21 Jun, 2025 Five first-half goals proved decisive for New Zealand to overwhelm Pakistan in the final of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The dominant Black Sticks added one more goal in the second half to secure a 6-2 victory, and with that, their second consecutive title and the opportunity to step up to the top-tier FIH Hockey Pro League. In the playoff for the bronze medal, it was France who prevailed against Korea in a shootout while Wales beat hosts Malaysia to secure fifth place, and Japan came out on top in the playoff for seventh against former Nations Cup champions South Africa. Pakistan 2 – 6 New Zealand The tone was set early, with New Zealand twice finding the back of the net in the opening minutes, only for both goals to be disallowed. Still, they kept up the pressure and eventually broke through when Scott Cosslett converted a penalty corner to open the scoring. Just as Pakistan began to finally find their rhythm and enjoy some possession, New Zealand struck again, Jonty Elmes setting up Sam Hiha to double their lead. Early in the second quarter, a long pass into the circle found Dylan Thomas, who reacted quickest to a rebound off the keeper to make it 3-0. Sean Findlay then blasted in a fourth after receiving an aerial pass just inside the circle and somehow slotting it in from the sharpest of angles. Just under 10 minutes later, the Black Sticks were at it again when a lifted ball came off the Pakistani goalkeeper, and Scott Boyde was on hand to swat it home, sending the New Zealanders into the half-time break with a commanding 5-0 lead. Left with a mountain to climb in the second half, Pakistan finally got off the mark in the 33rd minute when Moin Shakeel found the back of the net from close range. Suddenly the men in green sparked to life, creating far more chances and looking threatening. But the New Zealand defence stood firm. The Kiwis added one more goal from a penalty corner in the final three minutes of the match, Cosslett’s second successful drag flick, to rub salt in Pakistan’s wounds. Sufyan Khan then found one last consolation for Pakistan off a penalty corner of their own to make the 6-2 scoreline slightly more respectable. New Zealand’s Nic Woods was named player of the match and said: “It’s nice to have one of those games where things just come together and it all clicked today. So I’m very happy that it happened in the final and very happy for our success, and looking forward to what we can accomplish together.” France 3 – 3 Korea (SO: 3-2) France and Korea reignited their rivalry in the bronze medal match, both sides seeking consolation after painful shootout defeats in the semifinals. Fittingly, their battle was once again settled in a shootout, with France emerging victorious to claim third place. The opening quarter was evenly contested until the final seconds, when Louis Haertelmeyer worked his way into the circle and crossed to Benjamin Marqué who fired into the top of the net for a 1-0 French lead. Korea hit back early in the second quarter through a powerful Jihun Yang drag flick from their first penalty corner. With just under five minutes left in the half, a French penalty corner chance went awry, but Viktor Lockwood drove the ball back into the circle with Xavier Esmenjaud’s superb deflection then restoring the lead at 2-1 before the break. France appeared to control much of the third quarter, but with just 28 seconds remaining, Korea earned their second penalty corner of the match. Dohyun Lim maintained their perfect conversion rate, firing home to make it two from two and bring the sides level once again. The Koreans then extended that record with another penalty corner goal from Yang early in the final period to take the lead for the first time. But the French responded immediately with a goal from Corentin Sellier a minute later. The Koreans earned a late penalty corner with under five minutes to go, but this time it did not go their way, and the French held their nerve to clinch the win in the ensuing shootout. Korea’s Dohyun Lim was named player of the match and said: “I am grateful for this award but since we lost the match, I don’t feel that great.” Wales 2 – 1 Malaysia Wales claimed a narrow victory over hosts Malaysia in an entertaining encounter to secure fifth place in the tournament. The first quarter saw action at both ends, with several opportunities in front of goal. It was Malaysia who capitalised in the second period, when Sayed Cholan unleashed a powerful drag flick from a penalty corner that blazed into the bottom left corner, handing the hosts a 1–0 lead. Although Wales enjoyed more possession in the second quarter, the Malaysians looked more threatening on attack. By the third period, Wales had gained control, though. With just over three minutes left in the quarter, Jack Pritchard initially mis-trapped a Welsh penalty corner but recovered quickly, took the ball into the circle, and hammered a shot towards goal. Rhys Bradshaw was perfectly positioned to deflect it in for the equaliser. Wales kept up the momentum in the final quarter, and with just over 10 minutes to play, they struck again from a penalty corner. This time Gareth Furlong fired a low drag flick into the bottom left corner to edge his side 2-1 ahead. The home team launched a late push and thought they had salvaged a dramatic equaliser with just eight seconds left on the clock. However, the goal was ruled out on review, and Wales held on for the win. Daniel Kyriakides of Wales was named player of the match and said: “We were gutted not to make the semi-finals. In our group games, there were crucial little moments that we missed

Continue Reading →

20 Jun, 2025 Lausanne, Switzerland – The first day of a new stage of the Nations Cup did not disappoint as the ranking games added an extra element of risk and reward for each team. Dramatic finishes, huge celebrations and impressive goalscoring sent the tournament into tomorrow’s final games on an exciting high. Wales and Japan opened the day’s play in the 5th-8th place play-offs and, not for the first time in the competition, Wales took a strong lead. Unlike the previous games, however, they held onto their advantage to pick up their first win of the tournament and progress to the 5th/6th place play-off. Japan will head into the 7th/8th place play-off to face South Africa, both sides hoping that first win will help them avoid a last-placed finish. Hosts Malaysia bounced back from Wednesday’s disappointment to beat South Africa 4-2 in a convincing performance that puts them into a final game against Wales to battle for 5th place. Pakistan roared back against France in the first semi-final, causing a real upset in beating Les Bleus 3-2 on penalties. Led by the mercurial creative powers of Waheeb Ashraf Rana, Pakistan will be playing for a spot in the FIH Men’s Pro League against New Zealand in the final. The Blacksticks won a penalty shootout of their own, beating Korea despite a strong comeback thanks to the impressive Korean penalty corner battery. The 3rd/4th place play-off will be a repeat of the incredible Day 1 game that finished 6-5 between France and Korea. Wales 6-4 Japan Both sides began the 5th-8th place play-offs searching for their first win. Wales’s Fred Newbold opened the scoring on his reverse in the ninth minute, smartly beating Kisho Kuroda at his near post. Japan responded four minutes into the second quarter with a penalty corner excellently guided between ‘keeper and left-post defender by a diving Ryoma Ooka. Less than a minute later, however, and Wales had a deflection of their own after Joylon Morgan got a stick to Gareth Furlong’s penetrating slap to re-establish the Welsh lead. As the first-half neared its close, Japan won another penalty corner, one that was mis-trapped, passed back and across the circle before Koji Yamasaki volleyed a forehand hit across goal to equalise going into half-time. Two minutes into the second half and the goals started to flow even more freely. Kazumasa Matsumoto’s rifled shot clattered against the backboard to give Japan a lead and, just a few possessions later, Sam Welsh knocked in another Welsh goal to make it 3-3. The goal, coming from Jack Pritchard’s explosive spinning assist, lifted Wales to find the lead again, this time Morgan slicing a reverse bunt over the ‘keeper. Koji Yamasaki was shown a yellow card with a minute left in the third quarter and Wales capitalised, Joylon Morgan getting a bit of fortune for his hat-trick goal as his cross-goal slap pinballed its way over the goalline. The final quarter saw a Gareth Furlong drag-flick and a Kosei Kawabe consolation cancel each other out to leave the score 6-4 and send Wales through to the 5th-6th place play-off with their first win of the tournament. Joylon Morgan’s hat-trick earned him Player of the Match and he celebrated his side’s progression: “[We’re] pretty happy, it was a tough game – we knew Japan were a good team. The most important thing was just to get through, it’s our first win of the tournament so [we’re] very happy.” Malaysia 4-2 South Africa After a gut-wrenching failure to qualify for Malaysia, the host nation came into the game with work to do and fans to recompense. They struck first with a minute left in the first quarter, as Syed Cholan slugged a rapid drag-flick against the backboard from Malaysia’s third penalty corner. Into the second quarter, again with a minute until the end of the period, South Africa quickly turned over a Malaysian counter-attack and sent the ball deep into the hosts’ half. A defensive fumble in the circle fell to Angelo Walstroom who confidently equalised. After gifting an equalising goal to the South Africans, Malaysia took charge of the game in the third quarter as Shafiq Hassan wrestled in a chance created by the scything carry of Chohan and good skill from Abu Kamal Azrai. Hassan created the next one himself, cutting infield and shooting before Akhimullah Anuar bumbled the ball over the line to extend the hosts’ lead. South Africa threatened another comeback in the final quarter as Carlon Mentoor’s firm slap found the bottom corner but Fitri Saari’s ended the scrappy play in the circle by restoring Malaysia’s two-goal lead. South Africa will have to wait for their first win of the tournament but will hope to get it tomorrow against Japan. Player of the Match went to Goalkeeper Hafizzudin Othman for his solid shot-stopping. After receiving the award, he said: “Today [was a] tough match. We worked hard to play for fifth and sixth place.” France 3 (2) – 3 (3) Pakistan France, after a strong showing in the pool stages, faced Pakistan in the first semi-final and the most exciting game of the day. The first quarter remained goalless despite five penalty corners being exchanged, one for Pakistan, four for France. In the second quarter, Xavier Esmenjaud threw himself forward with an outstretched stick to put Les Bleus in the lead, touching in a ball across goal. Early in the second half, France doubled their lead, as the inevitable Victor Charlet converted France’s fifth penalty corner to give France a real boost towards the final. Pakistan roared back into the game, however, overturning France the dominance and control as Waheed Ashraf Rana set up Afraz’s slap shot before both erupted into celebrations that marked the shift in momentum. Sufyan Khan joined the party, letting fly an unsaveable drag-flick into the top left corner and finding parity with the French. A minute later, Muhammad Hammadudin fantastically deflected in Rana’s flat reverse hit to go 3-2 up. Victor

Continue Reading →

19 Jun, 2025 The final day of pool matches at the inaugural FIH Nations Cup 2 delivered exactly what was expected—high stakes, end-to-end action, heartbreak, and elation. With all four games impacting the race for the semi-finals, it was a day where every goal mattered. France and Uruguay topped their groups, while Wales edged through on goal difference, and hosts Poland delighted the home crowd by keeping their dream alive. Italy 4-0 Czechia Italy left it late to turn on the style, but when they did, they delivered a statement performance with four unanswered goals in the second half to keep their semi-final hopes alive, pending the result between France and Wales. After a goalless and frustrating first half, Maria Lunghi reacted quickest to a penalty corner save to break the deadlock. Guadalope Moras doubled the lead with a wonderful reverse stick strike before Ailin Oviedo and Victoria Cabut added a pair of penalty corner finishes to secure a dominant win. Player of the Match Lunghi reflected: “We are very happy to get the win, we worked together well today. We now will watch the France game and hope that we can be in the semi-final.” Wales 1-2 France Already assured of a semi-final place, France maintained their perfect record, but the real story was Wales, who, despite defeat, celebrated semi-final qualification thanks to a crucial goal that gave them a better goal difference than Italy. Ines Lardeur’s clinical finish opened the scoring before Yohanna Lhopital’s rocket reverse doubled the French lead, much to the groans of Italian fans. But when Lily Roberts redirected a pinpoint ball into the goal, it meant Wales had done just enough to sneak through. France’s Lucie Ehrmann shared: “It wasn’t our prettiest hockey, but we stayed composed and focused on the task. We’ll continue our preparation as we have, it’s working well so far!” Uruguay 4-2 Malaysia Needing only a draw, Uruguay pushed for more and got it with a composed and confident performance that booked their place in the final four. A brace from Manuela Quinones was the highlight of a clinical showing. Quinones opened the scoring before Manuela Vilar converted from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Malaysia showed fight through two goals from Nur Azhar, but Uruguay always had a response, first via Barrandeguy and then Quinones again with a sharp penalty corner finish. Lupe Curutchague summed it up: “We worked and fought together superbly. We wanted it more, I think, and we are delighted to be in the semi-finals!” South Africa 2-3 Poland A must-win clash for both sides saw hosts Poland edge a thrilling battle to grab the final semi-final spot and send South Africa into the 5–8 bracket. Quanita Bobbs gave South Africa a dream start, scoring inside the first minute. But Poland hit back almost instantly through Hanna Wochna and added two more via Oliwia Krychniak and a Sandra Tatarczuk penalty stroke. Daniella de Oliveira’s first international goal gave South Africa hope, but they couldn’t find the equaliser in the closing stages. Polish captain Marlena Rybacha said: “We didn’t necessarily expect this. Like the Indoor World Cup, we’re a team that fights and defends to win. There’s more to come for Polish hockey.” To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2, click here. FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 – 19 June 2025 Walcz, Poland (POL) Result: Match 1 Italy 4-0 Czechia Player of the match: Maria Lunghi (ITA) Umpires: Sharne Meyers (ZIM), Yogita Pasi (IND) Result: Match 2 Wales 1-2 France Player of the match: Lucie Ehrmann (FRA) Umpires: Ilaria Amorosini (ITA), Meghan McLennan(CAN) Result: Match 3 Uruguay 4-2 Malaysia Player of the match: Lupe Curutchague (URU) Umpires: Kelly-Anne Foskin (NZL), Teresa Lipsky (GER) Result: Match 4 South Africa 2-3 Poland Player of the match: Hannah Wochna (POL) Umpires: Jamie Telfer (SCO), Sarah Craig (IRL)