the CBA for two years with good defensive actions and a positive reputation, unlike notorious players such as Wang Xiaohui, Zhang Hui, Xu Zhonghao, Ren Junfei, and Ren Junwei. The mistake Wang Lanqin made in this defensive action was reaching out to defend Chen Yingjun without looking back to ensure his feet were retracted in time.
Chen Yingjun suffered a significant injury, falling to the ground in great pain. He was then helped off the court by his teammates, with Fan Ziming carrying him out for treatment. According to two post-game reports, Chen Yingjun was checking his phone to follow the game's progress while being taken to the hospital for examination. After arriving at the hospital and undergoing tests, the latest diagnosis report for Chen Yingjun came out, allowing Beijing fans to breathe a sigh of relief, but Xu Limin is facing a difficult situation ahead.
The post-game diagnosis revealed that Chen Yingjun's condition was relatively optimistic, with no signs of bone fractures or breaks, but obvious edema was present, necessitating further ligament CT scans.
Fortunately, Chen Yingjun did not injure his bones, but unfortunately, he likely injured his ligaments. Ankle sprains are not considered serious injuries, but they require slow recovery, especially since Chen Yingjun has a history of ankle injuries. Two years ago, he had to rest his ankle during the offseason, which prevented him from reporting to the provincial team in Taiwan and led to significant fluctuations in his performance at the start of the season.
Chen Yingjun will definitely need to sit out several games for observation, which is a significant blow to Beijing. Although Zhou Qi returned to the game in this match, according to Xu Limin's post-game remarks, Zhou Qi's cold had not fully recovered. Xu Limin originally intended to continue resting Zhou Qi, but could not resist Zhou Qi's strong desire to play, so he reluctantly allowed Zhou Qi to return. Zhou Qi's hard-earned return finally allowed Beijing to field a complete lineup again, but Chen Yingjun's sudden injury was another bolt from the blue.
Beijing fans are well aware that although Zhou Qi can raise the team's ceiling, he is also very fragile and prone to injuries, significantly impacting the team's record. In fact, Chen Yingjun is the true backbone of the team, having saved the team multiple times this season in critical moments.
Beijing's upcoming schedule is not easy either, with the next six opponents being Zhejiang, Ningbo, Guangsha, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Beikong. Apart from Fujian and Ningbo being slightly weaker, the rest are tough matches.