Swedish Striker: Face Punch Incident Explained

Felix Erkvist and Markus Sieradzki | Photo: Joel Marklund / Bildbyrån

Swedish U20 hockey team forward Félix Erkvists explained his incident with Latvian forward Markus Sieradzki in a conversation with the Swedish media.

It has already been announced that the Latvian U20 national team lost to Sweden 3:6 in the quarter-finals of the world championship. Although the Swedes won a sure success, the Scandinavians were unyielding and engaged in acrimony with the Latvians. One of the conflicts happened after the final siren, when Erkvist and Sieradzki “began to explain the relationship”.

“Before that [komandas biedriem] I said that I could punch someone in the face, but it didn’t happen. I knew there was little time left. Then I lightly pushed one guy in the back to start something, but then he came towards me and hit me with a stick,” the Swede commented on the conflict with the Latvian.

“I was ready to fight! I thought we were going to fight a little bit, but the guys on the bench told me to calm down so I wouldn’t get disciplined or something. But it was fun!” Eerqvist said while praising Sieradzki for the little fight. “He was good, strong. But I would have liked more [pacīnīties].

At the same time, Erkvist stated that Sieradzki had not done anything that would have angered him. “I had no idea [ka tieši ar Sieradzki iesaistījos asumos]. I just go to the field and play hockey. I don’t really think about who I’m playing against, I just like a physical game.”

Aiko Tanaka

Aiko Tanaka is a combat sports journalist and general sports reporter at Archysport. A former competitive judoka who represented Japan at the Asian Games, Aiko brings firsthand athletic experience to her coverage of judo, martial arts, and Olympic sports. Beyond combat sports, Aiko covers breaking sports news, major international events, and the stories that cut across disciplines — from doping scandals to governance issues to the business side of global sport. She is passionate about elevating the profile of underrepresented sports and athletes.

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