Lucknow (13 Dec, 2016): Malaysia, Japan and Korea will feature in Wednesday’s 9-12th and 13-16th classification matches in the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Junior World Cup Men Lucknow 2016 at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey stadium.
The Malaysians, who were invited to participate in the Junior World Cup just eight days before the start of the event, play New Zealand in the 9-12th classifications while Japan goes into showdown with Egypt and Korea meets Canada in the 13-16th positions. Wallaca Tan’s Malaysian juniors finished third in Pool B table standings on three points earned from the 2-0 win over Egypt, giving Belgium and Netherlands direct qualification into Thursday’s quarterfinals. New Zealand lost a spot in the quarterfinals after the Spaniards claimed a second-place finish in Pool C in dramatic circumstances – a last minute 3-3 draw which was all Spain needed to pip the Kiwis and a spot in the last eight.
The last time Malaysia faced New Zealand was in the Sultan of Johor Cup in Johor Baru in November – beating the junior Black Sticks 2-1 in a pool match and 4-1 in the fifth-sixth classification encounter.
Meanwhile, England and Australia completed their pool matches on Tuesday with emphatic victories over Canada and Korea. England became the eighth and final team to qualify for the quarterfinals with a convincing 6-0 victory over the Canadians to finish second in Group D whilst the Australians defeated Pool A opponents Korea 5-0 to maintain an error-free adventure here.
The quarterfinals line-up will see Belgium go head to head with Argentina; six-time champions Germany face England, Australia meets the Netherlands and hosts India goes up against Spain.
England produced a dominant performance to confirm a quarterfinal berth. Will Calnan and Ed Horler both scored twice in the first half to take the score to 4-0, with Edward Horler completing his hat-trick with his third penalty corner effort of the day in the 46th minute. A superb backhand volley from Chris Proctor in 54th minute finished the match scoring.
“It was all about going out there and doing a job, as a lot of people were talking about the quarterfinals but we knew Canada would be a tough side and we had to get the job done,” said England captain James Gall after the match.
Regarding the quarterfinal match against Germany, Gall said: “You know what you get with them; we have played them a lot. They are a good side, but we will debrief this performance, plan for the next match and have a really good go at them.”
Australia made it three wins from three matches with a 5-0 triumph over Korea. The Asians managed to keep the Burras off the score-sheet for 25 minutes before Frazer Gerrard slammed home a penalty corner, with Blake Govers netting a quick-fire double just before half time to take the score to 3-0. Max Hendry and Kirin Arunasalam were also on target for an Australia team determined to land their first Junior Hockey World Cup title since 1997.
Fixtures (14 Dec) – 9-12th Classifications: Austria v South Korea (13.30); Malaysia v New Zealand (15:45).
13-16th Classifications: Egypt v Japan at (11:15); Korea v Canada (1800). All matches in Indian Standard Time (IST).
Quarterfinals (Thursday, 15 Dec): Belgium v Argentina (11:30); Germany v England (13:30); Australia v Netherlands (15:45); India v Spain (18:00). All matches in Indian Standard Time (IST).
