E-Paper
Hockey World Cup: England, Australia book semifinals berth
With the momentum of the last two games behind them, England stunned reigning Olympic champions Argentina (3-2) to become the first team to secure a semi-final berth.
One would never have expected England to come this far in the hockey World Cup. After being held by debutants China in the opening pool game and then losing to Australia, even they would’ve been planning an early flight back home. But the last pool game against Ireland revived them and their crossover win over New Zealand earned them a quarter-final berth.
With the momentum of the last two games behind them, England stunned reigning Olympic champions Argentina (3-2) to become the first team to secure a semi-final berth.
“It was a great game and we are happy to make it to the semi-finals. At one stage, we were not thinking of a semis berth. We were playing good hockey in patches, but today the entire team played a consistent game,” said England’s Mark Gleghorne. “We can enjoy the evening today, but tomorrow we’ll be back to business again. We want to carry forward this momentum,” added Gleghorne.
It was sweet revenge for England who had lost to Argentina in the bronze-medal match in the previous edition. “We were looking to settle the World Cup score and we did it.
England dominated the first quarter with 60% ball possession, but couldn’t score in the face of stout defence. Argentina drag-flicker Gonzallo Peillat was on target in the second minute of the next quarter. England goalkeeper George Pinner tried to stop the drag-flick, diving to his right, but the ball rolled in despite Pinner slowing down its pace. Experienced Barry Middleton, playing in his fourth World Cup, got the equaliser in the 27th minute.
The way England marked Argentina doggedly, it seemed they were not ready to give up. They had seven circle penetrations in the third quarter, five more than Argentina. The last minute of the quarter saw England’s Will Calnan --- shown a yellow card in the 37th minute --- scoring a field goal.
English’s domination continued in the fourth quarter though Peillat again equalised with his deadly drag flick in the 48th minute> But Harry Martin restored England’s lead soon.
Australia end France’s dream run
Finally, France’s dream run came to an end. Playing the World Cup after 28 years and overall their third appearance, the European nation hogged the limelight for making it to the quarterfinals. But they couldn’t stand much in front Australian attack and lost the quarterfinals 0-3.
Australia scored all the three goals through penalty corners, Jeremy Hayward opened the account in the fourth minute, while the other two scorers were Blake Govers (19th minute) and Aran Zalewski (37th minute).
The Kookaburras will now play the semi-finals from the winners of the tomorrow quarterfinal game between India and Netherlands.
“We know it was going to be a tough game for us. We are disappointed and at the same time satisfied that we meet our World Cup target of at least playing the quarterfinals. This momentum will help us to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said France’s Pieter van Straaten.
