18 Feb, 2025 Day 2 of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025 witnessed more thrillers, with two strong contenders emerging in Egypt and United States, with both teams winning a second consecutive game on the trot. Egypt’s win also ensured them of a place in the semi-final that will be played on Saturday, 22 Feb, while USA are one point away from booking their place in the semi-final, as Austria’s narrow win over Scotland keeps Pool B completely open going into the final day of pool matches on Thursday, following a rest day tomorrow. China 1 – 1 Poland For the second day in a row China made a lightning quick start to the game, however, unlike against Egypt yesterday, China managed to get on the board against Poland early with Chao Jeiming scoring with a back post tap in, in the second minute of the game. While both teams created plenty of chances in the first half, no more goals were scored with both defences holding down the fort and not even conceding a penalty corner, despite multiple circle penetrations. Poland were more threatening after the break, winning 6 penalty corners over the course of the second half, but the Chinese defence, especially keeper Gu Runze stood firm and kept the Polish out until the final minute. As China looked to protect their one goal lead, Polish pressure mounted and a poor tackle by Qijun Chen with 5 seconds left on the clock gave Poland a penalty stroke which was promptly smashed in by Gracjan Jarzyński to earn Poland a crucial point at the death to take their tally to 4 points in two games. Chinese keeper Gu Runze was awarded player of the match for his stellar performance in the goal that almost led to a Chinese win, and ended up earning them their first point of the tournament. Chile 1 – 3 Egypt An end to end start to the game saw Chile capitalise, converting on their first penalty corner of the game in the 6th minute through a roaring Juan Amoroso drag flick. It took Egypt multiple circle penetrations to score their opener but when they did it was glorious with Mohamed Nasr beating 4 defenders and the goalkeeper before passing it to Ahmed Elganaini who had an open goal to tap the ball into, leveling the score at 1-1 which would hold till the half time. With a win guaranteeing a semi-final spot for Egypt, they had a huge opportunity midway through the third quarter to grab the lead through a penalty stroke, but the usually reliable Mahmoud Mamdouh put his effort wide, giving Chile a lifeline. Two penalty corner goals in the final quarter for Egypt finally put the game to bed, making Egypt the first semi-finalists at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025! Mohamed Nasr who created the opening goal for Egypt with his magical run was awarded player of the match, and speaking about his assist he said: “Ahmed and I play together a lot including in club hockey so we have a really good understanding. I knew if I could get the ball to him, he would be in the right place to finish and that’s exactly what he did.” Scotland 2 – 3 Austria Scotland were the stronger of the two European sides in the opening exchanges but it took them until the 26th minute to get the lead when Jamie Golden ripped a drag flick into the top left corner from Scotland’s third penalty corner of the game. Austria made some headway late in the final minutes of the opening half through a string of penalty corners, but Scotland’s rushing ensured they entered the half with the lead. Austria didn’t have to wait long to equalise though, with Moritz Frey finding Josef Winkler who tapped the ball into an open goal less than five minutes into the second half. They also managed to snatch the lead in the final minute of the third quarter, where a busted penalty corner attempt still led to the ball ending up with captain Steyrer who converted from close range. Fulop Losonci added a third for the Red Capricorns doubling their lead in the final quarter, and while Golden scored his second to half the deficit, Scotland couldn’t find the equaliser, giving all three points in the crucial tie to Austria. USA 4 – 0 Oman Following a 10-1 loss on opening day, Oman were heavy underdogs coming into the game against USA, who looked amongst the strongest contenders on day one. But Oman gave a much better account of themselves in the opening half against USA, especially in the midfield where they played with much better control. USA still managed to get into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead, but Oman had a great chance to go level with a few seconds left in the half from a penalty corner, which was cleared off the line after an almighty scramble. Two trends from their opening match followed USA into the second game. First it was a missed penalty stroke that could have doubled their lead early in the third quarter. The second one was more positive however with Sekayi Charasika scoring from a penalty corner for a second game in a row, doubling the Americans lead in the third quarter. Charasika added a second and Motta scored in the final minute as USA came away with the three points, and just one point away from securing a semi-final spot. Sekayi Charasika was awarded the player of the match and gave a shout-out to his teammates, saying: “Really proud and happy at how the group welcomed me into the fold over the past couple of months. We started training together in December and to start the tournament with 2 wins in 2 games is a real pleasure.” To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2, click here. FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 – 18

Continue Reading →

17 Feb, 2025 The opening day of the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025 got off to a blistering start with all 8 teams in action across 4 games that saw a combined total of 25 goals scored! In Pool A Egypt and Poland got off to winning starts, with both sides claiming three points in close encounters against China and Chile respectively. The scoreline in Poland’s 4-0 win over Chile was particularly deceptive with the game hanging on a knife’s edge until a late flurry by the Polish side. In Pool B, USA and Austria faced off in another tight battle with USA impressing in attack, but their failure to convert on a plethora of big chances meant they had to rely on their equally amazing defence in the final quarter to come away 1-0 winners. The last game of the day saw hosts Oman face off against Scotland in what turned out to be a one-sided contest with the visitors stunning the hosts with a huge 10-1 win. Egypt 5 – 4 China China started the game on the front foot creating two circle penetrations within the first two minutes, but it was Egypt who scored first through Ahmed Elganaini, catching the Chinese out with a quick counter attack, to score the first goal in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 history! China stormed back in the second quarter with two quick fire goals to take the lead, but Egypt would not go away and two goals in the final minute of the half gave them a 3-2 lead and all the momentum going into the break. The teams continued to trade goals in the second half with China striking first to pull level, but Egypt blitzed again late in the third quarter to add two more goals and build a lead they would not lose till the final whistle. Although China made the African side sweat by pulling within one goal late in the final quarter, Egypt held on to win 5-4 and take all three points from the opening encounter. Ahmed Elganaini was awarded player of the match for his two goals that helped get Egypt over the line. Chile 0 – 4 Poland The second match of the day ushered in a more controlled style of hockey following the breathtaking action of match one. Poland were dominant in the opening half but it took them until the 17th minute to make their possession count with Tomasz Bembenek opening the scoring through a penalty corner and that would be the only goal to be scored in the opening 30 as both teams felt each other out without committing to an all out attack. Penalty corners once again proved to be the difference in the third quarter as Poland capitalised and scored from their third corner of the game, Chile failed to convert their own PCs, allowing Poland to take a 2-goal lead into the final quarter. Poland finished the game off with a second penalty corner goal of the half from Maksymilian Koperski and a field goal from Mikolaj Gumny to come away comfortable 4-0 winners from the Pool A match-up. Mateusz Popiołkowski was awarded player of the match for his stellar performance in the goal for Poland and said: “Around 10 players in the squad today have come from the Indoor Hockey World Cup and we wanted to show we can compete just as well in the outdoors as well, so we are proud of the big result to open the tournament.” Austria 0 – 1 USA USA made a fast start to the game scoring through an early penalty corner by Sekayi Charasika in the 6th minute, but much of the first half was played with the teams playing watchfully. The teams traded spells of possession without causing either defence much headache. Austria couldn’t trouble USA keeper Klages from their two penalty corners in the second quarter as the United Wolves took a slender lead into the half-time break. USA had a spectacular third quarter, creating multiple chances including a penalty stroke taken by Aki Kaeppeler, but failed to convert any of them, with Austrian keeper Jakob Kastner starring for the Red Capricorns. Austria came back with a much better final quarter but the USA defence, particularly their penalty corner defence with some incredible rushing and last line keeping by Jonathan Klages helped them maintain their 1-0 lead and get to the final whistle to pick up the crucial 3 points in the Pool B. Jack Heldens was awarded player of the match and said: “We are thrilled to be here and we left everything out there on the pitch today, so glad the result came our way. All credit to the team for playing so hard and sticking to the plans.” Scotland 10 – 1 Oman The final game of the day saw hosts Oman take on Scotland in the Pool B encounter. Before Oman could settle into the game, Scotland had blitzed them multiple times to win penalty corners galore and by the time the first half ended, the visitors had run up the score to 7-0 with five penalty corner goals and two field goals virtually sealing the three points for them by the time the half-time hooter sounded. Scotland added two more goals in the third quarter with Andrew McConnell completing his hat-trick of goals from penalty corners and Ali Douglas flying in to put the finishing touches to a great team move by the Scottish. Oman finally got on the board in the final quarter scoring via an Ammaar Al Shaaibi drag flick from a penalty corner, but the goal counted for little more than consolation, especially with Craig Falconer adding a late goal for the Scottish side taking their goal tally into the double digits. Struan Walker was awarded the player of the match and said: “We are buzzing after the performance. We are a particularly young team with some players

Continue Reading →