July 19, 2017 Johannesburg, South Africa: Australia, Spain, Germany and Belgium all booked their tickets to the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, winning their respective matches on men’s quarter-final day at the Hockey World League Semi-Final. Reigning world champions Australia cruised to a 4-0 victory over Egypt to ensure that they will be heading to India to defend the title they won three years ago in The Hague (NED). Spain overcame Ireland to maintain their remarkable record of having qualified for every men’s World Cup to date, with 2006 world champions Germany proving too strong for France to seal their berth. Belgium’s Red Lions were the fourth team to guarantee their World Cup ticket, taking a 2-0 triumph over New Zealand’s Black Sticks. The competition semi-finals in Johannesburg will take place on Friday 21st July, with Spain playing Germany at 16:45 South Africa Standard Time (UTC +2) before a mouthwatering meeting between Belgium and Australia gets underway at 19:00. In the all-important 5-8 play-off matches, Egypt will take on New Zealand at 12:15 while Ireland play France at 14:30 as the race for fifth place and the subsequent World Cup ticket that comes with it continues. As well as qualifying for the World Cup, the four winning teams from today’s matches are now also guaranteed to play in the Odisha Hockey World League Final, which also takes place in Bhubaneswar, India at the end of the year. Australia, Spain, Germany and Belgium join Netherlands, Argentina and England – who took the first three positions at the Hero Hockey World League Semi-Final in London – as well as host nation India. Malaysia, who finished fourth in London, miss out on taking the highest ranked fourth placed finisher spot on the grounds that all of the semi-finalists in Johannesburg are placed above them in the FIH Hero World Rankings. Australia (FIH Hero World Ranking: 2) were the first team to claim their tickets to the World Cup and World League Final, scoring four times without reply against an Egypt (WR: 19) side that has come a long way in a short space of time following their 10-0 defeat against Belgium at the start of the competition. Jeremy Hayward put the Kookaburras on the road to victory with a tenth minute penalty corner, with Jake Whetton scoring a double either side of a rare goal from the influential Matthew Swann. “Egypt are a little bit unpredictable so it was a tough opposition, but we stuck to our strategy and it paid off”, said Australia’s Kiran Arunasalam. “I think we are in a building phase, I’ve only played eight or nine games and I’m still pretty star-struck around some of the guys I’m playing with, but hopefully we can do well at the World Cup next year.” The Spain (WR: 10) versus Ireland (WR: 9) quarter-final was the closest of the day, with the Green Machine having numerous scoring opportunities but only managing to make one mark on the scoreboard. Spain took the lead just after half time thanks to a penalty corner from Ricardo Sanchez, with Alan Sothern restoring parity with a perfectly executed drag-flick a minute before the end of the third quarter. However, Irish hearts were broken just a minute later when an unmarked Alvaro Iglesias smashed home what proved to be the winner, putting the Red Sticks into the World Cup and World League Final. “I feel happy to have qualified for the World Cup and also for the World League Final, as we have not done that before”, said Spain goalkeeper Quico Cortes, who had a magnificent game to deny numerous excellent Irish scoring chances. “I’m happy because we defended really well today.” The third team to seal their double ticket to India was Germany (WR: 3), with Tom Grambusch putting Die Honamas in the driving seat against France (WR: 17) by converting a penalty corner effort in the final minute of the first quarter. Rising star Timm Herzbruch scored a superb double either side of half time to effectively seal the win, with Marco Miltkau adding a fourth seven minutes from the end. A penalty corner from Nicolas Dumont deservedly put France on the scoreboard, but it was Germany’s day. “It was a really important win for us, not just for the World Cup but also the World League Final”, said Herzbruch after the match. “I played in the Junior World Cup last year in India and I am looking forward to hopefully playing in the senior one.” In the final match of the day, Belgium’s Red Lions (WR: 5) produced an explosive first quarter performance against New Zealand (WR: 8). Sebastien Dockier opened the scoring after three minutes with a slap-shot before Tom Boon doubled the advantage thanks to a fierce backhand shot just two minutes later. To their great credit, the Black Sticks firmed up their defence and gave a strong showing after half time, but could not deny Belgium a 2-0 win. Thursday 20th July is women’s semi-final day at the University of the Witwatersrand, although it is not only the final four matches that are of interest. The first match of the day is the 9-10 classification contest between Poland and Chile, which gets underway at 10:00 South Africa Standard Time (UTC +2). That meeting is followed by the two 5-8 play-off matches, with India playing Japan at 12:15 before South Africa meet Ireland at 14:30. The two winning teams will not only meet in the 5-6 classification match, they will also be assured of places at the Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018. This is because the highest ranked sixth place finisher from the two Hockey World League Semi-Final events in Belgium and Johannesburg is now certain to come from the competition in South Africa, with Italy – who finished sixth in Brussels – being lower ranked than all four teams that are competing in the 5-8 play-off matches. In the competition semi-finals, Germany play Argentina at 16:45 with England and

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July 20, 2017 Johannesburg, South Africa: Germany and USA will contest the women’s final of the Hockey World League Semi-Final event after both nations overcame the respective challenges of Argentina and England on Day 13 at the University of the Witwatersrand. Germany produced a battling performance to triumph 2-1 over Argentina, with Charlotte Stapenhorst scoring the decisive goal as Die Danas claimed their place in the showpiece match. USA and England needed a shoot-out to separate them, with American goalkeeper Jackie Briggs proving the hero with a string of outstanding saves to set up their final meeting with Germany. The women’s competition final will take place on Sunday 23 July at 15:30 South African Standard Time (UTC +2), while Argentina and England will go head-to-head in the 3-4 classification match on the same day at 11:00. It was also a day of celebration for Japan and South Africa, who confirmed direct qualification for the Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018. Japan defeated India 2-0 to book their ticket to London before hosts South Africa thrilled the home fans with a 3-0 triumph over Ireland to book their ticket to London. It was confirmed that the top six from this event would achieve World Cup qualification earlier this week, when England – the hosts of next year’s global showpiece – guaranteed a top five finish by winning their quarter-final. It meant that the highest ranked sixth place finisher from the two Hockey World League Semi-Final events in Belgium and Johannesburg would be guaranteed a World Cup berth. All four of the teams that reached the 5-8 play-off matches are placed higher in in the FIH Hero World Rankings than Italy, the team that finished sixth in Brussels, guaranteeing that the top six from South Africa would all be assured of a World Cup place. The first of the event semi-finals was packed full of intense action and high drama, with Germany (WR: 7) providing a shock result against an Argentina (WR: 3) side that have been one of the most impressive performers here in Johannesburg. Die Danas were the quickest out of the blocks, taking the lead just seven minutes into the contest when Naomi Heyn converted a slick penalty corner routine. Las Leonas hit back at the start of the second quarter thanks Lucina von der Heyde’s brilliant penalty corner deflection, but Germany scored what proved to be the winner on the stroke of half time with composed close range finish from the excellent Charlotte Stapenhorst. Janne Müller-Wieland made her 250th senior international appearance for Germany, with the victory ensuring it was a truly memorable day. “It is always nice to score, but it is for the team so it doesn’t matter who scores”, said Charlotte Stapenhorst after the match, before discussing which team she would prefer to meet in the competition final. “To be honest I don’t really care. We just want to win this thing now but we have history with England, so maybe it should be them who we meet in the final.” Stapenhorst’s desire to meet England (WR: 2) in the competition final did not materialise, as USA (WR: 6) battled back from a goal down to force a shoot-out in which goalkeeper Jackie Briggs excelled. Hannah Martin gave England the lead a minute into the second quarter, finishing off a slick passing move involving Susannah Townsend and Sophie Bray, the latter of which was making her 100th senior international appearance. USA dominated the third and fourth quarter before getting that all important goal through Jill Witmer with three minutes remaining. The shoot-out was dominated by two outstanding goalkeepers, with England’s Maddie Hinch and USA’s Briggs both only being beaten once before it went to sudden death. The winning goal came from the stick of Melissa Gonzalez – the only player to score past Hinch in the first barrage – firing into the roof of the net following another crucial save from Briggs. “I feel blessed that Jackie is in our team, I cannot say enough good things about her”, said Gonzalez after the match. “England are a great team full of world class players, so it was a big result for us.” The 5-8 play-off matches both took place ahead of the quarter-finals, with Japan (WR: 11) and India (WR: 12) being first in action. Both of Japan’s goals came courtesy of penalty corners, as Kana Nomura and Naho Ichitani put the Cherry Blossoms into a 2-0 lead before half time. India rallied in the latter stages but could not get the goals they required, with Japan reaching Saturday’s 5-6 classification match where they will face fellow World Cup qualifiers South Africa (WR: 13), conquerers of Ireland (WR: 15). The home favourites were the better team in the opening two quarters and took a deserved 1-0 lead into half time thanks to Lisa-Marie Deetlefs penalty corner. The Green Army were much improved after the break, but strikes from Bernie Coston and Lilian du Plessis – the latter arriving after Ireland replaced their goalkeeper with a kicking back – gave South Africa World Cup qualification on home soil. India and Ireland will now play-off for seventh place, which is crucial for World Ranking points and may also keep alive World Cup qualification hopes, depending on what happens in the upcoming Continental Championships. Earlier in the day, Chile (WR: 20) defeated Poland (WR: 18) 2-1 to secure a ninth place finish in the event with the Poles finishing in tenth. The men’s competition semi-finals in Johannesburg take place on Friday 21 July, with Spain playing Germany at 16:45 South Africa Standard Time (UTC +2) before a mouthwatering meeting between Belgium and Australia gets underway at 19:00. In the 5-8 play-off matches, Egypt will take on New Zealand at 12:15 while Ireland play France at 14:30 as the race for fifth place and the subsequent World Cup ticket that comes with it continues. Full coverage of the event is available on www.fih.ch, with reports, news stories, event

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