On September 18, in the semi-finals of the men's basketball tournament at the Nagoya Asian Games, the Chinese men's basketball team lost 77 to 97 to the Japanese team, setting a record for the largest margin of defeat against Japan. Because the match coincided with the September 18 incident anniversary, Chinese media heavily hyped nationalist sentiment before the game. The crushing defeat and videos of Chinese fans crying at the scene were widely circulated afterward, triggering strong discontent and emotional venting among domestic netizens.