The first day of the women’s World League semi finals in
Rotterdam yesterday produced one or two surprises.
Korea failed to penetrate the defences of outsider’s Chile
in the first half, and two minutes into the second half Fransica Vidaurre found
the net to give Chile a 1-0 lead. 13 minutes later Jong Eun Kim equalised for
Korea , with Eun Bi Cheon scoring the winner in the 63rd minute.
The biggest shock of the day however, was when Japan’s Akane
Shibata scored the equaliser against the Netherlands to end the match 1-1. The
Dutch skipper, Maartje Paumen, had scored from the penalty spot in the first
half.
More predictable was the result of the match between Germany
and Belgium, with an own goal adding to the goals from Julia Muller and a
penalty stroke from Tina Bachmann. Final score 3-0 to Germany. There was also
an own goal in the match between New Zealand and India, which finished 7-0 in
the Kiwi’s favour. Charlotte Harrison found the net twice, as did Katie Glynn.
Other goals came from Sian Fremaux and Krystal Forgesson.
The men’s Semi-Finals are also taking place in Rotterdam,
with the first four matches being spread over two days, yesterday and today.
There was a surprise in this morning’s match between Belgium
and Australia, with the Belgians opening the scoring in less than a minute,
courtesy of Sebastian Dockier, and then going on to score twice more to win the
match 3-1. The other Belgian scorers were Cedric Charlier and John-John Domen,
with the only Australian reply coming from Russell Ford.
Both of yesterday’s matches ended in draws. There was a
see-saw affair between India and Ireland, which saw India opening the scoring,
only to go 2-1 behind. India regained the lead in the second half, only for two
Irish goals to put them behind. A 66th minute equaliser from
Rupinder Pal Singh result in the match ending 4-4. The other Indian scorers
were Akashdeep Singh and Shivendra Singh, plus an earlier goal from Rupinder
Pal Singh. Ireland’s scorers were Alan Sothern, Paul Gleghorne, Conor Hart and
Andrew McConnell.
The other draw was between The Netherlands and New Zealand.
After Jeroen Hertzberger had opened the scoring for the Dutch, New Zealand’s
Hugo Inglis struck twice, followed by an early second half goal from Jacob
Smith. Hertzberger was on target again to pull one back, and Valentin Verga was
on hand to score the equaliser in the 57th minute. Final score 3-3.
Today’s other men’s match saw Spain take an early 3-0 lead
against France, with goals from David Alegre,
Xavi Lleonart and Andres Mir. France made a brave effort to get back
into the match with a second half goal from Viktor Lockwood, but Roc Oliver was
quick to reply for Spain. France made one last effort, with a goal from Hugo
Genestet, but the match ended 4-2 in Spain’s favour.
