KUALA LUMPUR: Tempers flew, players spewed obscenities amid much pushing and shoving.
What a shame, what a disgraceful opening match of the Malaysia Singapore Sikh Sports Council (MSSSC) competition at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium today.
Players from Kuala Lumpur and Johor were seen going for each other and scuffling at one side of the pitch.
Videos of the fighting went viral, giving a black eye to the opening day of the Sikh Festival of Sports.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, who had earlier in the day, launched the Sikh Festival of Sports at the Royal Selangor Club in Bukit Kiara, must have been left appalled by the fight.
Baleful Sikh players at each other's throats instead of showing their skills with the stick, a far cry from the great generations of Sikh players who represented Malaysia at the highest level - the World Cup and Olympics decades ago.
And today, Sikh hockey players have lowered themselves to fighting among themselves in events like the MSSSC. And sadly this is not a new thing, it has happened before.
And the MSSSC competition has not even produced a single Sikh player good enough for a place in the national team.
Off the field, the late New Straits Times sports journalist, Jugjet Singh, and the late sports critic, Satwant Singh Dhaliwal, were given special awards by the MSSSC for their contributions to sports at the MSSSC dinner today.