An emergence of hockey in Far East has been apparent for some time and this has been confirmed by the success of China and Korea in the Champions Challenge in Baku. Finishing their round-robin matches first and second respectively, China emerged as the champions, winning 2-1 in the final this afternoon. Earlier in the day England had won the bronze with a 2-1 victory over the USA. The hosts, Azerbaijan, looked as if they might salvage something from this tournament, which has been a disappointment for them, when they managed a 3-3 draw in ordinary time against New Zealand. They finally lost the match after a penalty shoot-out.
Final placings: 1. China, 2. Korea, 3. England, 4. USA, 5. New Zealand, 6. Azerbaijan.
