Balraj Panesar of Canada has an argument with David Goodfield of England during the hockey match between Canada and England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. (AP)A red card is a rare occurence in hockey, more so when Canada – the ‘good guys’ of world hockey – are playing. But in a madness Canada defender Balraj Panesar was shown the red card during their final group stage match against England.
With England needing to win by a margin of 15 goals to leapfrog India and finish on top in Pool B, so as to avoid playing Australia in Saturday’s semifinals, the home side were on the front foot from the start. Their aggressive approach meant sparks were flying all around but things reached a boiling point at the half-hour mark.
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Wrong hockey sport Panesar!
Completely let down @FieldHockeyCan with that one. #cwg2022 | #Birmingham22 | #hockey pic.twitter.com/7OyYv6ZUDr— Hockey World News (@hockeyWrldNws) August 4, 2022
England were leading 4-1 and were in the hunt for the fifth when Panesar got into a tangle with forward Chris Griffiths.
What looked like a minor altercation soon turned into a full-fledged fight, with Panesar holding Griffiths by the neck, and trying to push him to the ground.
Both sets of players intervened and the referee had no hesitation to suspend Panesar from rest of the match, while sending Griffiths to the sin bin for 10 minutes.
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Eventually, England won 11-2 to finish second the pool.
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First published on: 05-08-2022 at 09:45:24 am