Argentina kept alive hope of a third successive Women’s Champions Trophy crown by ending the top-ranked Netherlands’ unbeaten run 4-2 on Thursday.
The showdown between the world’s two best women’s field hockey teams lived up to expectations, with the Dutch coming from behind to lead, then Argentina producing a brilliant second half to prevent the Netherlands from a fourth straight win and an early berth in tomorrow’s final.
Noel Barrionuevo scored in her fourth straight game for Argentina after only six minutes, but the Dutch went ahead when Marilyn Agliotti scored three minutes later and Maartje Paumen sent in a penalty-corner.
Substitute Delfina Merino equalized just before halftime, then Carla Rebecchi’s field-goal with a reverse stick shot off Luciana Aymar’s pass put Argentina back in front at 3-2 in the 47th minute and Agustina Soldedad Garcia’s weaving run was capped by Rosario Luchetti in the 54th minute.
England rallied to beat China for the first time in four years and tie the Netherlands at the top of the standings. Argentina and Germany are both two points behind.
Ma Yibo scored from a penalty-corner in the 12th minute and China held the lead until 10 minutes into the second half, when Helen Richardson leveled for England from a penalty-corner. Then Charlotte Craddock hit the winner in the 52nd minute to give England a measure of revenge for twice losing to China in last year’s tournament, including a record 7-0 hiding.
Germany routed New Zealand 5-2, with Eileen Hoffmann scoring twice for a 3-0 lead by halftime. The Olympic champions led 5-0 within the hour, with New Zealand scoring twice in the last seven minutes for some consolation.
In today’s last decisive set of round-robin matches, the Netherlands face Germany, New Zealand play England and China take on Argentina.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but