With only one more match to be played in the round-robin stage of the Champions Trophy, the focus on Saturday will be on those teams who can join Germany in Sunday’s final. The Germans lead the table by a whole five points and have been the stand-out team of this tournament, despite having a late wobble against the Malaysians this evening when they conceded two goals in eight minutes and saw Florian Keller dispatched to the sin bin. Spain’s convincing 5-0 win against Great Britain today is probably too late, although theoretically a high scoring win on Saturday against Malaysia could put them in second place. This would require GB to beat Korea and for Australia to lose against Germany. Great Britain, weighed down by a huge goal deficit are out of the running for medals but have the possible carrot of an automatic entry into next year’s Champions Trophy if they can finish fifth. Korea are the favourites to hold the second place and GB would have to show a huge improvement to have a chance against the talented Koreans. Latest weather forecast suggest more of the rain delays that have interrupted this tournament over the last two days.
Today’s results:
Australia 3-3 Netherlands
Pakistan 3-3 Korea
Spain 5-0 Great Britain
Germany 3-2 Malaysia
Tomorrow (Friday) is a rest day.
Current positions:
1. Germany 16 pts (+12)
2. Korea 11 pts (+5)
3. Australia 10 pts (+2)
4. Netherlands 9 pts (+2)
5. Spain 8 pts (+1)
6.Great Britain 6 pts (-10)
7. Pakistan 5 pts (-5)
8. Malaysia 1 pt (-7)
