December 09 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: The pool phase of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 has come to an end, with Germany confirming themselves as the winners of Pool D while second placed Netherlands and third placed Pakistan reached the cross-over play-offs on Competition Day 12. Sadly, it proved to be the end of the line for Malaysia, whose fourth-place finish in Pool D resulted in their elimination from the event. Germany’s first place finish in Pool D earns them a direct ticket to the quarter-finals, where they will await the winner of the cross-over play-off match between Belgium (2nd Pool C) and Pakistan (3rd Pool D) on 11th December. A second-place finish for the Netherlands sets up a cross-over match against Canada (3rd Pool C) on 11 December, with the winner playing host nation India (1st Pool C) in the quarter-finals. Germany (FIH Hero World Ranking: 6) sealed their place at the top of the Pool D standings with a 5-3 victory over Malaysia (WR:12), but they certainly did not have everything their own way. Die Honamas were outstanding in the first period, with Timm Herzbruch finding the roof of the net from a penalty corner in the opening minute before Christopher Rühr crashed an unstoppable backhand effort into the top left corner just before the end of the quarter. Rühr played a decisive role in Germany’s third goal, surging into the circle before seeing his cross-shot touched home by Marco Miltkau. At 3-0, things were looking bleak for Malaysia, who desperately needed at least a draw if they were to have a realistic chance of reaching the knock-out phase. Remarkably, they dragged themselves back into the game with two goals just before half time. Razie Rahim scored the first before setting up the second, finding the goal with a penalty corner before providing the perfect assist for the diving Nabil Noor from another penalty corner situation. The two sides traded goals in the third quarter, with Miltkau once again showing his incredible reflexes to touch home another cross to make it 4-2 before Razie netted another to keep Malaysia within touching distance at 4-3. Malaysia found themselves reduced in numbers due to disciplinary cards for much of the final quarter, but that did not stop them having a great chance to pull his team level from a penalty corner situation. The effort was charged down, with Germany going straight down the other end to kill the game at 5-3 thanks to Herzbruch’s second goal of the day to all but end Malaysia’s hopes of remaining in the competition. “We are happy that we could win against Malaysia”, said Germany’s Tobias Hauke, who today made his 300thinternational appearance for Die Honamas, after the game. “It was a tough game. We started really well with 3-0 up in the beginning of the second quarter, but then we got a little bit in trouble. But I think Malaysia played quite nice today, they had good counter-attacks and good penalty-corners. We knew it before but we were not so concentrated in the third quarter in the defence. We’re really happy to be now through to the quarter-finals. That was our aim today. Finishing at the top of the pool is good for the self-confidence and for the rhythm.” Pakistan (WR:13) knew that by avoiding a heavy defeat against the Netherlands (WR:4) they would be certain of a place in the knock-out phase of the competition. A win against the Netherlands would be enough to move ahead of the Dutch into second place in the Pool, which would set-up a cross-over match against Canada, who finished third in Pool C, as opposed to Olympic silver medallists Belgium, Pool C’s second-placed finisher. The Netherlands were first to make a mark on the scoreboard when Thierry Brinkman netted from close range just seven minutes into the contest, but two minutes later Pakistan’s Umar Bhutta restored parity from a second phase penalty corner situation, sliding the ball under the body of onrushing Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak from a tight angle. Pakistan gave an excellent showing in the second period, but it was the Dutch who took a 2-1 lead into half time when a beautiful interchange between Valentin Verga and Odisha Player of the Match Seve Van Ass ended with the former firing a cool finish between the legs of Green Shirts shot-stopper Imran Butt. The Netherlands confirmed a second-place finish in Pool D with three goals in the second half, with Jeroen Hertzberger supplying Bob de Voogd for an easy finish before Jorrit Croon forced home a penalty corner from close range. A 5-1 score-line was completed by Mink van der Weerden, who slammed a stunning penalty corner into the roof of the net. It was the final goal of the pool phase, with total number of goals scored so far in Bhubaneswar being 111. Speaking after the match, Netherlands midfielder Robbert Kemperman said: “We played a very solid game. In the first two quarters Pakistan defended really well. It was difficult to find the gaps but we kept the pace high. I think we can be happy after this match.” Looking ahead to his team’s cross-over match against Canada, Kemperman said: “The Canadian team is physically very strong. We don’t know much about them so we’re going to analyse them tomorrow.” The knock-out phase of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 begins on Monday 10thDecember, with two cross-over play-off matches taking place. At 16:45 IST (UTC +5.30), England will play New Zealand, with the winner setting up a quarter-final meeting against Pool A winners and reigning Olympic champions Argentina on Wednesday 12 December. The second match on Monday sees France facing China, with Pool B winners and reigning world champions Australia lying in wait in the quarter-finals for the winner. Looking ahead to England’s meeting with New Zealand, co-captain David Ames said: “We haven’t played them too many times over the last few years, but we’ve seen from this tournament that they

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December 08 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: It all came down to goals in the final round of Pool C matches at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018. Belgium knew they had to score a lot of goals against South Africa if they were to keep India from taking top spot in the pool. While their penalty corners were effective, the Red Lions lacked bite when it came to scoring from field play and a number of chances to score went to waste. In the second match, host nation India knew they purely needed a win over Canada in order to top the pool and win a ticket straight to the quarter-finals. A Canadian team, who defended brilliantly for the first two quarters and were on equal terms for the first three quarters, put pressure on India, but an exhilarating fourth quarter saw India storm to a 5-1 win and take pole position in Pool C. The opening game of the day was just 35 seconds old when South Africa (FIH Hero World Ranking 15) took the lead against their higher-ranked rivals, Belgium (WR:3). Nicholas Spooner was the scorer as he gathered the ball from a fantastic pitch-splitting pass from Rhett Halkett and then slammed it into the corner of Vincent Vanasch’s goal. However, Shane McLeod’s Red Lions have come to Bhubaneswar with a firm intention to make the podium and the higher ranked team quickly recovered from the setback and began to turn the screw, not just on South Africa, but also on India, who were vying with the Red Lions for the top of the pool. At the start of the game India had a superior goal difference – plus five to Belgium’s one – so Belgium’s task was clear. McLeod says that penalty corners have been a focal point for his side and the team soon demonstrated their efficiency in this area. Alexander Hendrickx is the in-form penalty corner specialist for Belgium at the moment and his two goals from penalty corners in the first half sandwiched a neatly taken field goal by Player of the Match Simon Gougnard. A fourth goal was added when Loick Luypaert also showed his prowess from the top of the circle. The half-time stats spoke for themselves, while possession was nearly equal between the teams, the significant figures for Belgium were three penalty corners, three goals. South Africa made their own chances in the opening 30 minutes with the best chance falling to Dayaan Cassiem. The midfielder received the ball in the centre of the Belgium circle and should have capitalised. His shot flew wide of Vanasch’s far post. The second half saw Belgium continuing to press forward, and Tom Boon will be disappointed not to have added to the score when he was through on goal twice in quick succession but was not balanced enough to shoot with any force. A series of three Belgium penalty corners were dealt with by Gowan Jones who replaced Rassie Pieterse in the South Africa goal. Hendrickx thought he had scored his third goal when he slotted home a penalty corner, but the injected ball was judged not to have left the circle before Hendrickx shot for goal. The final minutes of the third quarter saw South Africa pile on pressure of their own. A quick break found captain Tim Drummond on the baseline and he was able to slip the ball back to goalscorer Spooner. Unfortunately for South Africa, Spooner shot over the crossbar. Seconds later a penalty stroke was awarded to South Africa but was disallowed on referral. Belgium went into the final quarter knowing they needed to score more goals in order to keep the pressure on India and Cedric Charlier was quick to deliver. He pounced on a ball that was slipped from the baseline by Gougnard, who had muscled his way past the South Africa defence. The drama intensified in the final few minutes as Belgium sought another goal. For their part, South Africa were working hard to find a second goal but it was Belgium who found the net as the game came to an end. For Belgium’s goal difference this was crucial but the referral showed that the goal was scored after the final hooter had gone and the score remained 5-1 meaning India just needed a win over Canada in the second match of the day to finish top of the pool. Player of the Match Simon Gougnard was in critical mood despite the win as he discussed his team performance in the post-match interview: “I don’t think we put enough pressure on India tonight. We started poorly and we didn’t put enough pressure on South Africa throughout the match. We made a lot of stupid mistakes in the game. There is a lot for us to look back over and which we will work on. We must also work on our structure and try to reduce the number of turnovers during a game. Our penalty corner worked well, so we are quite pleased with that aspect of the game.” Belgium captain Thomas Briels added: “We did not start so well tonight but we played better and better. I think that’s a bit the difference with the first two games where we started really good but could not keep up our performances. So that’s really good to see. In the end we could have scored more goals if we would have been a bit more smart. During this first round, we played some really good hockey but we were not really consistent, so we have to analyse that and we can improve for the next round.” The second Pool C match pitted a stoic Canada team, who had conceded no penalty corners prior to this match, against an Indian side determined to take the top of the pool position. The first quarter saw a pressure cooker of an atmosphere slowly build on the pitch and in the stands. That tipped over in the

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December 06 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: France, the lowest ranked team competing at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, stunned the hockey world on Day Nine, defeating Olympic champions Argentina to seal a second-place finish in Pool A just behind the Pan American giants. A 5-3 victory for France against Los Leones was undisputedly the biggest shock of the competition so far, upsetting the FIH Hero World Rankings both in terms of the result and the effect on the final standings in the pool, with the European side finishing above higher-ranked New Zealand on goal difference and eliminating neighbours Spain from the competition. Spain (WR: 8) started the day two points behind opponents New Zealand (WR:9) but established a commanding 2-0 lead going into half time. Albert Beltran’s backhand shot flew into the roof of the New Zealand goal after just nine minutes, with the advantage being doubled by a close-range effort from Alvaro Iglesias two minutes before the end of the second quarter. New Zealand had a mountain to climb, but they proved worthy of the challenge. Following a scoreless third quarter, Hayden Phillips produced a moment of magic to drag his team back into the game, smashing into the top comer with nine minutes remaining. Sensing the come-back was on, Black Sticks Head Coach Darren Smith replaced his goalkeeper with an outfield player to increase the pressure on the Europeans. It works wonders, with Kane Russell scoring a low penalty corner drag-flick to move New Zealand up to second in the pool. “It’s a pretty good feeling in the end, but we probably didn’t control the game too well”, said goal-scorer Kane Russell. “We were struggling to create opportunities and their defence was really sound. The goal we scored and then taking our goalie off gave us a little bit of momentum.” For Spain, the draw against the Black Sticks moved them temporarily into third in the table, a point ahead of France (WR:20, who needed to get a result against Olympic champions and Pool A winners Argentina (WR:2) if they were to progress into the knockout stages. A win for France was enough for a second-place finish, but with an 18-place difference in the World Rankings, it was always going to be a big ask. However, the crowd at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium were in for a treat as the lowest ranked team in the competition produced something verging on the unbelievable. France stormed into a stormed into a 4-1 half time lead against their illustrious opponents, with Hugo Genestet, Victor Charlet, Aristide Coisne and Gaspard Baumgarten on target for the Europeans, with Lucas Martinez scoring for Los Leones. It was a fantasy half-time score-line for France, putting them within touching distance of a remarkable second place finish in the pool and would subsequently eliminate Spain from the competition. Although the lead held by France was a commanding one, Argentina have proven many times down the years that they are capable of coming back from unlikely positions. Gonzalo Peillat’s low penalty corner just before the end of the third quarter gave the South Americans hope, setting up a very exciting final quarter. Another ferocious penalty corner drag-flick from Peillat made it 4-3 at the start of the fourth period, but it was France who had the last say when Francois Goyet deflected home to seal an extraordinary 5-3 victory to move into the cross-over play-offs as the second placed finisher in Pool A. It’s really amazing, an incredible game for us”, said Odisha Player of the Match Hugo Genestet after the match. “I think the first half was almost perfect, although we stepped down a little bit after half time. They scored with one of the best drag flickers in the world, but out fifth goal was really cool, arriving at a good moment. We know we can beat every team in this competition, but 5-3 against the Olympic champion and to finish second in the pool, it’s incredible.” Despite the result, it was a milestone day for Argentina’s Agustin Mazzilli, who made his 200thsenior international appearance for Los Leones. On Friday 7th December, the final matches in Pool B will take place. Australia (WR:1), already confirmed as winners of this pool, take on undefeated China (WR:17) at 1700 IST (UTC +5.30) before Ireland (WR:10) and England (WR6) meet at 1900. China currently sit second in the pool with two points, while Ireland and England sit third and fourth respectively, level on points but separated by goal difference. The pool winner will earn a direct ticket to the quarter finals, while the teams that finish second and third will go into the cross-over play-offs. The team that finishes fourth will be eliminated from the competition. Assessing Australia’s fine start at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, Kookaburras defender Matthew Swann – a member of the World Cup winning squads from Delhi 2010 and The Hague 2014 – said: “Two wins, we’re sitting pretty at the moment in our pool. We’re happy with that but we know it’s a long road to go. There’s a lot of good competition ahead of us. We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves. There’s a lot of work to do. We’re hopefully going to keep building from the England game.” Speaking ahead of his team’s head-to-head with Ireland, England co-captain George Pinner said: “I was really pleased with large parts of our performance last match [against Australia]. We stuck to the game plan and were very much in the game. The final score-line [3-0 defeat] is frustrating but I think there are lots of positives for us to build on and take into the final group game. The Ireland match is a big game, but we have been in this position before. We will do everything we can to prepare properly both mentally and physically to give ourselves the best chance of progressing.” Ireland Head Coach Alexander Cox said: “The game against England is very important,

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December 05 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: Germany claimed a stunning 4-1 victory against the Netherlands on Day Eight of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, a result which saw Die Honamas take control of Pool D ahead of the final round of group matches which take place on 9 December. Germany’s scintillating performance moved them onto six points, three points clear of second placed Netherlands, and are now favourites to top the pool and claim a direct ticket to the quarter-finals. A draw or a win for Germany against Malaysia – who drew with Pakistan in the second match of the day – in their final pool match on 9 December would seal that all-important first place finish ahead of the Oranje. As it so often is, the Germany (FIH Hero World Ranking: 6) versus Netherlands (WR:4) match was high in both quality and pace, as two fiercely competitive teams butted heads in front of a crowd that was certainly entertained. Germany’s Christopher Rühr had the first shot in anger, while Dutch captain Billy Bakker forced a good save from Tobias Walter before the opening goal arrived in the 13thminute. Valentin Verga was credited with the goal, driving in from the left before seeing his cross-shot take a wicked deflection off a Germany stick to put the Netherlands – 7-0 winners against Malaysia in their opening match of this World Cup – into the lead on the occasion of Max Caldas’s 100thmatch in charge of the team. Germany almost levelled a minute later when Mathias Müller hit the post with the goal at his mercy at the end of a slick penalty corner routine. While the pace of Rühr and Odisha Player of the Match Florian Fuchs certainly asked questions of the Dutch defence, the Netherlands looked the team most likely to score in the second quarter with Bakker, Jonas de Geus and Bob de Voogd all having clear sights at goal. However, Germany dragged themselves level just before half time, with Müller this time making no mistake to finish off a penalty corner identical to the one he had earlier missed. The Netherlands were well on top in the third quarter but failed to take advantage of numerous penalty corner opportunities. It was something that would cost them dear, with Germany producing a stunning performance in the final quarter to claim a memorable 4-1 triumph over their great rivals. Lukas Windfeder’s low penalty corner drag-flick put Die Honamas ahead before a typical poacher’s finish from Marco Miltkau made it 3-1. The Dutch tried to rally, but any hope of rescuing the match ended when Christopher Rühr launched a penalty stroke high into the Netherlands goal to complete the scoring at 4-1 and put Germany firmly in control of Pool D. “It is crazy to play 4-1 against the Dutch, we didn’t expect that”, said Germany’s Mats Grambusch after the match. “They were the better team in the third quarter, and we conceded a few penalty corners against us and they could have scored, but they didn’t because of our good defence. In the end we had the power to turn the match around in the final quarter.” Malaysia (WR:12) and Pakistan (WR:13) took to the field in the day’s second Pool D match, with a 1-1 draw leaving Pakistan third in the pool, ahead of last placed Malaysia on goal-difference. However, with both sides having tough opponents in their final round of matches – Pakistan play Netherlands, Malaysia take on Germany – there is still the potential for the placings to change. There was little to choose between the two sides in the first two quarters, with both teams having chances to take the lead but not making the most of their opportunities. Despite the lack of goals, it was certainly not short of entertainment as two attack-minded sides took each other on. Despite having conceded seven times against the Netherlands, Malaysia’s back-line showed great discipline to frustrate Pakistan’s attackers, while both goalkeepers – Malaysia veteran Kumar Subramiam and Pakistan’s Imran Butt – also impressed. The third quarter was also scoreless, but the fourth quarter was full of excitement. Pakistan took the lead when Muhammad Atiq received a long pass from midfield before turning his marker and finding the bottom corner of the Malaysia goal. It was a strike that left Malaysia’s future in the competition very much hanging in the balance, but they hit back with five minutes left to play thanks to a superb penalty corner drag-flick from Odisha Player of the Match Faizal Saari, who sent an unstoppable effort into the top left corner to keep alive his team’s hopes of moving into the knockout stages. Speaking after the match, Malaysia goalkeeper Kumar Subramiam said: “I think the guys played very well today. Being down one goal and then getting it back to 1-1 is not easy, so I think we did well. We know there is a big goal difference, but maybe that can change in the last round of matches.” On Thursday 6thDecember, the final round of matches in Pool A will take place, with Spain’s Red Sticks (WR:8) facing New Zealand’s Black Sticks (WR:9) at 1700 IST (UTC +5.30) before Argentina (WR:2) play France (WR:2) at 1900. Currently, reigning Olympic champions Argentina sit at the top of the pool with six points, with New Zealand in second place on three points. Spain and France both have one point from their two games, with Spain in third place ahead of their European rivals courtesy of a superior goal difference. The pool winner will earn a direct ticket to the quarter finals, while the teams that finish second and third will go into the cross-over play-offs. The team that finishes fourth will be eliminated from the competition. Ahead of New Zealand’s crucially important clash against Spain – two sides that sit only one place apart in the FIH Hero World Rankings, Black Sticks captain Blair Tarrant said: “We expected our pool

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December 03 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India: Day Six of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 featured the second round of matches in Pool A, with Argentina claiming their second successive Pool A victory to put themselves within touching distance of the quarter-finals. Argentina’s 3-0 victory over New Zealand sees them move onto six points at the top of the pool, three points ahead of second placed New Zealand with one round of matches to play. Spain and France – who drew in the day’s earlier match – ended the day in third and fourth position respectively. Spain (FIH Hero World Ranking: 8) and France (WR:20) started the day needing to recover from opening day defeats – Spain lost to Argentina while France fell to New Zealand – and get some crucially important points on the board. France struck early in the contest when Victor Charlet’s perfect backhand pass was guided home from close range by Timothée Clément, who changed the trajectory of the ball to give Spain shot-stopper Quico Cortes little hope of saving. The Red Sticks dominated the second quarter, setting up camp in the opposition half but unable to get the goal that their endeavour deserved thanks to some excellent saves from France goalkeeper Arthur Thieffry. While a penalty corner drag-flick from France captain Victor Charlet forced a fine save from Cortes in the third quarter, it was the Spaniards who remained on top and finally got their equaliser early in the fourth period. Alvaro Iglesias was the scorer, completing a slick passing move that cut through the France defence and allowed Spain’s number nine the easiest of finishes. Although it proved to be the final goal of game, France missed a gilt-edged opportunity to claim all three points when a penalty stroke from Hugo Geneset was brilliantly saved by a diving Cortes, cementing his position as the Odisha Player of the Match in the process. “Quico was the best player of the game”, said Spain’s Marc Salles – who made his 200thsenior international appearance in the match – after the game. “When you have a goalkeeper who makes a save from a penalty stroke you can only congratulate him. We are pleased with the draw in the end but we want to keep getting better and better in this tournament.” In celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), before the start of the match the players of Spain and France were introduced to Guest of Honour Md Jafar Iqbal, a member of the India’s World Cup winning blind cricket team. Two teams that claimed victories in their first matches went head to head in the second game of the day, with New Zealand (WR:9) determined to upset the FIH Hero World Rankings by attempting to get the better of reigning Olympic champions Argentina (WR:2). Despite a difference of seven places in the rankings, New Zealand held their own for much of the opening quarter, limiting Los Leones to half chances. Argentina eventually made the breakthrough midway through the second quarter thanks to a terrific backhand strike from Agustin Mazzilli, who picked out the top left corner of the Black Sticks net for his third goal of the competition. Argentina made it 2-0 in the third when New Zealand captain Blair Tarrant was robbed of possession in his on circle by Lucas Vila, who made no mistake with a blistering finish past the left hand of Black Sticks goalkeeper Richard Joyce. The match scoring was completed by Lucas Martinez five minutes from the end, who dived in to make it 3-0 from close range after Argentina’s initial penalty corner attempt had been blocked. “It was a great game for us”, said Argentina’s Lucas Vila, who was named Odisha Player of the Match, at the end of the game. “I think our defence was really strong and in attack we took our chances and scores some good goals. Its only two games so there is a long way to go, but I think we are in a good way and now we have a few days to make some little changes.” The action continues on Tuesday 4thDecember 2018 with two crucial matches in Pool B. Australia (WR:1) will be looking to consolidate their position at the top of the table when face England (WR:7) at 1700 before Ireland (WR:10) take on China (WR:17) at 1900. The Kookaburras were victorious over Ireland in their first Pool B match, with China holding England to a draw. The day’s results are certain to be significant in the potential finishing positions in this group. Australia coach Colin Batch felt that his team would be given a stern test by England, stating: “We will have to overcome a motivated England team who conceded a late goal to draw their match against China. While they will be disappointed with the outcome, statistically they did very well in the match so I don’tsee them making many changes to their style of play. “We were pleased to win our first match; however, we need to improve fromour performance against Ireland”, continued Batch, who was a member of the Australia squad that won the 1986 FIH Men’s World Cup in London, England. “The Irish team was able to deny our scoring and we need to get more outcomes from our attacking circleentries. We missed two injections on our penalty corners and while that is rare, we need to make sure we are better in that area.” Speaking ahead of his side’s clash against Australia, England co-captain Ian Sloan said: “We are looking forward to taking on Australia in what will be a highly competitive encounter. We created a lot of chances in game one [against China] and are focusing on being better in both Ds in game two. We know that if we do that, we will have a good chance of getting a positive result.” The Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 takes place between 28 November and 16

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December 02 | Story By FIH Bhubaneswar, India:India and Belgium played out a thrilling draw to remain level on points at the top of Pool C on Day Five of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018. The 2-2 score-line leaves India at the top of the pool on goal difference ahead of the Red Lions, with everything to play for going into the final round of matches on 8th December. The Pool C action began when South Africa (FIH Hero World Ranking: 15) and Canada (WR:11), two teams who were defeated on the opening day of competition, went head-to-head. South Africa dominated the opening period of their match against the Canadians and would have been ahead were it not for wonderful save from shot-stopper and Odisha Player of the Match David Carter, who gloved an Austin Smith penalty corner drag-flick onto his own crossbar. The African champions continued their supremacy in the second period but came close to falling behind, with James Kirkpatrick being denied by a good block from Rassie Pieterse. Canada’s resistance was finally broken near the end of the third period thanks to Nqobile Ntuli, who moved past Carter before crashing a backhand shot into the unguarded net. It was a lead that lasted just two minutes, with Canada captain Scott Tupper firing a penalty stroke past goalkeeper Gowan Jones, who had replaced Pieterse at half time. Canada’s Red Caribou frustrated their opponents in the final stages, with South Africa replacing their goalkeeper with an outfield in an attempt to claim all three points and boost their hopes of getting out of the pool. However, it was not to be, with Canada claiming a share of the spoils while South Africa were left to rue their missed opportunities. Speaking after the match, South African defender Austin Smith said: “We let ourselves down, and I feel pretty responsible for that with the corners. I thought we played better than Canada did, but when you get ten corners and don’t score any you don’t win hockey games. It’s frustrating and makes going through to the next round very difficult. I know mathematically it is possible, if we beat Belgium, but the overwhelming feeling is one of frustration.” A sensational atmosphere greeted the players of India (WR:5) and Belgium (WR3) as they walked out onto the turf at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, with a sell-out 15,000 people packed into the venue to witness a key match in the race for a first place pool finish and the subsequent place in the quarter-finals that comes with it. The Red Lions had the best of the first quarter and got their reward eight minutes in, using a clever video referral to win a penalty corner that was clinically dispatched by Alexander Hendrickx. India had chances either side of the first quarter break, although a moment of inspiration from Tom Boon in the second quarter almost doubled the advantage when his improvised deflection hit the frame of the Indian goal. Much to the delight of the home crowd, India came out firing in the third quarter, piling pressure on the Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallists. Eventually the leveller arrived from the penalty spot, with a stroke being awarded after a goal-bound penalty corner effort hit the body of a Belgian player on the goal-line. Harmanpreet Singh proved to be the coolest man in the stadium, soaking up all the tension and channelling it into an effort that was hard and true, wrongfooting Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch to find the bottom left corner. The Kalinga Stadium erupted two minutes into the fourth and final quarter when Simranjeet Singh scored his third goal of the competition from close range, putting India very much in the driving seat for that crucial first place finish in the pool. It proved to be temporary, with Belgium replacing their goalkeeper with an outfield player to turn up the heat on the home favourites. It paid off four minutes from the end when Simon Gougnard slapped home an equaliser after a decisive Belgium move ripped through the Indian defence to complete the scoring. Commenting about the race to finish first in Pool C – a position currently held by the host nation on goal difference over today’s opponents – India Head Coach Harendra Singh was honest in his assessment. “I think it is wide open”, said Harendra. “With goal difference we are plus five and they are plus two, but it all comes down to that last game. We can forget about the two previous games, the next match is the one that will decide if we are in the quarter-final.” The action continues on Monday 3rdof December with the second round of Pool A matches taking place. At 1700 IST (UTC +5.30), Spain (WR:8) and France (WR:20) will aim to recover from their respective opening day defeats and get some crucially important points on the board. That match is followed by a clash between two teams who were victorious in their first matches, with New Zealand (WR:9) facing Olympic champions Argentina (WR:2) at 1900. Speaking ahead of his team’s meeting with Argentina match, Black Sticks Head Coach Darren Smith said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to match up against the Olympic Champions at the World Cup. They are a high-quality team with very skillful forwards, composure and a deadly penalty corner. We also know that the points for this game are critical to get to the next round so we will be targeting the three on offer. We are looking forward to matching up against them.” Argentina Head Coach German Orozco said: “For us, we need to improve our game both when we are in possession and also without it. We want to continue building confidence in the team.” The Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 takes place between 28 November and 16 December. The Men’s World Cup is played every four years. For all information regarding the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar

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