Defending champions Australia and Beijing Olympic gold medalists Germany had opening-day wins at the Champion Trophy men’s field hockey tournament yesterday.
Veteran Jamie Dwyer was among the goalscorers as Australia beat South Korea 4-0. Germany captain Max Muller’s goal off a penalty corner with three minutes remaining gave his side a 3-2 win over England.
The Netherlands edged Spain 3-2 in the last match yesterday in the tournament that gathers the top six men’s teams in the world.
PHOTO: AFP
Dutch veteran Taeka Taekema scored his 41st and 42nd Champions Trophy goals, the first enabling him to surpass Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas as the highest goalscorer in the tournament’s history.
The two teams with the best records after the round-robin portion of the tournament will play for the championship next Sunday.
Desmond Abbott gave Australia a 1-0 lead over South Korea in the 18th minute and Robert Hammond added another goal five minutes later. Dwyer scored four minutes into the second half, before Eddie Ockenden completed the scoring in the 65th minute.
South Korea are attempting to improve on their sixth-place finish last year in Rotterdam. Australia coach Ric Charlesworth thought his side has plenty of room for improvement.
“I’m hard. It’s a six [out of 10], but it’s not an eight,” Charlesworth said. “We know we can play better. It’s part of building the group as solid as we can be in four months’ time for the World Cup.”
Germany’s Christoph Menke and England’s Ashley Jackson scored first-half goals four minutes apart, before Jan-Marco Montag put Germany ahead in the 43rd minute. Jackson’s second goal of the game on a penalty stroke with eight minutes left equalized for England, who are making their first appearance at the Champions Trophy since 2001, before Muller’s late winner.
The Netherlands took a 3-0 lead when Taekema scored his second in the 50th minute, but Spain, who lost the final last year to Australia, made it interesting with two quick goals. Xavier Ribas scored in the 59th minute and captain Pablo Amat added the second a minute later on a penalty corner flick.
Today, South Korea play Germany, the Netherlands take on Australia and England play Spain before a rest day tomorrow.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two