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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