In the women’s hockey semi-final in the ongoing Commonwealth Games, India has ended up losing to Australia. But the penalty shootout in the match has become controversial because the umpires called the first Australian shot to be re-taken due to a shot-clock error. In this, it is most important that Ambrosia Malone missed the penalty on the first take, but the officials called for the shot and asked to retake i
The Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag has now reacted strongly to the officials, and added that the biasedness used to happen in cricket as well until they became a superpower.
"Penalty miss hua Australia se and the Umpire says, Sorry Clock start nahi hua. Such biasedness used to happen in cricket as well earlier till we became a superpower, Hockey mein bhi hum jald banenge and all clocks will start on time. Proud of our girls," tweeted Sehwag.
Australia defeated India by 3-0, in a shootout to book their place in the finals and they will meet England in the gold medal. On the other hand, India will face New Zealand for the bronze medal.
Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha also reacted strongly to the incident, tweeting: "The @FIH_Hockey really needs to get their act in order. Timers are basics. This is not an Under 10 school match. 2nd time in a year in major tournaments this happens. Our beautiful sport will lose its credibility & will lose many passionate fans if FIH continues to f*#$ up.".
The International Hockey Federation also apologized for the clock controversy that took place in India's women team semifinal loss against Australia at the CommonWealth Games, saying it would “thoroughly review” the incident. Australia's Rosie Malone, who missed her first attempt during the penalty shootout, was gifted another chance as the eight second countdown on the scoreboard hadn't started.
"In the semi-final match of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games between Australia and India (Women), the penalty shootout started mistakenly too early (the clock was not yet ready to operate), for which we apologise," FIH said in a statement.
"The process in place for such situations is that the penalty shootout has to be retaken, which was done. This incident will be thoroughly reviewed by the FIH in order to avoid any similar issues in the future," the statement added.