The line-up for the title match of the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025 is set with Egypt and Scotland registering impressive wins over USA and Poland respectively to earn the shot at the title and the promotion to the FIH Hockey Nations Cup that comes along with it! Losing semi-finalists USA and Poland will face off in the bronze medal match.
Earlier in the day China and Austria came away winners over Oman and Chile respectively and will play in the 5th place classification game. Oman will take on Chile in the 7th place classification match, with all matches, including the medal matches, to be played tomorrow, 23 Feb.
China 4 – 1 Oman
China came storming out of the gates in the 5-8 place classification match, scoring twice in each of the two opening quarters, all through penalty corners, against Oman who conceded 9 penalty corners in the opening half. Talal Bait scored the sole first half goal for Oman, through a bobbled touch that evaded a defender and the keeper to sneak in at the near post, as the hosts headed into the break down 4-1.
Oman put on a much better defensive shift in the second half and gained more control in the midfield to keep China away from their defensive circle, even limiting the penalty corners conceded to just one. The hosts created a couple of scoring opportunities that could have gotten them back into the tie, but neither team seemed to be able to discover their shooting sticks as a goalless second half saw the match end 4-1 in favour of China who will now play in the 5-6 place match tomorrow, while Oman will play in the 7-8 place match.
Austria 3 – 2 Chile
A watchful start from both sides led to a fascinating even battle for the opening ten minutes before Austria finally broke the deadlock with Fülöp Losonci’s drag flick from a penalty corner that took a deflection off the first rusher’s stick and wrong footed the goalkeeper who could do nothing to stop the shot from ruffling the net. Chile answered back from a penalty corner of their own, scored by Juan Amoroso in the final minute of the opening quarter. It was yet another penalty corner goal in the second quarter, this time off the stick of Nikolas Wellan, as Austria went into the half time break with a 2-1 lead.
Chile came close to equalising in the final minute of the third quarter with Felipe Richard’s shot from close range getting stuck under the Austrian goalkeeper, which resulted in a penalty corner. But Amoroso couldn’t get the accuracy from his flick and sent the ball narrowly wide of the post. Just 30 seconds later Austria made Chile pay for the miss by doubling their lead, as Adrian Fink scored from a well worked routine from pushback of the final quarter. Chile pulled one goal back through Agustin Valenzuela midway through the fourth quarter but their search for an equaliser did not yield any returns as the tie ended 3-2 in favour of the Austrians.
Benjamin Stanzl was awarded player of the match and said: “This is our 3rd win in this tournament out of 4 matches, so I am proud of the collective record. We did well today, but tomorrow if we can get our penalty conversion rate a little higher I am sure we can get 5th position in the tournament.”
Egypt 4 – 2 USA
USA started the game as the better of the two sides and their early pressure paid off as Kei Kaeppelar buried the game’s first penalty corner with a powerful drag flick. The goal seemed to jolt Egypt into action, as less than a minute later they were back level through a typical counter attack that was turned into the goal by Mohamed Nasr, after the keeper had made an initial save off Ahmed Elganaini’s shot. USA’s emerging star at the tournament, Sekayi Charasika, restored their lead in the final minute of the opening quarter but once again Egypt equalised through their first penalty corner of the game, with Klages’ initial save off the flick falling to the injector Mostafa Ragab, who turned it into the open goal with ease and with no more goals coming in the second quarter, the teams headed into the half-time break level at 2-2.
The game got edgy in the second half with both sides making sure not to overcommit in attack with a spot in the finals at stake. A goalless third quarter was followed by a frantic fourth quarter as Egypt scored first from a thunderous penalty corner by Mamdouh. As United States grew desperate in search for the equaliser, they took their goalkeeper off in the final minutes and it led to Egypt ending the game through a stellar run by star-man Ahmed Elganaini who dribbled his way past three defenders and snuck in a shot from the top of the circle while falling over, sealing their win and a place in the final!
Ahmed Elganaini was awarded player of the match and said: “We worked really hard and came here to win and qualify for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup and so far so good on that aim!”
Scotland 4 – 1 Poland
Scotland were the better side in the opening quarter but they could not find their shooting sticks from penalty corners or from open play as the teams remained locked at 0-0 after 15 minutes. The second quarter followed a similar pattern as the Scottish stringing together waves upon waves of attacks, but the Polish defence kept them at bay with the match heading into half-time without disturbing the scorers.
The pattern established in the first half continued to hold in the third quarter as Scotland provided all the attacking impetus, while the Polish stood firm in defence to keep the game level. Poland’s best chance came from a counter attack as a long aerial found Damian Jarzembowski unmarked in the Scottish circle, but his reverse shot from a tight angle was off target.
Scotland finally got the opening goal they had been searching for, early in the fourth quarter with Jamie Golden burying a penalty corner low to the keeper’s right. With Poland having to commit more players to attack in search of an equaliser, it was Scotland once again who took advantage with star forward Struan Walker receiving a long aerial, bringing the ball under his control and smashing a powerful hit beyond the keeper to double his team’s lead. Both sides traded a penalty corner goal each in a frantic final quarter, but a late fourth goal from Struan Walker ended the contest as Scotland walked away with a 4-1 win.
Jamie Golden, who scored twice for the Scottish side was awarded the player of the match and said: “Great performance from the team in a tough match-up. Not much we would have wanted to do differently today and we are going to stick with the same things tomorrow against Egypt in the final.”
FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 – 22 February 2025
Hockey Oman Venue, Muscat, Oman
Result: Match 1
China 4 – 1 Oman
Player of the match: Aliyas Al-Noufali (OMA)
Umpires: Tyler Klenk (CAN), Mohammad Ali Shahbaz (BAN)
Result: Match 2
Austria 3 – 2 Chile
Player of the match: Benjamin Stanzl (AUT)
Umpires: Hussain Al Hasani (OMA), Benjamin Messerli (SUI)
Result: Match 3
Egypt 4 – 2 USA
Player of the match: Ahmed Elganaini (EGY)
Umpires: Sourabh Rajput (IND), Clare Barwood (WAL)
Result: Match 4
Scotland 4 – 1 Poland
Player of the match: Struan Walker
Umpires: Ilanggo Kanabathu (MAS), Jayden Pearson (AUS)
