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.
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