Netherlands, Ukraine, South Africa, and India reach in quarterfinals
Sports Bulletin Report
Muscat (Oman): Netherlands, Ukraine, South Africa, and India advanced into the quarterfinals of the 1st FIH Hockey five-a-side World Cup, which got underway in Muscat, Oman on Wednesday, as 138 goals were scored in 16 encounters.
Pool A: The Netherlands showed themselves to be real tournament contenders, posting two big wins to book their place in the quarter-finals. They first dismantled Fiji 14-1 with hat-tricks from Bente van der Veldt and Marloes Timmermans. The Dutch side then went on to hammer Malaysia 10-0 and, although it took them eight minutes to find a goal, they put some exquisite plays together. All of the Dutch outfield players scored at least two goals each on the day.
In other matches in Pool A, Malaysia posted a solid 10-0 victory against hosts Oman, Zati Muhamad scoring four of those goals and Zafirah Aziz scoring three. Fiji came from behind and then snuck in a late goal in their 3-2 win against hosts Oman – both sides making their debuts at an FIH Hockey World Cup event. The day’s results mean Malaysia and Fiji face each other on Thursday with a spot in the quarter-finals up for grabs.
POOL B: Ukraine and South Africa secured their places in the quarter-finals with two good wins each. Ukraine started with an impressive 6-3 win over Australia, Anna Tanchenko scoring a hat-trick. They then romped home 9-0 against Zambia as Karyna Leonova chalked up four goals.
Meanwhile, South Africa cruised to a 9-1 victory against the side that beat them in the pool stages of their continental qualifier – Zambia. Toni Marks bagged three goals in the SA side’s opening match. They followed this up with a 6-3 win over Australia in an enthralling contest, Grace Cochrane doing sterling work in the South African goal when the match was still evenly poised.
POOL C: India recorded a narrow 5-4 win over Poland in the opening pool match and then fought back with six unanswered goals in 12 minutes to beat the USA 7-3 after earlier trailing by two goals. The Indian side are now guaranteed to advance to the quarter-finals but they will be aiming to top the table when they face hosts Oman on Thursday.
In their other game of the day, the USA went a goal down early against Namibia but bounced back for an easy 6-1 win, Charlotte de Vries completing her hat-trick in the first half. Poland beat Namibia 5-1 so their showdown with the USA on Thursday is for a quarter-final spot, while Namibia will play off for the lower places.
POOL D: Pool D is set up for a dramatic final round in that all four teams still have a statistical chance of progressing to the quarter-finals. Uruguay look most likely to advance, having completely dominated Paraguay for a 10-1 win, with Teresa Viana bagging five goals for her team in that match. They followed this up with a clinical performance to beat New Zealand 6-1, Viana adding another two to her haul to take her to the top of the goal-scorers chart.
New Zealand fought back from a goal down to defeat Thailand 4-3 earlier in the day, and Thailand prevailed 3-1 in a tight contest with Paraguay.
Results (Women’s Event Day-1):
Ukraine beat Australia (6-3), South Africa beat Zambia (9-1), Malaysia beat Oman (10-0), Netherlands beat Fiji (14-1), India beat Poland (5-4), USA beat Namibia (6-1), New Zealand beat Thailand (4-3), Uruguay beat Paraguay (10-1), Ukraine beat Zambia (9-1), South Africa beat Australia (6-3), Netherlands beat Malaysia (10-0), Fiji beat Oman (3-2), Poland beat Namibia (5-1), India beat USA (7-3), Thailand beat Paraguay (3-1), Uruguay beat New Zealand (6-1).
