by Hockey Supporter
9. June 2009 08:07
The match between India and New Zealand is drawn 2:2 which does not really help both teams when they want to reach the medal round. Either they need to win at least one point against the Dutch or they need to achieve the highest number of goals as possible in their future games versus the other member of Pool D they have not played yet.
The Indian team got the better start into the game but were unable to score. Mandeep Antil had the biggest opportunity when he was in front of New Zealand´s goalkeeper Devon Manchester but the shot went wide. New Zealand penetrated the circle the first time when Simon Child received a pass which he converted to the 0:1-lead by an Argentinean backhand stroke. India kept the pressure up and gained a penalty corner won by Mandeep Antil. Diwakar scored the equalizer, his shot went into the left corner.
From now on New Zealand seemed very nervous and made a lot of mistakes. Lucky for them that Karan Jay missed in front of the goal and India only hit the post in their next attack. In the 26th minute it was Mandeep Antil again who had a great opportunity. This time his team-mate Mohammad Amir Khan missed at the left post. Before half time India had two more penalty corners but Pramod Kumar mishit right in front of the goalkeeper. The score could have easily been 5:1 for India but it were actually New Zealand´s Marcus Child who penalized the Indian inefficiency. The Junior Black Sticks had just two serious chances but converted both.
When India equalized the Kiwis did not seem to be back in the game. The second half was just underway for a few seconds and India penetrated the circle again. Pramod Kumar completed the attack with success. Now India won two more penalty corners and dominated the match for the next ten minutes. Closer to the end of the game there was a lot of hectic play and the players got also obviously tired which leaded to simple mistakes. To sum up more parts of the game belonged to India who fell through their own inefficiency.
India v New Zealand (2:2)
0:1 Simon CHILD (FG), 1:1 DIWAKAR (PC), 1:2 Marcus CHILD (FG), 2:2 Pramod KUMAR (FG)
Australia new leader of Pool B - 6:1-victory over Japan
Japan surprised Australia when they took the 0:1-lead, a penalty corner goal scored by Ken Asakura. Australia probably needed to be one goal behind to start putting Japan under pressure. After the first penalty corner failed Australia kept on fighting and their next short corner was successful, Timothy Bates made the equalizer. From now on Australia let no doubts that they found they way back into the game. Japan´s goalkeeper Arika Morishima had a busy evening and saved a lot of the Australian attacks but was also no longer able to keep the score equally. The Kookaburras went 3:1 in front at half time. The second 35 minutes Australia was even more dominant but also missed a lot of opportunities. Finally the Kookaburras celebrated a 6:1-victory which brings them the lead in Pool B. Germany is second due to the amount of scored goals.
Australia v Japan (3:1)
0:1 Ken ASAKURA (PC), 1:1 Timothy BATES (PC), 2:1 Tristan WHITE (FG), 3:1 Christopher BAUSOR (PC), 4:1 Jacob WHETTON (FG), 5:1 Joshua POLLARD (FG), 6:1 Michael BATES (FG)
(source: worldhockey.org)
