Tokyo 2020: New Zealand and Germany women maintain 100% records; Belgium (M), GB (M), Netherlands (W) & Australia (W) maintain strong starts 

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Day 3 (Evening): It was another good day at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for the women of New Zealand and Germany, who both moved level on points with the leaders of their respective pools by claiming second successive wins at the Oi Hockey Stadium. Defending champions Great Britain were also winners, while Argentina kick-started their title challenge with three points.

More information about the matches can be found below. 

Women’s Pool A


South Africa
 1-4 Great Britain
Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists Great Britain got their title defence underway with their first three points of the competition, fighting back from a goal down to beat South Africa 4-1. South Africa made an excellent start and took a deserved lead when Nicole Walraven scored from an improvised penalty corner. GB grew in confidence as the game progressed, tying the scores with an Ellie Rayer deflection in the second quarter before Lily Owsley and a rare goal from Laura Unsworth put the title holders in charge. Rayer completed the match scoring with her second goal of the game, racing onto an overhead pass before calmly slotting home with an accurate slap-shot.

“We are absolutely buzzing to get a result out of that game”, said Great Britain’s Fiona Crackles, who at 21 is the youngest member of the squad. “After an amazing performance against Germany, we were unfortunate with the result, we just wanted to come out with the same physical and mental energy. It took us maybe a quarter or two to get into it, but I think we showed there that we can come back from being a goal down.”

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Germany 2-0 India 

Germany made it a maximum six points from two games courtesy of a 2-0 victory over India. The result moved Die Danas on points with the Netherlands at the top of Pool A, with the Dutch – 4-0 winners against Ireland in the morning session – currently in first place due to a superior goal difference. Germany captain Nike Lorenz put her side ahead with a well taken penalty corner effort in the 12th minute, with Anne Schroder completing the scoring with a 35thminute field goal. Crucially, Germany goalkeeper Julia Sontag saved a penalty stroke when the score was at 1-0.

 

Speaking about Sontag’s important contribution, Germany’s Lisa Altenburg said: “It was really good. We had many, many good moments in this game. She was our best player I would say.”

India head coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “Against these strong sides like Netherlands, like Germany, you don’t get five or six opportunities. The ones you get you have to make, that is the stroke for instance. That’s the way it is. That’s the difference. They get that opportunity and they finish. And that’s the difference between the two countries, but we are working hard on that.”

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Women’s Pool B

Argentina 3-0 Spain
Argentina bounced back from their opening match defeat against New Zealand to claim a 3-0 victory against Spain, although they were certainly made to work for it. The Red Sticks defence proved a tough nut to crack, with Las Leonas having to wait until the 47th minute before finally making a breakthrough when Valentina Raposo scored. Agustina Albertarrio’s cool deflection extended Argentina’s advantage before Noel Barrionuevo completed the match scoring from the penalty spot. Spain captain Maria Lopez made her 200th international appearance in the contest.

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Japan 1-2 New Zealand
New Zealand joined Oceania rivals Australia at the top of Pool B thanks to a battling display to overcome hosts Japan, moving onto six points from their two games. All of the goals came in the second quarter of the contest, with Japan taking the lead thanks to Shihori Oikawa’s low penalty corner drag-flick before Olivia Merry made a decisive, match-winning contribution. Merry cracked home a fierce penalty corner strike in the 26th minute before setting up what proved to be the winner, firing across the face of goal for Hope Ralph to score from close range. Japan had numerous chances to pull level, but could not find a way past New Zealand’s superb defensive line.

“I think it is fantastic that we got the three points”, said New Zealand captain Stacey Michelsen. “Obviously coming away with six points from the opening weekend is everything we could have wanted. I think it would have been nice to have been a little bit more clinical tonight; we lacked a bit of energy to the way the girls played yesterday [in the defeat of Argentina], so we’ll certainly look at that.”

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

 

Day 3 (Morning): Belgium and Great Britain ended the morning session joint top of men’s Pool B after both recorded second successive victories at the Oi Hockey Stadium. In the women’s competition, the Netherlands and Australia continued their excellent starts to the competition with wins.

More information about the matches can be found below.


Men’s Pool B

Germany 1-3 Belgium
Cedric Charlier hit a double as reigning World and FIH Hockey Pro League maintained their 100% winning start with a 3-1 victory over European rivals Germany. Charlier’s fifth minute opener was fortunate, with a speculative cross-shot being diverted into the goal via a Germany stick. However, there was nothing lucky about the second goal, with the Red Lions attacker smashing a ferocious strike from the top of the circle under the crossbar just two minutes after his first. Belgian penalty corner ace Alexander Hendrickx made it 3-0 five minutes after half time, with Germany’s Martin Haner netting a consolation goal from a penalty corner nine minutes from time.

“I think we can be really happy with the performance”, said Belgium’s Simon Gougnard. “We’ve had two good first games in the pool, which puts us in a good position and I’m looking forward to the next game [against South Africa on Tuesday] already. We still have some stuff to improve, so we’ll keep our feet on the ground as we haven’t done anything yet, but it is a really good start.”

Germany captain Tobias Hauke said: “We didn’t start well. The first quarter we weren’t aggressive enough and then we needed some time to get into the game. The second half was quite good and at the end, we did have enough ball possessions in the circle of Belgium but just one goal and three corners is not enough against this team.”

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Great Britain 3-1 Canada
Great Britain moved level on points with Belgium by claiming their second win on the bounce, beating Canada 3-1. Great Britain dominated for long periods, twice hitting the frame of the goal but failing to convert in either of the opening two quarters. The breakthrough came three minutes after half time when Liam Ansell fired home an ingenious pass from Sam Ward, who himself doubled the advantage eight minutes later with a perfectly executed penalty corner drag-flick. Floris van Son’s superb backhand strike in the fourth quarter made things interesting, but Ansell tapped home from close range to kill off any danger of a Canadian comeback.

“I’m obviously really happy”, said Great Britain captain Adam Dixon. “Another three points, six points in total so far, so in some ways it is the perfect start. I think we are still finding our way into the tournament, which is the same for lots of teams, having not played lots of international hockey in the last few weeks. I keep saying the same message: it’s about building momentum. We’ve got the European leg of the pool stage now, so three pretty big games [against Germany, Netherlands and Belgium] coming up, which we are going to have to be ready for.”

There was a milestone moment for Polish umpire Marcin Grochal, who took charge of his 100th international to earn his Golden Whistle.

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Women’s Pool A

Netherlands 4-0 Ireland
World, European and FIH Hockey Pro League champions the Netherlands produced a dominant display to record a 4-0 victory over Ireland, making it two wins from their first two matches in Women’s Pool A. Marloes Keetels put the Dutch ahead in the eighth minute, but a brilliant goalkeeping performance from Ireland’s Ayeisha McFerran kept the Oranje out for the next 41 minutes. Eventually though, the pressure told, with Malou Pheninckx, Laurien Leurink and Frederique Matla all on target as the competition favourites strengthened their position at the top of the pool.

“I’m just so proud”, said Netherlands captain Eva de Goede, commenting on the performance of her team. “I think when you get into the team as a youngster you just don’t know what to expect and you just play. Now, looking at the girls who are younger and really fitting into the team nicely, I think the level of playing and level is passing is so high. I really love that we can play like that because I really do think that that’s one of our strengths and we can really outplay another team.”

Ireland goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran said: “Unfortunately today just wasn’t quite our day. We dug in well and I’m really proud of the defensive effort everyone put in. It was a team effort out there but that’s the Dutch for you. They’re just quite good, aren’t they? There’s several things we have to take and learn from it. We can’t just brush it under the carpet, but we have to move on.”

It was a milestone game for Ireland captain Katie Mullan, who played her 200th senior international match.

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Women’s Pool B

Australia 6-0 China
The Hockeyroos made it two wins by comprehensively thrashing China, with the team coached by double Olympic gold medallist Katrina Powell netting six times from open play in a 6-0 win. Emily Chalker scored twice in the second quarter before Brooke Peris slotted home just after half time. Three goals arrived in just four fourth quarter minutes as Rosie Malone, Steph Kershaw and Grace Stewart completed the scoring to put the Australians both top of the standings and firmly on course for a place in the competition quarter-finals.

It was a milestone game for China captain Peng Yang, who played her 200th senior international match.

Match information and statistics can be found on Olympics.com by clicking here.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – Hockey competitions

26 July 2021 – Day 3

Results
Men’s Pool B
Germany 1-3 Belgium
Great Britain 3-1 Canada

Women’s Pool A
Netherlands 4-0 Ireland
South Africa 1-4 Great Britain

Germany 2-0 India

Women’s Pool B
Australia 6-0 China
Argentina 3-0 Spain

Japan 1-2 New Zealand

 

Pool standings overviews

Men: click here.
Women: click here.

 

Tuesday 27 July is dedicated to the men’s competition, with all 12 competing teams in action. The teams competing in Pool A will be up first, with reigning Olympic champions Argentina taking on pool leaders Australia, India playing Spain and hosts Japan against New Zealand. In Pool B, Germany face Great Britain, Belgium play South Africa and the Netherlands take on Canada.

The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 take place from Saturday 24 July to Friday 6 August 2021. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, visit https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/hockey/olympic-schedule-and-results.htm.

 

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