The men’s quarter-finals were dominated by the teams who had played in Pool A in the group stage, with all four teams making their way through to the semi-finals.
Spain had finished first in the pool, and sailed past the fourth-placed team from Pool B, Zambia, with double digits. Second placed Australia equally had little difficulty to get past Mexico.
Third-ranked Canada were in for an epic battle with Pakistan. A total of fourteen goals in regulation time were not enough to separate the teams, with Pakistan scoring in the very last minute to force the Challenge Shoot-out. There, Canada kept their cool and took the crucial win.
Lastly, the South African men stunned Pool B champions New Zealand in a tense encounter. In a match that could have turned at any given moment, a hattrick by Nqobile Ntuli bought the Africans a ticket into the semi-finals.
On the women’s side, the Pool A teams also dominated, with the Netherlands, Argentina and Japan moving through to the next stage with ease.
Only Pool B Champions China could make their way into the semi-finals, much to the joy of the home team’s numerous fans.
Results
Women
Netherlands – Germany 8:1 (1:1; 4:1)
Uruguay – Argentina 0:9 (0:4; 0:4)
China – South Africa 7:1 (3:1; 7:1)
Japan – New Zealand 7:1 (3:0; 5:1)
Men
Spain – Zambia 10:1 (3:0; 6:0)
Pakistan – Canada 7:7 (1:2; 3:5) – Challenge Shoot-out 2:3
Australia – Mexico 8:1 (1:0; 4:0)
New Zealand – South Africa 0:3 (0:1; 0:2)
You can keep up to speed on all of the action from the 2014 Youth Olympic Games on the official event website - www.nanjing2014.org, with hockey specific info available by clicking here. To learn more about the Youth Olympic Games, click here.
