OUTSIDERS GIVE A GOOD ACCOUNT. A report on today in Rotterdam.

The outsiders gave a good account of themselves today as the Women’s World League Semi-Finals in Rotterdam entered the quarter final stage.

Belgium, who had finished third in Pool B, played second placed Korea from Pool A, and nearly caused an upset as their Barbara Nelen found the net in less than a minute. Unfortunately for them, Korea scored twice, mid-way through the first half, courtesy of Mi Hyun Park and Jong Eun Kim.  Winning the match 2-1, Korea will play Germany in the semi-finals on Thursday. 

Chile from  Pool A had failed to win a point and had a minus 17 goal difference but, playing top-placed Germany from Pool B, they made life difficult for their higher ranked opponents.  A goal in each half, the first from Maike Stockel and the second from Marie Mavers, gave the Germans a 2-0 win. 

Another side to suffer an early scare was New Zealand, who had finished second in Pool B.  Playing Japan (third in Pool A), they found themselves behind after two minutes as a result of an own goal. And the score remained at 0-1 until the second half, which saw New Zeeland score three times from penalty corners, the first from Krystal Forgesson, followed by strikes from Anita Punt and Charlotte Harrison. Final score 3-1 to New Zealand.

In Thursday’s semi-finals New Zealand will play the winners of the remaining quarter final match, which was between The Netherlands and India. Despite dominating the match, the Dutch took time to get into their stride, with only two first half goals from Kim Lammers and Maartje Paumen.  Ellen Hoog scored a third for the Dutch nine minutes into the second half, but this was soon followed by a response from India’s Vandana Katariya.

After the Indian goal, the Dutch goal scoring machine went into action, adding five more to their tally, with goals from Valerie Magis, Eva De Goede (2), Sabine Mol and Maartje Paumen. Final score 8-1 to The Dutch.

Tomorrow sees the quarter final matches of the Men’s World League Semi-Finals in Rotterdam. The second venue of the Women’s World League Semi-Finals, London, starts this Saturday.  

ENGLAND WIN TEST MATCH AGAINST GERMANY, PLUS THE LATEST FROM THE WORLD LEAGUE SEMI FINALS.

England’s men have played two matches against Germany in Mannheim over the weekend as part of their preparations for the World League Semi-Finals in Malaysia.  Both were originally scheduled as training matches but have been re-classified as capped games. On Saturday England suffered a 5-2 defeat, both England goals coming from Tom Carson. England had better fortune today (Sunday), winning their match 3-2, with two goals from Mark Gleghorne and one from Henry Weir.

The last matches in the pool stage of the Women’s World League Semi-Finals in Rotterdam threw up no real surprises today, although Japan were to give Korea a bit of a scare.

Japan went 3-1 ahead by the break, with goals from Miyuki Nakagawa, Hazui Nagai and Ayaka Nishimura. Korea’s Sun Soon Park managed to pull one back in the 30^th minute from a penalty corner conversion.  But the second half was all Korea’s, with Mi Hyun Park scoring from a penalty corner, Young Ran Kim converting a penalty stroke, and Hyo Ju An scoring the winner from open play with less than two minutes left on the clock.  Final score 3-4 to Korea.

There were two high scoring matches today and the other Pool A match was one of them. Rank outsiders Chile were given a hockey masterclass by The Netherlands. On the scoresheet were Sabine Mol (2), Eva De Goede, Maartje Paumen (3), Ellen Hoog (2) and Kelly Jonker (2).  The final score, 10-0, and The Netherlands finish top of the Pool A table, one point ahead of Korea.

The other high scoring game was between India and Germany in Pool B. First half goals from Janne Muller-Wieland, Maike Stockel and Marie Mavers, saw Germany take a first half lead. India struck back early in the second half when Vandana Katariya converted a penalty corner, but Germany scored four more times to win the match 1-7, with a second goal from Stockel, and goals from Jennifer Plass, Lydia Haase and Hannah Kruger. 

The other Pool B match ended in a 4-2 win for New Zealand over Belgium. New Zealand’s scorers were Krystal Forgesson, Kayla Sharland, Gemma Flynn and Katie Glynn. New Zealand had gone 4-0 ahead before Louise Versavel and Erica Copey were able to score for Belgium, Copey’s goal coming in the last two minutes.  

Germany lead Pool A as the only team to have maximum points at the end of the pool stages of the tournament.  New Zealand are in second place, three points behind them.

The next matches in the women’s tournament are on Tuesday and are described as the Quarter Finals. The first place team in each pool plays the bottom placed team in the other pool. The second placed side plays the third placed side in the other pool. The winners go through to play in the semi finals on Thursday.  Tuesday’s matches are (in order of play), The Netherlands v India, New Zealand v Japan, Germany v Chile and Korea v Belgium. 

The final pool matches in the men’s tournament will be played tomorrow.  Belgium, who are leading Pool A will play Spain, whilst the two leaders in Pool B, New Zealand and The Netherlands, will play India and Ireland respectively.

AUSTRALIA BOUNCE BACK IN WORLD LEAGUE. Report on the World League Semi Finals in Rotterdam.

Australia bounced back from their shock defeat against Belgium yesterday with a 2-5 win against Spain in the men’s Semi-Finals of the World League in Rotterdam today. Australia’s penalty corner strikers were on form with two first half conversions from Kieran Govers and Chris Ciriello. In a five minute golden spell in the second half, Kiel Brown and Russell Ford scored from open play, before Robert Hammond scored Australia’s third penalty corner goal. Both of Spain’s goals came in the second half, Eduard Tubau scoring the first, and Gabriel Dabanch scoring the second in the dying seconds.

The other Pool A match saw Belgium add another three points to keep them ahead of the group. Simon Martin Brisac opened the scoring in the first half against France, with second half goals from captain Jerome Truyens and Tom Boon. Final score 3-0.

Belgium are on six points, with Australia in second place on three. Spain also has three points, but Australia has the better goal difference. France trail in fourth place.

The Netherlands, another side that failed to get off to a flying start, made better progress against India with two first half goals, the first from Billy Bakker and the second from the penalty spot by Jeroen Hertzberger. Final score 2-0.  

The Netherlands remain second in Pool B after New Zealand had another good result after their draw against The Netherlands yesterday.  However, playing Ireland, they did not have it all their own way. Ireland’s Alan Sothern opened the scoring from the penalty spot, but the score was 1-1 by half time due to a  23^rd minute Phil Burrows’ goal. The Kiwis went one ahead early in the second half after Nick Haig found the net from a penalty corner, but it was a lead that lasted less than a minute. Michael Watt scored for Ireland to bring the score up to 2-2.  

New Zealand were to have the last say, with goals from Blair Hilton and Andy Hayward giving a final score of 4-2 to  NZ. 

New Zealand and The Netherlands are both on four points, with New Zealand ahead on goal difference.  Ireland and India are in joint third place with a point each and the same goal difference.

The teams play their final pool matches on Monday, after which they play in so-called quarter final matches, which sees the top team in each pool play the bottom placed side, whilst the second placed team plays the third.

GERMANY LEAD POOL B IN ROTTERDAM. Results from the second day of play in the Women's World League Semi Finals in Rotterdam.

After the second day of play in the women’s World League Semi Finals in Rotterdam, Germany has a three point lead at the head of Pool B.  This follows a 3-2 win over New Zealand. 

Captain Julia Muller and Eileen Hoffman scored early goals, giving the Germans a 2-0 lead which they held onto until the last 10 minutes when Charlotte Harrison found the net. The Germans were quick to respond, thanks to Franzisca Hauke, and Kayla Sharland’s 70^th  minute goal for NZ was too late to stop Germany taking another three points. 

The other Pool B match resulted in a draw between India and Belgium. Erica Coppey scored in the fourth minute for Belgium, but Anupa Barla scored the equaliser just after the start of the second half.

Germany are on four points, followed by New Zealand on three. Belgium and India are both on one point, with Belgium having the better goal difference.

Japan lead Pool A ahead of The Netherlands. Both are on four points with Japan having the superior goal difference.  

Japan’s better goal difference comes largely as a result of their 6-0 win over Chile, which saw Mazuki Ara score a hat-trick, with other goals coming from Akane Shibata (2) and Rika Komazawa.

The other Pool A match saw The Netherlands get back on track with a win over Korea. After a goalless first half, Kim Lammers struck early in the second, with Kelly Jonker scoring a second for the Dutch in the closing minutes.  Final score 2-0 to the Dutch.  Korea are now in third place on three points, followed by Chile on zero points.

There is no play in the women’s tournament today (15 June), but there will be play in Rotterdam as the men’s World League Semi Finals play their second matches of the tournament. 

MUNDAY RECEIVES MBE

England Hockey’s Chief Executive, Sally Munday, has been awarded the MBE in the Queen’ Birthday Honours List. Also recognised is the President of Thurrock Hockey Club, Glenda Stephens, who receives the BEM. Both awards are for services to hockey.

MEN'S AND WOMENS WORLD LEAGUE MATCHES PRODUCE SOME SURPRISES. A report on progress in the men's and women's World League Semi-Finals in Rotterdam.

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 63^rd 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 66^th 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 57^th 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.

FIH HOPE TO SPEED UP PENALTY CORNERS WITH 'SHOT CLOCK'.

A 45 second limit is to be imposed for sides to be prepared at peanlty corners at the upcoming World League Semi-Finals.  Players who delay the taking of a corner will face personal penalties. The limit will be timed by the techinical bench.

The move is in contrast with the delay imposed in the EuroHockey League, where time is allowed for a TV review of the corner.