In today's matches in Singapore, South Africa dispatched Chile 6:1, while Poland slipped past Singapore with a last second winner.
South Africa defeat Chile 6:1 (4:0)
South Africa had little difficulty with a listless Chilean team that struggled with themselves more than they did with their opponents today. The Africans laid down a solid team effort, playing steady and committing few errors and scored goals at a constant pace.
With reliable set pieces that eventually yielded half their goals, South Africa had a foundation to build on, and moved past their opponents who were no match for them today.
The stand-out goal was Taine Paton's 13th minute hit, in which he sank a beautiful reverse stick shot, having weaved through a number of Chilean players, then finished the move off with a great backhand.
Poland defeat Singapore 2:1 (0:0)
The second game of the day in Singapore was between the home team and Poland. In a largely uneventful match that took a dramatic turn at the end, Poland were the stronger side but held themselves back with scores of unforced errors and a lack of understanding between team members.
When Piotr Kozlowski finally sank a penalty corner midway through the second half, it seemed like the decider, but then Singapore surprised the Polish as much as themselves, and delighted their incredibly enthusiastic supporters with their first goal of the tournament, also from a penalty corner.
For another eight minutes nothing much happened, until Poland were awarded a penalty corner seconds before the final whistle sounded. The flick was warded off, but as the Singaporean spectators were about to start their celebrations, their hearts were broken by a penalty stroke awarded for stopping the ball with the body on the line.
Krystian Makowski made no mistake and made the best possible use of the late opportunity, sinking the stroke for his team's first win in the tournament. Poland deserved the win for having been the stronger side, but eventually were lucky for getting a last second chance after having almost given away this match.
Chile - South Africa 1:6 (0:4)
RSA - Antony VERVOORT PC 7m
RSA - Taine PATON FG 13m
RSA - Antony VERVOORT PC 20m
RSA - Brandon PANTHER FG 35m
RSA - Simon van HELSDINGEN PC 42m
RSA - Nduduzo KHANYILE FG 57m
CHI - Sven RICHTER FG 58m
Singapore - Poland 1:2 (0:0)
POL - Piotr KOZLOWSKI PC 52m
SIN - Yi Ru TAN PC 62m
POL - Krystian MAKOWSKI PS 70m
(source: worldhockey.org)
