New Zealand 3 beat England 1
Goals: New Zealand – Simon Child FG 9m FG 27m, Hayden Shaw PC 58m, England – James Tindall FG 45m
In the earlier of the two semifinals that had to be postponed yesterday due to heavy rainfall, England and New Zealand met to dispute a place in the final of this torunament. Both teams had of course already qualified for the Monchengladbach World Cup by finishing in the 1-4 playoffs.
In a highly dynamic and fast-paced match, it was New Zealand who opened the scoring with little more than 8 minutes on the clock. The goal happened in bizarre circumstances, with a shot from the left hitting the crossbar, and youngster Simon Child hitting in a chest-high ball while everyone around him still seemed to be pondering what to do.
Throughout the first half, New Zealand had the better of play over their English opponents but had a hard time creating scoring opportunities. In the 26th minute however, Simon Child got the ball alone near the penalty spot and pushed it in without difficulty, giving his team a two goal lead.
England in the first half had hardly any chances. They markedly improved in the last minutes before the break but still could not score. Back after halftime, England continued to play well and steadily improve, and they controlled ball possession for the biggest part at the beginning of the half.
James Tindall, back in this game after a one match suspension served in the last round of pool matches, then managed to get one back for England, but the Kiwis, despite looking a little tired towards the end of the game and playing somewhat listlessly, soon restored their lead as dragflick specialist Hayden Shaw sunk a penalty corner that was deflected off a defender’s stick but still hit the mark.
England had a chance to get close when they were awarded a disputed penalty stroke little later, but Ben Hawes failed to seize the opportunity as his weak shot rolled towards the goal in slow motion and was easily parried by Kyle Pontifex.
The Blacksticks held on to their two goal lead until the final hooter, and have thus reserved their berth in the final, while England will play for bronze tomorrow.
Korea 2 beat Pakistan 1
Goals: Korea – Eun Seong Hong FG 47m, Nam Yong Lee FG 50m, Pakistan – Muhammad Imran PC 58m
Korea has booked their berth in tomorrow’s final against New Zealand with a 2-1 win over Pakistan, relegating Pakistan to the playoff for third with England.
Neither side was able to open the scoring in the first half as tough tackling and defending dominated the play; a half which saw three green cards shown in quick succession early in the piece.
That was a sign of things to come as Muhammad Saqlain was given his marching orders with a yellow card, for two greens, just two minutes into the second half.
Korea didn’t capitalize in that period, but shortly after they did by scoring two quick goals. The first, scored by Eun Seong Hong, was spectacularly smashed into the roof of the net after a cross from the right found him on top of the circle unmarked. The second was scored just three minutes later by Nam Yong Lee after Korea counter attacked with speed and precision, which caught Pakistan napping at the back.
Pakistan weren’t to give up easily though, converting a penalty corner courtesy of Muhammad Imran’s drag flick eight minutes later and 12 minutes from time to keep the game in the balance.
Two further yellow cards were shown over the closing stages, both to Koreans, Sung Hoon Yoon and Seong Jung Kang, ensuring that Korea had to fight right to the death to earn their spot in the final.
Pakistan’s Muhammad Saqlain and Korea’s Sung Hoon Yoon will be watching tomorrow’s matches from the stands after they were both suspended for one match due to receiving two yellow cards each throughout the tournament.
Egypt 2 beat China 2 (Egypt score golden goal in extra time)
Goals: Egypt – Mohamed El Sayed FG 10m, Ahmed Mohamed FG 12m FG 82m, China – Wei Li FG 29m, Yu Bo Na FG 52m
In the encounter of teams seeking to avoid last place, the Chinese hosts took on Egypt.
Egypt easily assumed control of the match at the beginning and scored twice in the first twelve minutes of what then looked like an easy game for them. While Egypt ran continous attacks at that point, China were struggling to string together passes, or leave their own half of the field.
As the game progressed however, the Chinese manage to better hold their opponents at bay and did not concede anymore goals. They also started to be more successful in their attacks, now able to create a few chances too. From one of these, Wei Li finally put them on the scoreboard in the 29th minute, and the teams went into halftime at 2-1 for Egypt.
In the second half, the match was fiercely disputed but even, the Egyptians hanging on to their lead until Mohamed Hosny was sent of after a rough tackle. One player up, the Chinese levelled the score through Yu Bo Na. At that point, the balance had tipped in favor of the Chinese, and they were now attacking relentlessly while Egypt struggled. But despite numerous chances, the hosts could not score, and the game ended in a tie and went into extra time.
The Egyptians now got a better grip on the game again, and in the 82nd minute, Ahmed Ezz Mohamed, undoubtedly and by far the best player on his team and having already scored one of the two goals in regulation time, finally ended the match with a rather unspectacular golden goal that, to the great disappointment of the sizeable crowd that had gathered, confined the Chinese hosts to last place in this tournament.
Even though they eventually managed to win the match, Egypt again suffered from indiscipline, having two players yellowcarded in the second half, and could most probably have ended proceedings cleaner and earlier, had they focussed more on their game and not spent so much time protesting and arguing umpires’ decisions.
Malaysia 2 beat Canada 1
Goals: Malaysia – Muhamad Amin Rahim PC 3m, Ahmad Tengku FG 20m, Canada – David Jameson FG 46m
The match for 9th place was contested by Canada and Malaysia.
Malaysia got off to a flying start winning a PC in the second minute, and could convert too, Muhamad Amin Rahim securing the lead for his team with a low flick. A few minutes later, Malaysia had the chance to extend their lead, but failed to use a superb opportunity.
Canada improved their performance some over time and was able to create a scoring chance here and there, but could not get on the scoreboard. Overall though, Malaysia still were the far more dangerous team in this first half, and they eventually scored their second goal when Ahmad Tengku put away the rebound off a Mike Mahood save.
Play in the second half was back and forth again, both teams having some if few chances. Canada was the slightly better team in that half, with Scott Sandison the only player successful the second half, sneaking a ball past goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam for Canada’s first goal in this encounter. Canada also had the odds in their favor, they were able to win a total seven penalty corners in the second half and eventually failed to convert even one.
Malaysia seemed to increasingly feel the pressure as the second half wore on, especially late in the match, when Malaysian team captain Keevan Raj Kali Kavandan picked up a red card in the 69th minute, the first and hopefully only one is this tournament.
The Malaysians hung on, for the match to end 2-1 for them, allowing them to take 9th place, while Canada have to content themselves with a 10th place, a second disappointing result for them in the space of a few weeks after a ninth place in the ten nation Commonwealth Games hockey tournament.
Belgium 2 beat Ireland 1
Goals: Belgium – Jean-Philippe Brule PC 18m, Benjamin Van Hove FG 48m, Ireland – Timothy Cockram PC 70m
The second but last day at the men’s World Cup Qualifier here in Changzhou concluded with the encounter between European rivals Belgium and Ireland. Belgium honored their Thierry Renaer with today’s captaincy as he is playing his last international match.
Ireland played well from the beginning, seeking their opportunities in attacks, but was time and again stopped by the very well positioned and skillful Belgian defense around Renaer, Van den Balck, and Brule. On the other side, Belgium’s best chances came in the form of penalty corners, of which they had a number in the first half, including one that Jean-Philippe Brule converted with a dragflick to give his team the lead.
In the second half, the match remained fiercely contested, and both teams had a few opportunities, with a slight advantage for Belgium. And so it was Belgium who extended their lead to 2 goals in the 48th minute, when Benjamin Van Hove swept a ball laid back from the back line into the net on his reverse.
Ireland tried hard to get in the equalizer but suffered from a yellow card for Justin Sherriff that had them play 10 on 11 for ten minutes and set back their efforts. They eventually got a late consolation goal at the hands of Timmy Cockram 20 seconds from the end of the match, but it was too little too late, Belgium won the match and finished 7th in this event, confining Ireland to 8th place.
Ireland should still be very happy with this first appearance on the world level event scene in a very long time – with their 8th place, they have achieved a good final ranking, and have left more experienced teams such as Canada, Malaysia, and Egypt behind. Belgium were unfortunate to miss out on qualification again two years after Madrid, but with another fine performance have proven that they can challenge big hockey nations such as Pakistan or England any day.
