The semifinals at the Samsung Hockey Indoor World Cup will be an all European affair here in Vienna, Austria. In both the men's and women's competition, all teams playing in Saturday's semifinals are coming from Europe. Germany and Spain are the top countries, with both a men's and women's team playing for the medals.
The last day of the preliminary pool phase was the day of decisions here in the Stadthalle of Vienna, where more than 2'500 spectators enjoyed high level indoor hockey. After Germany already booked their semifinal places on Thursday, the other teams were still fighting hard for the last Final Four vacancies.
In the men's Samsung Indoor World Cup, Czech Republic joined Germany as the semifinalist from Pool A. The Czech team defeated Trinidad & Tobago 6-1. This was enough to claim the second place in this group.
Pool B was more exciting, as three teams were fighting for two places in the semifinals. The final match of the preliminary round was the deciding one, when Poland met host Austria. The Austrian team had to win to proceed to the semifinals. A very tight match ended in a 4-4 draw. With this result, Poland remained undefeated and took the Pool B victory.
The draw opened up the way to the Final Four for Spain. The Spanish team secured the second place in Pool 2 with a 8-3 victory over Italy. In Saturday's semifinals, Germany will meet Spain, while Poland will play against Czech Republic.
In the women's Samsung Indoor World Cup, everything was already clear at the end of Friday morning. Ukraine joined Germany as the semifinalists coming out of Pool A. The Eastern European formation defeated Australia 8-5 to take the second place behind the defending World Champion.
In Pool B, Netherlands and Spain both won four matches in a row here in Vienna. The direct confrontation Friday afternoon was only to decide who would proceed to the Final Four as pool winner. It was Netherlands that took a victory (5-3) over the Spanish team and will proceed to the semifinal as group winner.
In the semifinals of the Women's Samsung Indoor World Cup, Germany faces Spain and Netherlands will compete against Ukraine for a place in Sunday's gold medal match.
Action here in Vienna continues on Saturday with the semifinals in both the men's and women's Samsung Indoor World Cup scheduled. The finals will take place on Sunday.
For more information, including live scores, photos, match sheets and tournament news, click here.
Samsung Hockey Indoor World Cup
Results Friday 16 February 2007
Place: Stadthalle Vienna, Austria
Spectators: 2'600.
Men, pool A:
Russia ÔÇô Switzerland 12:6 (4:4)
Czech Republic ÔÇô Trinidad & Tobago 6:1 (5:0)
Australia ÔÇô Germany 1:5 (0:2)
Men, pool B:
Italy ÔÇô Canada 2:5 (1:2)
South Africa ÔÇô Poland 2:9 (0:7)
South Africa ÔÇô Canada 3:5 (0:3)
Italy ÔÇô Spain 3:8 (1:5)
Poland ÔÇô Austria 4:4 (2:2)
Semifinal schedule:
Germany ÔÇô Spain
Poland ÔÇô Czech Republic
Women, pool A:
Ukraine ÔÇô Australia 8:5 (2:2)
Germany ÔÇô Scotland 13:0 (6:0)
Italy ÔÇô Czech Republic 1:1 (0:0)
Women, pool B:
Canada ÔÇô Spain 0:2 (0:0)
Netherlands ÔÇô Belarus 5:2 (2:2)
Spain ÔÇô Netherlands 3:5 (1:4)
Austria ÔÇô Belarus 2:3 (1:2)
Canada ÔÇô South Africa 4:3 (3:1)
Semifinal schedule:
Germany ÔÇô Spain
Netherlands ÔÇô Ukraine
