The Chinese Women's Basketball Association (WCBA) on Monday imposed a five-game suspension on Shanghai Baoshan Dauha Octopus small forward Shi Xiufeng for slapping Guandong Dolphin's Belarusian center Yelena Leuchanka in the face during the first half of Shanghai's 88-73 loss to Guandong on January 9.

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The Shanghai club was also fined 3,000 yuan (about US$460) for Shi's unethical behavior, according to Xinhua.

In Saturday's game, the former Chinese national player Shi shocked the fans by slapping Yelena's face with 6:07 remaining on the clock in the second quarter. The referees of the ballgame ejected Shi and a technical foul was given to the Belarusian player for the incident.

The commotion was the second attack that the 6-foot-5 center has suffered in three days.

In a previous game against Shanghai, which occurred two days prior to the slapping incident, Yelena was hit by the elbow of Australian center Elizabeth Cambage which resulted in a seven-stitches cut under her left eye. Shi's teammate Cambage was suspended for one game by the league's governing body thereafter.

Shi, 28, has been one of the key players of Shanghai this season. In her 22 games played, she has averaged 12.0 points per game. She was a member of the Chinese women's national basketball squad in the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korean that bagged the Silver medal.

Yelena joined the WNBA in 2006 and played for the Charlotte Sting, the Washington Mystics and the Atlanta Dream during her WNBA career, averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds.

Yelena was a member of the Belarus women's national basketball team and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics staged in Beijing, China. The 32-year-old Belarusian also played in the 2007 and 2009 European Women Basketball Championship for her country.

Her first stints in the WCBA were with the Liaoning and Jiangsu. She joined Guangdong before the 2015-2016 season. Yelena has averaged 20.8 points and 13 rebounds in her 24 games this season. 

TagsWCBA News, WCBA 2016, WNBA News, WNBA, Washington Mystics