Hockey World Cup: Brother power comes to the fore as Germany ‘Grambusch’ England

BHUBANESWAR: Brothers playing for the same national team is not new but siblings scoring goals in the same match is rare. The Grambusch brothers — Mats and Tom — achieved the distinction in the FIH Men’s World Cup quarter-final, helping Germany rally from a 0-2 deficit to take the match against England into penalty shootout. Germany then won the shootout 4-3 to set up a semi-final clash against Australia on Friday. Mats and his younger brother Tom scored a goal each with just two-and-a-half minutes left in the match, sending the capacity crowd at the Kalinga Stadium into a tizzy. Mats scored in the 57th minute and, a minute later, asked Tom to take the penalty stroke after Christopher Ruhr had missed from the spot just a few minutes ago. Tom repaid his elder brother’s trust by scoring the equaliser to take the match into penalty shootout where the ‘Die Honamas’ won 4-3 in a match which England captain described as a “cruel” one. An ecstatic Tom punched the air while Mats and the other team-mates converged to celebrate the sensational comeback. Asked why his elder brother asked him to take the penalty stroke, Tom said there was no favouritism. “Christie (Christopher Ruhr) took the first one and missed. Then we switched because I am the second penalty-stroke taker in the team. So, Mats told me to take it and I did. “Luckily, I scored. My mom must be proud as both of us scored. They were watching on TV,” the 27-year-old six-feet tall defender told PTI. Mats and Tom hail from Monchengladbach, which had hosted the FIH Men’s World Cup in 2006. They have studied in the same college and currently play for the same club, Rot-Weiss Koln, in Cologne. “Tom started his international career in 2016. So, it was in February 2016 when we first played together for the national team and then we played together in the 2016 Rio Olympics,” Mats said. “I started a little bit early (in 2011) as I am a little bit older. We are also playing for the same club now,” said the 30-year-old midfielder. Asked how their parents would react to the feat, Mats said, “They will probably scream first and then one of them will have tears of joy. “Me and Tom scored the goals to take Germany to victory. We have taken the team to the semi-finals. They (parents) would not have been prouder than this. “All said and done, it is a team game and we are happy to have helped our country win the match and enter the semi-finals. That is more important.” The Spanish and Wales sides in this edition of the World Cup too have siblings in their squads. While Spain have the Cunill brothers, Pau and Pepe, Wales have the Furlong siblings, Gareth and Rohdri. Spain lost to Australia 3-4 in the quarter-finals, while Wales were eliminated early, finishing fourth and last in their pool. The Indian gold-winning teams at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics had brothers Dhyan Chand and Roop Chand playing together. Gurbax Singh and Balbir Singh Grewal were part of the same India team that won bronze at the 1968 Olympics. Brothers Harmik Singh and Ajit Singh also won a bronze medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | January 26,2023

Sudden death in a hockey match: Everything you need to know

India’s unfortunate exit from the title race of the Hockey World Cup was scripted on Sunday at the end of a breathless penalty shootout in the crossover match against New Zealand, who went on to win 5-4 in sudden death. To know what ‘sudden death’ means in a shootout, let’s first understand the format of a penalty shootout and how it is executed. A shootout in hockey is required as a tiebreaker when the teams end up scoring the same number of goals or no goals in a knockout match are scored where a winner needs to be declared in order to progress in the tournament. Unlike football, there is no extra-time period in hockey if the regulation game of 60 minutes ends in a tie. The game straightaway moves to a shootout.   THE SHOOTOUT RULES The teams are asked to select five players each and the order in which they will take turns to take five shootouts. Earlier, the shootout in hockey used to be like a penalty stroke, where the ball was kept at a spot seven yards out from the goal and the player pushed or flicked it, trying to beat the goalkeeper in the post. However, now, as per FIH’s tournament regulations for outdoor competition: a) the goalkeeper/defending player starts on or behind the goal-line between the goal posts b) the ball is placed on the nearest 23-metre line opposite the centre of the goal c) an attacker stands outside the 23-metre area near the ball d) the umpire blows the whistle to start time e) an official at the technical table starts the clock f) the attacker and the goalkeeper/defending player may then move in any direction g) the shoot-out attempt is completed when (1) 8 seconds have elapsed since the starting signal or (2) a goal is scored or (3) the attacker or the goalkeeper commits an unintentional offence inside or outside the circle in which case the shoot-out is re-taken by the same player against the same goalkeeper or (4) the goalkeeper commits an intentional offence inside or outside the circle, in which case a penalty stroke is awarded and taken or (5) the ball goes out of play over the back-line or side-line, which includes the goalkeeper intentionally playing the ball over the back-line. SUDDEN DEATH If the above still fails to decide a winner and the scores remain level after five shootout attempts each, then the game moves to a sudden death shootout. Everything remains the same in sudden death, except that when a team takes a one-goal lead over the other, and the opposition fails to equalize, the game comes to an end. Like in the World Cup crossover match between India and New Zealand on Sunday, Sam Lane scored to put NZ ahead 5-4, but Shamsher Singh failed to level it, and thus New Zealand were declared the winners. Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Jan 23, 2023

Honamas complete remarkable turnaround to stun England while the Dutch cruise past Korea

Germany and Netherlands are semi-finalists at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 earning wins against England and Korea in their respective quarterfinals. In the semi-finals, Australia will face Germany, while Belgium will take on Netherlands, on 27 January, in the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. Match 1: England vs Germany 2-2 (SO: 3-4) Germany were quicker off the blocks in the first quarter dominating possession and territory in the English half. They created the first big chance of the game as Mats Grambusch’s good work on the left saw Zwicker deflect his pass into the circle, onto the path of Trompertz, but his shot on the reverse sailed high and wide of the goal. As the time moved forward, England started to find their rhythm and a free hit just outside the circle was played into the circle by Calnan and his pass in was lifted by Rushmere and at the end of his 3d skill move, the ball fell in the air to Zach Wallace and his volleyed effort found the back of the goal to open the scoring for the English. Germany were measured in their attack in the second quarter, as the threat England possessed on the counterattack was evident. Zach Wallace nearly doubled England’s lead in the 21st minute on one such counter as he beat two defenders at the top of the circle with silky touches, before unleashing a shot, but his shot hit teammate Ansell’s foot before it could reach Stadler in the goal. Germany won two late penalty corners in the quarter, but their first was a variation that was well read and intercepted by Albery and the second, taken by Peillat, was stopped and kicked out rather easily by the in-form Ollie Payne. Germany were down to 10 players early in the third quarter as Oruz was given a green card for a deliberate foul to stop an English counter attack. England made good use of the player advantage to win three quick penalty corners and they doubled their lead on the third attempt as a misplaced injection by Condon forced Ansell to improvise with a flat hit and he placed it into the bottom left corner to perfection. As time started to wind down in the 3rd quarter, things started to get a bit fiery. Christopher Rühr earned himself a 5-minute suspension for an aggressive tackle in the middle of the field. Germany’s search for a goal to get back into the game was well stuffed out by some terrific defensive work by the likes of Alberry and Waller. England continued to play calmly and stuffed German attacks in the midfield in the first half of the final quarter. Germany subbed Stadler out for an extra outfield player and with a little under 5 minutes to go, won a penalty stroke. Christopher Rühr stepped up to take it, but his attempt hit the crossbar and England survived. Germany finally managed to score as Trompertz sent in a cross that found Mats Grambusch all alone on the far post and he lifted the ball into an open goal. England then went down to 10 players as Zach Wallace got himself a green card with just a little over 2 minutes to go. England then conceded another penalty stroke as a shot by Wellen looked destined to go into the goal but instead hit an English body. Tom Grambusch who takes penalty strokes for Germany, when on the pitch, was available this time and sent Payne the wrong way to complete the comeback for the Honamas and send the game into a shoot-out. Germany, who had won 7 out of the 9 shoot-outs over the past 4 years, were perfect in the shoot-out, scoring all 4 of their attempts. David Goodfield missed England’s third attempt and Danneberg, who was in the goal instead of Stadler for the shoot-outs, saved the final English attempt by Ansell to give the Honamas a famous win, and their first semi-final appearance at the World Cup since 2010! Mats Grambusch was awarded player of the match and said: “My legs are still shaking, that was a great comeback, really proud of the team. We were better in the second half and to come back and draw the game in the final 2 minutes was just incredible.” Match 2: Netherlands vs Korea 5-1 Netherlands and Korea played a fascinating first quarter in the last quarterfinals match at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. It was end to end action as both teams looked to play on counter-attacks and managed to find spaces through the midfield to successfully penetrate opposition circles. Both teams also won 2 penalty corners each, but all 4 penalty corners amounted to very little, thanks to some brave number one running from the defences. Netherlands had the best chance from open play as Pieters went on a great run from his own circle all the way to the Korean circle, but his shot was well saved by Jaehyeon Kim. The second quarter was much of the same as the teams traded possession on counter-attacks. Korea had a great chance on one of their attacks launched from a turnover they forced at the halfway line. Hwang’s driven pass into the circle nearly found the diving Junwoo, but Lars Balk got a crucial touch right before the pass got to Junwoo to send the ball out over the baseline. Netherlands opened the scoring in the 27th minute as Thierry Brinkman cut through the Korean defence from the right and his attempted pass was almost intercepted Jungjun, but he failed to make a clean connection on the ball and Koen Bijen was there right behind him to latch on to the loose ball and put it in the back of the goal to give Netherlands the lead they would carry into the interval. Netherlands won an early penalty corner to start the second half and while Kim saved Jansen’s flick, the rebound was collected brilliantly by

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Smooth sailing for Honamas while Korea win 10-goal thriller in the shoot-outs

23 January, 2023 The second day of crossovers at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 saw Germany and Korea seal their quarterfinal berths with wins over France and Argentina respectively. Germany will now take on England in the quarterfinals, while Korea will face Netherlands, with both matches to be played in Bhubaneswar. France and Argentina head into the 9-16 classification matches, which will take place in Rourkela. Match 1: Germany vs France 5-1 France and Germany were both coming off strong performances to end their pool stage matches. France almost got the better of Argentina in an incredible 5-5 draw where Argentina needed to score with just 6 seconds left on the clock to get to the draw, while Germany pulled off a huge 7-2 win against Korea in their final game. The start of the game looked to set up an even contest as France and Germany both traded opportunities in the first half of the opening quarter. Germany had the first big chance through a penalty corner, but Peillat’s flick was at a comfortable height for Thieffry to save. France then got a big chance to grab the lead as a great run into the circle by Gaspard Baumgarten led to the ball hitting a German foot. It was young star Clement who received the opportunity to score from the corner, but he dragged his effort low and wide. Germany ended the quarter on the front foot and finally found the opening goal through Marco Miltkau, who had been searching for his first goal in the tournament. Germany blew the doors open in the second quarter scoring thrice to take a huge lead into the halftime break. Their first goal of the second quarter came via a brilliant counter attacking move started by Hinrichs that allowed Germany to go 2 on 1 in the French circle and while the pass to Wellen was initially intercepted by Thieffry, the rebound fell to the German forward who kept his impressive form going, by scoring his 5th goal of the tournament. Captain Mats Grambusch then latched onto a loose ball in the French circle in the 24th minute, to score his second goal of the tournament, and Trompertz made it 4 for the Honamas, just a minute later, by deflecting a low drag flick by Tom Grambusch, over Thieffry and into the French goal. Germany slowed things down in the third quarter, secure in the big lead they built up in the first half. France had a great opportunity midway through the quarter, as an aerial ball seemed destined to find Clement free in the German circle, but a leaping Tom Grambusch extended his stick in the air and managed to get a slight touch on the ball that deflected it away from Clement, keeping Germany’s clean sheet intact. The best chance early in the 4th quarter also fell France’s way, with Masson’s run and piercing pass finding van Straaten in the circle and his cross nearly found Clement open at the far post, but Hinrich positioned himself perfectly to intercept the pass and clear the danger. France did finally manage to get a consolation goal with 2 minutes left on the clock as a low drag flick by Clement was deflected over Stadler by a diving Goyet, to give France a goal they deserved for the attacking intent they showed throughout the second half. Germany got the final goal of the game to put the cherry on top of a great performance, as a quick penalty corner routine caught the French defence unaware and Peillat’s low drag flick met no resistance sealing a 5-1 win for Germany and a spot in the quarterfinals against England. Captain Mats Grambusch was awarded player of the match and said: “Our first half was among the best hockey we have played as a team, constantly attacking and getting the goals that took us to this win. Second half was a little step down for us in terms of intensity, but we managed the game well overall.” Match 2: Argentina vs Korea 5-5 (SO: 2-3) Argentina made a good start to the crossover game, dominating possession and territory, pinning Korea into their own defensive half. The opening goal came rather fortuitously for the Argentines as a deflected ball into the circle was not handled well by the keeper and the ball fell to Maico Casella whose diving shot looped over the keeper and into the goal. Korea settled into the game after the goal and won a penalty corner late in the first quarter, but Jang’s attempted drag flick did not get the height he wanted and was easily saved. Korea had a much better start to the second quarter and they turned defence into attack with Jang Jonghyun intercepting a cross in his own circle and bursting out to launch a counter-attack that deflected off a Argentine stick and fell to Sunghyun Kim who had an empty goal to tap the ball into. Korea then quickly added a second goal to grab the lead as a messed penalty corner routine saw the ball ping across the circle and fall to Junwoo who tapped it into the goal. Argentina were back level inside a minute as Nicolas Keenan scored from the right after his first deflected shot attempt was saved, but the rebound fell kindly back to him. The goals continued to flow as Argentina scored from a penalty corner through Nicolas della Torre, whose powerful flick dissected the keeper and the post defender to perfection. Argentina started the second half looking to increase their lead but Korea absorbed the early pressure well, not giving away any penalty corners despite multiple circle penetrations by the Argentines. Finally Korea had the opportunity to attack 10 minutes into the half and they quickly won a penalty corner that was scored by star drag flicker Jang Jonghyun. Once again one goal brought another as Argentina won a penalty corner of their own within a minute

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Summer Series 2023 | South Africa end off on a high with Indian draw

It’s been a tough Summer Series for the young South African side. Many of the players were playing in their first home test series and playing against an Indian side who have been in some good form, including a bronze medal at the Commonwealth games, their first medal since 2006. The Indian squad in South Africa included 11 players with more than 100 test caps of which five had more than 200. The South Africans in comparison had just four players with more than 50 caps to their name. With India having sealed the series 3-0 the South Africans were desperate to end on a high. In order to do so they would need to find a quicker start as they had struggled in the opening test matches and found themselves constantly chasing the games. Despite a couple of early Indian penalty corners, the South Africans were dialed in on defense and held their opponents out before taking an early lead. After a poor challenge by the Indians, Quanita Bobbs was called on to fire home a penalty stroke and give the hosts their first lead of the tournament. The Indians showed their class and managed to level not long before the half time break. The penalty corner had been dangerous for the visitors throughout the series, and they used it again when Phalke Vaishnavi Vithal restored parity. Early in the second half the South Africans earned their second lead of the tournament. Great work from Kristen Paton and Bianca Wood set up Tarryn Lombard who was in the right place at the right time to tap home to the delight of the UCT crowd. The South Africans, putting in their best performance of the series and shining a light on the progress that is starting to be made will be disappointed that they concede another penalty corner to level, but they defended superbly after that to hold on for a well-deserved draw. Source: SAHockey.co.za