Controversy with Australia-branded cheats rocked hockey gold medal qualifiers after umpire’s decision

Australian HockeyRussia entered the women’s gold medal hockey match at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and were labeled a ‘cheat’ after winning by an ‘amateur’ umpire’s decision.

Australia will take on England for the gold medal on Sunday. However, Hockey Russia star Rosie Malone can thank the universe after getting a second chance to sink India into a controversial victory in a penalty shootout.

After the score was locked 1–1 at full time in Friday night’s semifinals, Hockeyroo won 3–0 in a shootout.

The shootout started in a fire of controversy, with Australia’s Malone taking the first shot and missing.

But Malone was gifted a second attempt because the eight-second countdown clock on the scoreboard was not working.

Malone converted his second attempt and his teammates Caitlin Nobbs and Amy Lawton also scored.

While the decision was true to the letter of the law, it was a highly controversial decision given the point of the match and the stakes on the line.

The decision shocked Australian commentators, with former international Georgie Parker calling the decision ‘amateur and unfortunate’.

‘If this happens to Australia, it will be a national outrage,’ – Alistair Nicholson said on Channel 7.

Angry Indian fans took to social media to vent their dismay and called HockeyRussia a cheater, while several Australian and neutral supporters suggested HockeyRoo should have denied the second-chance shot.

Its poor sportsmanship from ‘Australian. No one can deny this. Very unfortunate for India. But I am not surprised by the spirit of the Australian team.

‘No control over decisions, but complete control over their reaction. The ball should have hit the sideline on the retake. Sportsmanship matters,’ posted Jon Kramer.

An anonymous profile tweeted: ‘Only India is suffering. I have not seen any other team suffering from such fraud or alleged mistakes.

Malone said she was only focused on her team and winning at that moment.

“When they called the retake, I was thanking the universe for the second chance,” Malone said.

‘I knew the whole of India would hate me if I put it on.

‘But I was just trying to think about my team and that final and I said to myself ‘if I get a second chance in this, I’m not going to miss it’.

‘I felt for India at that time. But all our other girls participated in our shootout, so it’s not like one shootout was the be all and end.’

It’s another incident in a controversial sport for Malone, who was branded sexist for filming a semi-naked male athlete from his room while also nearly losing a finger in a horrific hockey accident earlier this year. Went.

India captain Savita Punia was shattered and on the verge of tears, but was complacent in the defeat.

‘It is difficult to take such decisions but it is part of the game and you have to accept it.’

Meanwhile, England secured their place in the final with a 2-0 shootout win against New Zealand without a deadlock.

Sunday’s final will be the third time Australia have met England in a gold medal match – HockeyRouge has won both and has won four Commonwealth titles in six completed editions of the Games.

In Friday’s semi-final, the Australian delivered a near-perfect display of late revenge on the Indians for their exit from last year’s Tokyo Olympics in the quarter-final stage.

The Aussies were dealt an early blow when defender Karrie Somerville was forced for seven minutes on her right cheekbone while dealing a nasty ricochet.

But just three minutes later, he struck when Maria Williams darted along the left edge and launched a cross that Greiner deflected neatly at the far post.

The score remained 1-0, against the flow in the 49th minute, as India equalized when Vandana Katariya deflected from near-range in the net – the first goal Australia conceded in the games.