African Hockey Federation | Chile shocker for Japan as Poles crash out at home after pool phase concludes

06 Jun, 2024

Chile showcased exuberant celebrations as they beat Olympic-bound Japan to secure their first semi-final appearance at the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup Spain 2023/24.

Joining them in the last four are New Zealand, who got the better of Canada and Ireland, who dominated Korea. Having already qualified, Spain won their final game against Italy to top Pool A.

In the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup Poland 2023/24, South Africa beat Korea and benefited as Poland lost to Austria.

(Women’s) New Zealand 2-0 Canada

New Zealand registered a 2-0 win against Canada in their last Pool B fixture in Terrassa to qualify for the semi-finals. Four minutes is all it took for them to assert their dominance as Megan Hull’s penalty corner hit the stick of Alexis De Armond before sneaking in.

The Black Sticks had better possession and control of the game, and it was down to Canadian goalkeeper Rowan Harris and the defenders to maintain the scoreline in the first half. While it was a slower start to the second half, New Zealand got the all-important second goal when Jessie Anderson served it on a plate for Hannah Cotter to finish.

Olivia Shannon of New Zealand, who won player of the match, felt they could have scored more and said: “We had to score goals, and we had to go out there and press hard. We are disappointed that we couldn’t get those opportunities in the back of the net. We can charge on and got the semi-finals coming up and move on to the next game.”

(Women’s) Chile 2-1 Japan

Chile reached the last four of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup after a narrow 2-1 win over Japan, improving from their seventh-place finish in the inaugural edition. It was a cautious start to the game from both sides in the first quarter, unlike their usual attacking style. The Chileans stepped it up in the next 15, with Paula Valdivia troubling the Japanese defenders. She won a penalty corner in the 21st minute and the routine resulted in a penalty stroke being awarded. Fernanda Arrieta sent the keeper the wrong way to start the scoring.

A minute later, Las Diablas won another penalty corner and an unusual technique saw Denise Rojas Losada’s shot saved but Josefa Salas was the quickest to react for the rebound as Japan failed to clear their line. The second half saw a slight change of pace from Japan, who pegged one back when Kanon Mori dived to finish a pass from Saki Tanaka from the right. A flurry of penalty corners followed in the dying moments but spirited defending from Chile saw them secure a famous win.

Domenica Ananias of Chile won player of the match for a sublime performance and said: “I am very proud of the team. It was a good strategy today. We lost against Japan in India. So I think this was a good match to do the things that we wanted to do.”

(Women’s) Ireland 4-0 Korea

Ireland finished the pool phase in style as they reached the semi-finals with a 4-0 win over Korea. There wasn’t much action early on despite Ireland creating a few chances and winning three penalty corners.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 27th minute when Hannah McLoughlin slotted in perfectly from a penalty corner. They upped the tempo and got another penalty corner soon. This time, Elena Neill’s shot was deflected in by Sarah Hawkshaw to end the half.

It would be unfair without mentioning Eunji Kim, who produced some spectacular saves for Kora. Ireland finally got their third as a defensive error from Seungae Park fell for Kathryn Mullan to smash it in. The fourth and final goal came courtesy of Roisin Upton’s penalty corner in the final minute.

Irelan’s Kathryn Mullan was the player of the match and was full of praise for her teammates. She said: “The character and resilience in this amazing group of women is phenomenal. How we show up every day is how we got the result today. I am so proud of these women.”

(Women’s) Spain 3-1 Italy

Spain had an easy outing against Italy, beating them 3-1 to top Pool A. As expected, the hosts dominated the match but it took them 18 minutes to find the opener. Constanza Amundson got her first international goal after an interesting penalty corner routine that saw Lola Riera start the move and find Lucia Jimenez, who then passed it for Amundson to score a special goal.

Having already qualified for the semi-finals, there wasn’t much pressure on the Spaniards but they weren’t taking it lightly. Five minutes later, Lola Riera made it 2-0 from another penalty corner. Laura Barrios put the result beyond doubt with a third penalty corner goal in the 38th minute. However, a clean sheet continued to evade them as the Italians pulled one back through Maria Lunghi in the final minute.

Laura Barrios won player of the match and said they are under no pressure as favourites. “Our objective was the semi-finals and we are happy that we did it with three wins.”

(Men’s) South Africa 2-0 Korea

South Africa won 2-0 against Korea after a goalless first half in their final pool game in Poland. With Poland losing to Austria, they secured semi-finals thanks to better goal difference.

Neither team had produced a meaningful attack halfway through the first quarter and the trend continued until the 15 minutes concluded. It looked like South Africa and Korea were prioritising defence, with the game desperate for something special to get going.

Despite high stakes on offer for both sides, chances were few and far between as the first half concluded. However, two well-taken field goals in the third quarter helped South Africa take all three points. At first, it was captain Keenan Horne firing one in style to the top right corner in the 38th minute while Ryan Julius got the second with a bottom-left corner finish.

South African captain Keenan Horne shushed their critics after winning the player of the match and said: “I think after the first two games, people didn’t say a lot of good things about us. We did the job when we needed to and I thought it was a good performance from the boys today.”

(Men’s) Austria 2-1 Poland

Poland crashed out of their home FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup after losing their final Pool A game 2-1 to Austria.

The hosts started strongly in the first quarter, with Mikołaj Głowacki missing the goal by a whisker in the second minute. The Poles kept attacking and unsettling the Austrian backline and finally got their breakthrough in the 20th minute thanks to Jakub Hołosyniuk’s powerful strike that went in after hitting the keeper.

The second half started in the worst way imaginable for Poland as Austria won a penalty stroke as Fülöp Losonci made no mistake from the spot. They took the lead four minutes later when Maximilian Scholz scored from a penalty corner. While both teams had chances after that, the scoreline remained the same.

Austrian skipper Fabian Unterkircher won player of the match and said: “It is an incredible feeling after that victory. It was a do-or-die game. It’s a big victory for us as no one was expecting anything from us.”

To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup, click here.

FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup – 6 June 2024

Estadi Marti Colomer, Terrassa, (ESP)

Result: Match 9 (W)

New Zealand 2-0 Canada

Player of the match: Olivia Shannon (NZL)

Umpires: Rama Potnis (IND), Lorjin De Kraker (NED), Mariana Reydo (ARG-video)

Result: Match 10 (W)

Chile 2-1 Japan

Player of the match: Domenica Ananias (CHI)

Umpires:Melissa Taylor (RSA), Mariana Reydo (ARG), Rama Potnis (IND-video)

Result: Match 11 (W)