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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The first day of crossovers at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 produced drama aplenty as Spain and New Zealand sealed their quarterfinal berths with shoot-out wins, in the sudden death stage, against Malaysia and India respectively. Spain will now take on Australia in the quarterfinals, while New Zealand will face Belgium, with both matches to be played in Bhubaneswar. Malaysia and India head into the 9-16 classification matches, which will take place in Rourkela. Match 1: Malaysia vs Spain 2-2 (shoot-out: 3-4) Malaysia were under pressure early in the first quarter and were lucky to go into the 2nd quarter at level footing, having survived a couple of big chances, particularly when Enrique Gonzalez hit the crossbar from a couple of metres out. Malaysia started to get on the front foot a bit more in the second quarter but neither team was able to carve out any high quality scoring opportunity in the 15 minutes, and as the half-time whistle blew, the teams remained tied on 0-0. The second half burst into action as Malaysia showed why they are such a big threat on the attack as a long pass from inside his own half, by Faiz Jali, found form man Faizal Saari who received the ball in his stride just outside the Spanish circle and unleashed a powerful shot on the reverse to beat Adrian Rafi. The goal sprung Spain into action and they committed more players to the attack. Spain equalised through a Marc Miralles penalty stroke in the 41st minute and snatched the lead a minute later as a mesmerising run by Pere Amat led to a cross which was turned into an empty goal by Gispert at the far post, leaving Malaysia to chase the game in the final quarter. The final quarter started with Malaysia thinking they had equalised through Amirul Azahar inside 20 seconds, but Spain reviewed and a backstick in the build up to the goal reversed the goal. Three minutes later though Malaysia did score through Shello Silverius and there was no doubt about the validity of the goal this time, setting up an exciting final 10 minutes. Spain earned a flurry of penalty corners over the final minutes, but their attempted drag flicks were saved each time by a combination of good first rushing and calm keeping, taking the first knockout game of the event into a shoot-out! The teams could not be separated through the first 5 attempts in the shoot-out as the game moved to sudden death. Marc Miralles scored his first for Spain and Mario Garin, who was brought on by the red sticks to keep in the shoot-outs, stepped up and saved the Malaysian attempt to earn his team the win and a spot in the quarterfinals! Marc Miralles was awarded player of the match and said: “Well played to Malaysia as well, we know this is a very tough way to lose a game. Really happy with our team’s performance throughout, coming back from a goal down to get the win and move on is great for us.” Match 2: India vs New Zealand 3-3 (SO: 4-5) India were dominant in the first quarter in terms of territory and possession but in terms of big chances, the teams were level at one apiece. New Zealand were the first to get a good shot on target, but Sreejesh was quick to step out, make himself big and make the save. Harmanpreet, who scored his first penalty corner goal in the game against Wales, nearly saw his first penalty corner break the goal-line, but a save on the line by Simon Child, kept the scores tied to end the first quarter. New Zealand had a huge chance to start the second quarter, but the shot attempt by Morrison went narrowly wide and India capitalised soon with a quick counter, that was smashed in from the right by Lalit, who was smartly found on the counter by Shamsher. India added a second goal midway through the second quarter as a Harmanpreet drag flick was saved by the keeper, but the rebound looped up in the air and Sukhjeet was the first to get to it and smash the high volley into an open goal. The black sticks had their best opportunity to score just before the half as Findlay found Child on the left baseline and his pass across the face of the Indian goal was tapped in by Sam Lane to bring New Zealand back into the game. Both teams traded a goal each in the third quarter, with India scoring first through a Varun Kumar penalty corner that snuck through the legs of Dixon, but New Zealand pulled back to within one again with Kane Russell beating Sreejesh from a penalty corner of his own, setting up an incredible final quarter of action. India retreated into the defence to begin the fourth quarter while New Zealand turned up the heat. India conceded a penalty corner in the 50th minute and while the attempted flick from Russell did not make the contact he wanted, the follow up shot by Lane was brilliantly turned in by Findlay, with his back to the goal. The final 10 minutes were filled with non-stop action as India failed to capitalise on their penalty corner opportunities, while Krishan Pathak was brilliant in stopping New Zealand shots on target, including once in the final second of the game to take the game to a shoot-out. The shoot-out was a nervous affair all over again with 18 shoot-out attempts required to separate the two sides. Both New Zealand and India had 2 attempts where a goal would’ve won the game for them, but Hiha and Lane missed for New Zealand, while Harmanpreet and Sukhjeet missed their possible match winning attempts for India. On the 17th attempt, Sam Lane gave New Zealand the lead and Shamsher, who had missed once earlier, stepped up again, but his attempt was well saved by Hayward,

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21 January, 2023 The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is thrilled to announce that it has signed a partnership with JSP Foundation for its development programs. FIH will be working closely with JSP Foundation for some of its key initiatives for hockey development over the coming months. This partnership will also see the JSP Foundation coming onboard the ongoing FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela as a Global Partner. “We’re delighted to welcoming JSP Foundation as global partner for this absolutely thrilling FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, magnificently organised here in Odisha, as well as for our hockey development activities. On behalf of FIH, I’d like to extend our sincerest thanks to JSP Foundation. We look forward to a superb collaboration!”, said FIH President Tayyab Ikram. “It has been a matter of great pride and privilege for the nation to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup. Hockey has deep foundation touching and binding millions across the country. At JSP Foundation, we are committed to bringing the social change through sustainable development for the people and for the nation at large in-turn making a difference to millions at the ground level. People of this nation are the common factor for our partnership with FIH for the ongoing Men’s Hockey World Cup and we are proud of Hockey as the Sports of our Nation’s passion. We congratulate Govt of Odisha for nurturing Hockey consistently and organising World Cup Hockey in this magnificent scale second time consecutively”, said Shallu Jindal , Chairperson JSP Foundation On this momentous occasion, agency that stitched this exciting partnership, Creatigies Communications, complimented both FIH and JSP Foundation for this partnership. “At Creatigies, over the last 2 decades, we have been at the forefront of getting consumer and business brands to partner with a wide range of sports sponsorships and partnerships. It gives us great pleasure to enable JSP Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the cause of Humanity ride on a Global sports event like the FIH Odisha Hockey Men`s World Cup and use this association to further collaborate to partner hockey development programs around the world.”, said Navroze D. Dhondy, Founder and Managing Director, Creatigies. The 15th edition of FIH’s flagship event for men is being played from 13 to 29 January in Odisha, India. All information about the tournament is available on www.worldcup.hockey. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #HWC2023 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites

Day 7 of FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 brought the conclusion of the group stage action from Pool A and Pool B, as Australia and Belgium topped their groups, booking their quarterfinals spots, while Argentina, France, Germany and Korea now move on to the crossovers. Incredibly, all 4 games saw at least one player score a hat-trick, with the second game between France and Argentina producing two, as Blake Govers (AUS), Victor Charlet (FRA), Nicolas della Torre (ARG), Tom Boon (BEL) and Niklas Wellen (GER) all scored at least thrice for their teams! A total of 38 goals were scored across the 4 games on the day, for a whopping average of 9.5 goals per game! In the opening game of the day, Australian attack showed out in the first half going into the break up 7-1 to put the result beyond much doubt. South Africa gave a better account of themselves in the second half but Australia still ran out comfortable winners with a 9-2 final scoreline. Argentina and France then played in an absolute thriller that included 2 goals scored by the teams in the final 53 seconds! The game ended 5-5 which kept Argentina above France in the final pool standings, as both teams head into the crossovers. In Pool B, Belgium handled their business first registering an impressive 7-1 win over Japan, with star striker Tom Boon opening his account in the World Cup with a 5-goal performance, taking Belgium’s goal difference to +11. Germany faced Korea in the final encounter, needing to win by 9 goals to overtake Belgium in the Pool B standings and earn direct entry into the quarterfinals, but an impressive 7-2 was not enough as they join Korea in heading to the crossovers from Pool B. Match 1: Australia vs South Africa 9-2 After a brief hiccup in their game against Argentina, Australia were back to their scoring best right from the first whistle in the game against South Africa. Blake Govers who scored the all important equaliser against Argentina was on fire, scoring 4 times in the first half to go level with Jip Janssen and Thierry Brinkman on the top scorer list. South Africa did manage to get on level terms after Australia’s opener, but Australia added 6 goals in between the 10th and 28th minute to make the South African equaliser in the 8th minute seem like a distant memory by the time the half time whistle blew. Jeremy Hayward added an 8th for Australia in the 32nd minute, but that would be the only goal scored in the 3rd quarter as South Africa tightened their defence. Tevin Kok had a great opportunity to score a goal as the time expired in the 3rd quarter, but his attempted lob over the keeper sailed over the goal. South Africa’s resurgence continued in the final quarter as well, as Tim Brand’s early 4th quarter goal was cancelled off by a late goal by Tevin Kok to keep the scoring in the final quarter balanced. Blake Govers was awarded player of the match for his 4-goal performance and said: “We got our goals early which was good because we weren’t very tidy in our performance in the second half. Overall it has been a good start to the World Cup.” Match 2: France vs Argentina 5-5 France have been a bogey team for Argentina in recent years earning important wins against the Leones in the 2018 World Cup, as well as the FIH Hockey Pro League in 2022. With France coming into the game off a big win against South Africa, and Argentina coming off an impressive draw against Australia, the stage was set for another high pressure encounter. And the teams delivered on the promise early, with Argentina scoring early in the 3rd minute through Nicolas Keenan, and France answering back in the 11th minute through Etienne Tynevez, as the teams went into the half on level terms. Momentum swung multiple times in the 3rd quarter as Argentina scored early to take the lead through Nicolas della Torre, before France snatched the lead back through a Victor Charlet brace. della Torre scored once again from a penalty corner to bring Argentina back level, setting up an exciting final quarter. Both teams traded a goal each in the 4th quarter and the game looked like it was heading for a draw when France won a penalty stroke with just 53 seconds left in the game, which was dispatched once again by Charlet, for his fourth goal of the game! Argentina, unwilling to give up, earned a string of penalty corners in the final seconds and scored with 6 seconds left on the clock to lock up the second spot in the group, as France finished third. Victor Charlet was awarded player of the match and said: “Good to get a hattrick but I would have preferred a win. We really wanted to finish second in the group, but we will take the confidence from this performance on to the next game.” Match 3: Belgium vs Japan 7-1 With a draw in the previous game against Germany, Belgium needed a big win against Japan to try and seal their spot at the top of Pool B and earn direct qualification to the quarterfinals, and a first half hat trick by Tom Boon gave them a 4-goal lead by the end of first half, and increased their goal difference to +9, with another 30 minutes to further extend their lead over Germany, who had a +3 goal difference with one game to go in the final match of the day against Korea. Japan had a much better start to the second half, keeping Belgium out in the 3rd quarter and scoring their first of the game early in the 4th. But Belgium had a much better finish to the game scoring thrice in the final 10 minutes, including 2 more goals for Tom Boon, to win with a 6 goal

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