The final round of Pool matches at the Indoor Hockey World Cup were played during the first session of the Friday schedule, confirming the quarter-final line-ups in both the men’s and the women’s competitions.
Ukraine became the eighth and final team to reach the quarter-finals as the Pool phase of the women’s Indoor Hockey World Cup came to an end on Friday morning. The Ukrainians joined Germany, Netherlands, Australia and Austria as qualifiers from Pool A, with Netherlands, Belarus, Czech Republic and Poland reaching the last eight from Pool B.
The women’s quarter-final matches – which are being live streamed on the FIH You Tube Channel - take place this afternoon. Pool A runners up Australia face Pool B’s third placed team Czech Republic at 1630 (UTC / GMT +1), with Pool B runners-up Belarus playing Austria, who finished third in Pool A at 1800. Home favourites and Pool A winners Germany butt heads with Pool B’s fourth ranked team Poland at 1930 before Pool B winners Netherlands clash with Ukraine, who finished fourth in Pool A, at 2100.
Germany, Russia and Poland are the only teams who remain unbeaten in the competition and are joined in the last eight by Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Iran. The men’s quarter-final matches take place on Saturday, with Austria facing Poland (0900 UTC/GMT+1), Netherlands playing Sweden (1030), Germany butting-heads with Switzerland (1200) and Russia meeting Iran (1330).
Here is a quick summary of the first session of play on Day 3.
Women’s Pool A: Host nation Germany emerged as 5-1 winners in the big Pool A clash against Australia, a result which secured their place at the top of the Pool ahead of the team from Oceania. Ukraine’s safe passage was confirmed with a 2-2 draw against Austria. Canada finished bottom of the Pool but each claimed their first point of the tournament with a 2-2 draw against Belgium, who finished fifth.
Women’s Pool B: The Netherlands maintained their devastating form to finish top of the Pool with a 6-3 win against Poland, who finished fourth in Pool B. Belarus finished second in the Pool after turning on the style to hammer third place finishers Czech Republic 7-0, leapfrogging their opponents in the process. As in Pool A, the bottom sides in Pool B claimed their first tournament points as South Africa and Kazakhstan played out a 5-5 draw.
To keep track of all the details from the women’s competition, click here.
Men’s Pool A: Pool A winners Germany made it five wins out of five with another convincing display by beating Australia 9-4, with the Aussies finishing bottom of the table. Austria finished second in Pool A but were disappointed by their 2-2 draw against Czech Republic. Sweden grabbed a place in the quarter-finals with a remarkable 10-8 victory over Iran, who finished level on points with Czech Republic but qualified for the quarters due to more wins. Sweden’s Björkman brothers had a massive influence on the game, with Johan netting five times with brother Joakim scoring a hat-trick.
Men’s Pool B: A brilliant treble from Alexander Zhirkov inspired Russia to a 5-4 triumph over the Netherlands, a result which sees them finish at the top of Pool B ahead of their opponents. Triple World Indoor Silver medallists Poland may have finished third in the Pool but remain unbeaten going into the quarter-finals, having completed their Pool B campaign with a 6-3 win over bottom-placed Canada. Fourth place in the Pool went to Switzerland, who defeated South Africa 4-1 thanks in part to a double strike from Manuel Keller.
To keep track of all the details from the men’s competition, click here.
Website
Full coverage of the events will be available via www.fih.ch with live streaming of key matches from the quarter-final stage being available in most territories.
You Tube - Live from Friday
The FIH You Tube channel will become active from the quarter-finals, with highlights of key matches being posted as soon as they become available. To visit our You Tube channel, click the link below:
www.youtube.com/fihockey
Social media
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