Sports Bulletin

SB Report 

ISLAMABAD-The FIH Hockey Olympic qualifiers got off to a flying start on Friday (25 October), with the women's teams of Australia, Belgium and Spain all victorious in their respective matches to move one step closer to securing berths at next year's Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.  

In the first of the two-leg ties, Australia beat Russia 4-2 in Perth before Belgium recorded an impressive 2-0 away win against China. Spain's women were also winners, edging past Korea 2-1. In the men's qualifiers, Spain and France played out a thrilling 3-3 draw, leaving their two-leg tie finely balanced.

RESULT: Perth (AUS) - Women: Australia 4, Russia 2 (Match 1 of 2)
Australia (FIH World Ranking: 2) claimed a 4-2 victory against Russia (WR:19) in the opening match of the FIH Hockey Olympic qualifiers, but certainly did not have it all their own way. The Hockeyroos opened up a 2-0 lead inside the opening two minutes thanks to poacher's goals from Emily Chalker and 17-year-old attacker Amy Lawton, as the hosts threatened to run riot. However, Russia captain Bogdana Sadovaia dragged her team back into the contest with an eighth minute field goal before Alina Khalimova's superb penalty corner deflection seven minutes after half time restored parity at 2-2. Australia were not to be denied, however, with Grace Stewart and a second for Chalker giving the home favourites both a 4-2 victory and a strong advantage ahead of the second meeting between the two teams on Saturday. 

RESULT: Changzhou (CHN) - Women: China 0, Belgium 2 (Match 1 of 2)
Belgium (WR:12) took a 2-0 lead in their opening match against China (WR:10) courtesy of strikes at both ends of the game. Jill Boon opened the scoring in the second minute of the match and Stephanie Vanden Borre gave her side an invaluable 2-0 lead in the 58th minute. While the Red Panthers have an undoubted advantage going into the second of two matches on Saturday, China will be pulling out all the stops to attempt to turn the scoreline around. The hard-working trio of Zhang Jinrong, Ou Zixia and Peng Yang caused plenty of problems for the Belgium defence and, as Player of the Match Anne-Sophie Weyns made clear, this is only the half-way point in this Olympic qualifier.

RESULT: Valencia (ESP) - Men: Spain 3, France 3 (Match 1 of 2)
Spain's men (WR:8) were forced to fight back from 3-0 down before salvaging a 3-3 draw against a France (WR:12) team that impressed greatly in a thrilling contest at Valencia's Estadio Betero. Victor Charlet, Gaspard Baumgarten and Amaury Bellenger all netted in the second quarter before Xavi Lleonart pulled a goal back from the penalty spot just before half time. Veteran striker Pau Quemada netted penalty corner efforts in the third and fourth quarters to ensure that the points were shared, meaning that Saturday's second meeting between the two teams is very much 'winner takes all'. 

RESULT: Valencia (ESP) - Women: Spain 2, Korea 1 (Match 1 of 2)
Spain's women (WR:7) claimed a deserved 2-1 victory over Korea (WR:11), but were certainly forced to do it the hard way. Jang Heesun put Korea ahead with a 19th minute penalty corner, a strike that was cancelled out thanks to a diving finish from Belen Iglesias just four minutes later. Lola Reira scored the winning goal with a penalty corner drag-flick in the 39th minute, giving Spain a slender advantage over the Koreans going into tomorrow's second leg.


How Olympic qualification works: The winners will be determined as follows: teams will be ranked according to the number of points each has accumulated in both matches (for each match, 3 points are awarded to the winner, 1 point to each team in the event of a draw and 0 point to the loser). If there is equality among the two teams, then the teams will be ranked according to their respective goal difference. If the equality remains, a shoot-out competition will be played to establish the winner.

FIH Hockey Olympic qualifiers – Day 1 Results