Australia and the Netherlands’ men’s sides made it two wins from two on day four of the FIH Hockey World Cup, with India and China’s women and Ireland and New Zealand’s men also picking up valuable wins on Tuesday.
The Kookaburras fought hard for their 1-0 victory over Spain.
Australia dominated possession and circle entries in the first half, with 17 entries to Spain’s eight, but couldn’t find a way through.
Spain improved after the break and began putting the Australian defence under more pressure.
Ky Willott came closest for the Australians in the third quarter, but his strike hit the post.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 47th minute as Australia were awarded a penalty stroke and Blake Govers coolly buried it in the top-left corner.
Spain pushed hard late on and earned their first penalty corner with just under two and a half minutes remaining, but Australia’s defence held firm to preserve the clean sheet.
After an exceptional game, Lachlan Sharp was named as Player of the Match and said: “I think the team performed really well today. We pride ourselves on our attack, but I think our defence really stood up today and to hold a good team like Spain to no goals, I think is a really good performance.”
SPAIN AND BELGIUM SHARE THE SPOILS
Meanwhile, the Spanish women dug deep to avoid a similar fate, pulling off a 1-1 draw against hosts Belgium.
It was a dominant first quarter for the home side who created plenty of scoring opportunities but simply couldn’t find the back of the net.
The breakthrough came in the 24th minute when Stephanie Vanden Borre converted a penalty corner to put Belgium 1-0 up.
While the Belgians were firmly in control, Spain made the most of their first penalty corner of the match, which came in the 41st minute, Lucia Jimenez firing in the equaliser.
That seemed to rally the Spaniards, who raised their intensity for the remainder of the match and held on for a share of the points.
THE DUTCH DEFEAT ARGENTINA
Earlier in the evening, the Netherlands men defeated Argentina 3-1 in a compelling, high-paced encounter. Captain Thierry Brinkman gave the Dutch an early lead in the seventh minute, but Argentina hit back through Nicolas della Torre’s penalty corner four minutes later.
The dynamic changed in the 27th minute when Matias Andreotti was shown a 10-minute yellow card for catching Jorrit Croon in the face with his stick, and the Netherlands looked to make the most of their numerical advantage, but the perfectly set up Duco Telgenkamp couldn’t capitalise just before halftime.
The Dutch regained the lead in the 34th minute when Tijmen Reyenga converted a penalty corner, before Telgenkamp made up for his earlier miss with a sensational strike eight minutes later to seal the win.
BLACK STICKS OVERCOME JAPAN
Meanwhile, after going down to the Netherlands in their opener, New Zealand's men secured their first win of the tournament with a 2-0 victory over Japan.
The Black Sticks opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a lovely run into the circle from Isaac Houlbrooke, who crossed to Sam Lane, who was perfectly positioned for the deflection in front of goal.
It wasn’t until the 46th minute that Dylan Thomas doubled New Zealand’s lead with a spectacular piece of individual skill, slotting home from an almost impossible angle.
IRELAND PIP NEW ZEALAND
Ireland’s women earned their first points of the tournament with a 3-2 win over New Zealand. After few chances in the first quarter, Sarah Hawkshaw finally broke the deadlock with Ireland’s opener in the 23rd minute.
New Zealand came out with more intensity in the third quarter and the pressure paid off, Emelia Surridge scoring from a good penalty corner variation in the 34th.
Ireland were back in front thanks to a Roisin Upton penalty stroke and Katie Mullan then made sure of the win from a penalty corner eight minutes later.
New Zealand grabbed a consolation from another PC with just 13 seconds remaining, but the final whistle came before they could mount any kind of a comeback.
It was also a good day for the Irish men.
IRELAND FIGHT BACK TO DOWN SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa were better than the scoreline suggested, with Ireland coming from a goal down to beat them 4-1.
Both sides created chances in a goalless first half, although South Africa were forced to play with 10 men for seven minutes due to ill-discipline.
The game burst into life after the break when Kenton Melville produced an audacious over-the-shoulder deflection in the 38th minute to put South Africa ahead, but Benjamin Walker levelled five minutes later.
Lee Cole then converted two penalty corners in the final quarter to turn the game on its head, before Sam Hyland added a fourth in the final minute to give Ireland the emphatic victory.
INDIA TOO STRONG FOR SOUTH AFRICA
While the South African women showed some flashes of promising attacking play, India proved far stronger, beating them 6-1.
The first goal was a soft one, with Sunelita Toppo’s ball trickling through several South African defenders and into the goal, before Navneet Kaur doubled India’s lead in the 17th minute.
Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam then made it 3-0 from another penalty corner in the 25th, and it got worse for South Africa after the break as Deepika struck in the 38th, Lalremsiami added a fifth in the 44th and Sakshi Rana another one a minute later.
The South Africans managed to stem the flow in the final period and even grabbed a consolation goal through Kayla de Waal’s deflection from a penalty corner, but the damage had been done as India wrapped up their biggest-ever World Cup win.
CHINA BEAT ENGLAND
In other action, China built a commanding 4-0 lead over England, with Meirong Zou opening the scoring in the 18th minute before Yang Chen and Chencheng Liu struck in quick succession.
Zou then added her second from a penalty corner in the 35th minute, leaving England with a mountain to climb.
Tessa Howard finally gave England hope with a powerful strike in the 54th minute, and Sophie Hamilton pulled another back three minutes later.
But the fightback had begun too late as China held on for a 4-2 win – the perfect way for Chinese captain Zixia Ou to celebrate her 200th cap.
China’s Chencheng Liu was named Player of the Match and said afterwards: "This was crucial for our remaining matches, because having played well in this game, the pressure on us in the next one might be a bit less."
RESULTS
WOMEN
New Zealand 2 - 3 Ireland (Pool C)
England 2 - 4 China (Pool D)
India 6 - 1 South Africa (Pool D)
Spain 1 - 1 Belgium (Pool C)
MEN
New Zealand 2 - 0 Japan (Pool A)
Spain 0 - 1 Australia (Pool C)
Ireland 4 - 1 South Africa (Pool C)
Argentina 1 - 3 Netherlands (Pool A)
© FIH