Great Britain and China will meet in the Hockey World League Semi-Final’s final after they both confirmed Olympic places in Valencia, leaving Germany and Argentina to battle for the third automatic spot on Sunday evening.
For Great Britain and China, it will be a repeat of their closely fought battle in the group stage when the former won out 2-0 with Sophie Bray sealing the deal with a pair of goals – one in the first five minutes, the other in the last five.
Whether Great Britain can repeat the feat will be their big challenge but they look in good shape to do so having won all six of their games so far in the competition, five of them courtesy of clean sheets from Maddie Hinch.
But China have saved their best form for the back-end of the competition as they followed up their quarter-final win over Ireland with a dramatic late 2-1 victory over Argentina in the semi-final.
Wang Mengyu was the heroine, plundering the winner in the closing phases of the tie with a superb drag-flick. With a defensive line-up – led by Cui Quixia – tightening up by the game, they will look to put up a similar battle in the final.
The third place playoff should be an equally exciting battle, especially as the third Olympic ticket is still on the line. Argentina were stunned by a penalty corner brace from Wang Menyu to turn the tables in their semi-final.
Now, they face a German side against whom they have a decent record in recent years, winning their last competitive meeting in the Champions Trophy 1-0 while they were also 3-0 winners in the World Cup last summer.
German coach Jamilon Mülders said meeting Argentina is “exciting” but while he says his side will be the “underdog”, he is delighted with the improvement his side has made in the past 12 months and is looking forward to the challenge.
“Our progress has been visible, though. We have stepped up since the World Cup and our way of playing is much, much better. Better for us; better to watch and the results are better. The chances we create, the corners we score is all getting better and better but Argentina is still Argentina.”
USA will meet Spain in what could be a pivotal tie in the Olympic shake-up when they battle for fifth and sixth place. The Americans produced their best performance to date when they beat Ireland 6-1 with Lauren Crandall finding her form from corners and Katie O’Donnell showed her menace from play.
Spain look set to be without Begona Garcia following a disciplinary hearing in the wake of her pair of yellow cards against South Africa. The hosts impressed early on against South Africa in their playoff game but captain Roccio Ybarra admitted they will need to improve on certain aspects of their play when they meet the world number five side.
Ireland play South Africa for seventh and eighth place at 11.30am in a repeat of day one’s action. Ireland won that one 4-1 but South Africa will be keen to finally land their first win of the competition. The Irish will be without Shirley McCay who is suspended following three yellow cards in the tournament.
