Thailand: a U18 player fights a furious battle with… absolutely nobody

We all know: fighting is part of the field hockey world. For better or for worse, they always have been, and guys like Michael Pezzetta do everything in their power to excel at this level, even going so far as to seek out a legend in Georges Laraque.

It’s even inspired movies like the classic Slap Shot, in which the Hanson brothers are fearsome brutes on the ice. Incidentally, Steve Hanson is currently hospitalized for a bicycle accident, and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Why am I telling you about the fights tonight? Because, as I was saying, they capture the imagination, and when we think of sports, we quickly think of fights.

And clearly, it’s captured the imagination even internationally, because today, in a U18 match between Thailand and Hong Kong, we were treated to a sequence worthy of a movie, as the post-match handshake turned into a free-for-all.

But what really caught the eye was the Thai player wearing #24, for one simple reason: while everyone was fighting, he decided to join in the fun by throwing the gloves at… absolutely no one.

I don’t know if he was fighting an invisible player, but if he was, he took quite a beating. Take a look for yourself:

See this publication on Instagram

A publication shared by Puck Empire 👑 (@puckempire)

We agree this isn’t a scene we see every day. The flying kick makes me laugh particularly hard, I’ll admit.

Having said that, we can at least give him credit for having practised brawling without having shown the slightest hint of violence towards another player. Because even if #24 just served up the beating of a lifetime to a player from his imagination, it really stirred things up around him.

That (very) violent stick, for example, was unnecessary.

And this happened… pic.twitter.com/ClNS1fXjST

– Field hockey Worldwide (@H0ckeyWorldwide) July 20, 2023

Obviously, it’s pretty comical to see a guy throw down the gloves and fight absolutely nobody, but I’d rather see something like that than a violent stick-fight like the one above. There’s a middle ground, we agree, but the former is a lot less damaging than the latter.

If the field hockey world is looking for a way to keep brawls in the sport while curbing their dangerous aspect, maybe it should give this young Thai player a call. We could haveair battles!

In bursts

– Nice read.

– Wow.

– Interesting.