India outclass England 9:0

In spite of a defeat against Australia New Zealand reached the semifinal. The Netherlands are winners of Pool E after a 1:1-draw versus Germany. Australia clash Germany in one semi-final, the other is the Netherlands versus New Zealand.

Poland will play for the final rank 9 and 10 versus India. South Africa and England will compete for rank 15. Moreover Russia won Pool I and play for the final ranking 17 and 18 against Chile. USA and Singapore battle for rank 19 and 20.

Poland win Pool H and play for 9th rank

In the 8.30h match the leader of Pool H (Poland) clashed the last of the Pool (South Africa). Through the 5:4-victory Poland will play for the final rank 9 and 10 versus the winner of Pool G. South Africa is definitely last in Pool H and compete for the final ranking 15 to 16.

Poland started ideally into the game. The first attack in the second minute brought the first goal, scored by Krystian Makowski. South Africa needed a bit of time to get themselves organised. In the 15th minute they gained two penalty corners in row, the second one ended up in an awarded penalty stroke. It was taken by Antony Vervoort who equalized. Afterwards Poland missed a couple of good opportunities while South Africa’s Vervoort converted a penalty corner to 1:2. It seemed already like South Africa will start to dominate the match now. However, in the 31st minute Poland made an equal score again through a penalty corner goal. They were also able to win the lead back. Just two minutes before the halftime whistle Piotr Kozlowski scored his second penalty corner goal in that game.

The 3:3-equalizer followed in the second half when South Africa’s Dalan Phillips converted a nice pass from his team-mate. Both teams battled on equal levels, it was hard to see who is leader and who is last of Pool H.
Poland took the lead in the middle of the second half again but South Africa’s answer followed immediately. Phillips made his second goal in the game. The slugfest was not finished yet. Poland scored the game winning goal through Szymon Oszyjczyk just a few minutes after the equalizer. But this time the Polish were clever enough to save the victory.

South Africa v Poland 4:5 (2:3)
0:1 Krystian Makowski (FG), 1:1 Antony VERVOORT (PS), 2:1 Antony VERPOORT (PC), 2:2 Piotr KOZLOWSKI (PC), 2:3 Piotr KOZLOWSKI (PC), 3:3 Dalan Phillips (FG), 3:4 Michal NOWAKOWSKI (PC), 4:4 Dalan Phillips (PC), 4:5 Szymon OSZYJCZYK (PC)

India outclass England 9:0

With a victory or a draw in their last match in Pool G the Asia Cup winner India could make sure that they play the classification match for the 9th rank against Poland. England instead needed to win to avoid the classification match for rank 15. Unfortunately for England, India stayed ahead even before England had their first ball possession. Danish Mujtaba scored after only 20 seconds. From the first minute on India dominated the match scoring approximately every seven minutes and leading 5-0 after 35 minutes. England’s part was to marvel at the Indian hockey.

Back on the pitch India kept controlling the game. Only their efficiency decreased although they scored four more goals. India’s most successful scorer was captain Diwakar with three goals followed by Danish Mujtaba who was two times successful. One goal could pocket Karan Jay, Victo Singh Kshetrimayum, Mandeep Antil and Innocent Kullu. England missed four penalty corners in halftime two and play for rank 15 against South Africa. India play Poland, the winner of Pool H, now for the final ranking 9 to 10.

India v England 9:0 (5:0)
1:0 Danish MUJTABA (FG), 2:0 Karan JAY (FG), 3:0 Danish MUJTABA (FG), 4:0 DIWAKAR (PS), 5:0 Victo Singh KSHETRIMAYUM (FG), 6:0 DIWAKAR (PC), 7:0 Mandeep ANTIL (FG), 8:0 Innocent KULLU (PC), 9:0 DIWAKAR (PC)

Draw is enough for the Netherlands to win Pool E

After they have already played seven matches Germany and the Netherlands are still unbeaten. While a draw would have been enough for the Netherlands to be first in Pool E, Germany needed to win. Both were already qualified for the semi-final, so the game was just a matter about who is first and who is second. Germany took the lead in minute 12 when Jan Fleckhaus deflected a pass from the right side of the circle directly into the goal. The Netherlands won two penalty corners in row in the middle of the second half but both were saved by a strong playing Niklas Sakowsky in the German goal. The Dutch fought for the equalizer and gained their opportunities but Sakowsky had a really good day and destroyed all Dutch chances. To sum up the first half the Germans need to thank their goalkeeper that they were able to take the lead into halftime.

The Dutch defeated Sakowsky just 2.5 minutes after the second half has started. Jan-Willem Buissant won possession, went into the circle and shot nearly from the circle line. Sakowsky touched the ball but it passed him and finally went very slowly over the goal line. The Germans got the opportunity to respond immediately by a penalty corner goal but the Dutch keeper Pirmin Blaak showed his skills. From now on more parts of the game belonged to the Dutch who put Germany under pressure. Germany defended well concentrated and looked for counter attacks.

Finally the goalkeepers were the players of the game who saved their teams the point. Due to the better goal difference by only one goal the Netherlands are winners of Pool E and play the second of Pool F which is New Zealand. Germany clash the winner of Pool F which is Australia.

Netherlands v Germany (0:1)
0:1 Jan FLECKHAUS (FG), 1:1 Jan-Willem BUISSANT (FG)

Russia defeat Singapore and win Pool I

Singapore was looking for their first victory in the tournament. Russia needed a win to preserve their chances for winning the Pool I or staying second ranked at least. Russia had the better start but the ball did not find its way into the goal. Singapore was more successful when Muhammad Aidil Ibrahim scored in the 15th minute. Russia answered immediately with their next attack. Sergey Bolshakov passed the ball through the goalkeepers’ legs from a short distance and equalized. Ten minutes later Prasha Anbalagan took the lead for Singapore again. With the halftime whistle Russia gained their second penalty corner. Captain Alexey Mayorov flicked the ball into the goal and the halftime score was 2:2.

The scenario of Singapore taking the lead and Russia equalizing went on in the second half. In minute 41 Enrico Elifh Marican converted a penalty corner rebound. Russian captain Alexey Mayorov answered with his second successful flicked penalty corner this evening. Then Pavel Golubev mixed up the order and Russia took the lead for the first time tonight. In the last twenty minutes Singapore had several opportunities but the first disorder in the goal chronology yielded the result. Singapore play for the ranks 19 to 20 against USA while Russia play for the final ranking 17 and 18 versus Chile.

Singapore v Russia 3:4 (2:2)
1:0 Muhammad Aidil IBRAHIM (FG), 1:1 Sergey BOLSHAKOV (FG), 2:1 Prashan ANBALAGAN (PC), 2:2 Alexey MAYOROV (PC), 3:2 Enrico Elifh MARICAN (PC), 3:3 Alexey MAYOROV (PC), 3:4 Pavel GOLUBEV (FG)

New Zealand reach semi-final in spite of defeat against Australia

Although Australia defeated New Zealand 2:0 the Black Sticks made it to the semi-final. They benefited from Pakistan’s 5:1-victory over Korea which destroyed Korea’s hope for a semi-final ticket. New Zealand’s four points from the prior Pool F games were enough to stay second. Australia was already qualified before the match started because they had six points out of two games and only New Zealand would have been able to overtake them.

The Kookaburras got already dangerous after two minutes but their penalty corner failed. Just a few minutes later the Black Sticks won two penalty corners in row which were saved by the Australian defence. Australia who missed goal keeper Scott Garner and Kieran Govers had definitely more opportunities in the first half. In spite of New Zealand’s goalkeeper Devon Manchester was already defeated during two attacks Australia had both times bad luck and missed the goal. In the 26th minute the Kookaburras took the lead through a penalty corner goal. The first shot was still saved but Joshua Pollard converted the rebound.

After the goal New Zealand struggled to reach the Australian quarter while Australia’s supporters on the stands started to sing loudly. Just before the half time whistle Australia increased their lead. Aaron Kleinschmidt was able to pick up a pass from the Black Sticks defence in the middle of the circle. Kleinschmidt got time to look for the goalkeeper and scored without problems. The second half belonged also to the Kookaburras who saved the victory in a convincing way. Pool winner Australia play Germany in one semi-final while the other semi-final match is between the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Australia v New Zealand 2:0 (2:0)
1:0 Joshua POLLARD (PC), 2:0 Aaron KLEINSCHMIDT (FG)
(source: worldhockey.org)