Japan clinched fifth place at the women's field hockey World Cup on Saturday with a 1-0 win over the US which guaranteed them a spot in January's Champions Trophy in Argentina.
Korea secured ninth place with a surprise 2-1 defeat of China and India avoided the wooden spoon by beating South Africa 1-0 in the 11-12 play-off.
After a bright start by the US, Japan gradually took control of midfield and just after the break grabbed the only goal of the game when Kaori Chiba chipped the ball over Amy Tran to score.
"It was a dream for us to play in the World Cup," Japan coach Yoo Seung Jin said. "To take fifth position and qualify for Argentina is a dream come true. This is a great result for Japanese hockey."
The result meant that the US miss out on the Champions Trophy in Buenos Aires.
USA coach Lee Bodimeade said: "We are unhappy that we didn't qualify for Argentina. But, if we were offered this result [sixth place] prior to the tournament, we would have been delighted."
Japan are now likely to move up to sixth in the new world rankings.
Korea had shown glimpses of form in earlier matches and they gave their higher ranked opponents a lesson in attacking hockey.
Korea had scored twice before China even settled down. Choi Eun Young scored from a corner and then a great goal from Park Mi Hyun had China reeling.
With only seconds to play, China finally scored when Ren Ye deflected a Ma Yi Bo set play corner pass around the defense and into the net.
But that was not enough to save China from finishing an embarrassing 10th.
In a lackluster battle to avoid the wooden spoon, India scored the only goal, and then held on against some sporadic attacks from South Africa.
India's top goal scorer Surinder Kaur did not appear due to a knee injury, and honors were even until the 28th minute when India's captain Sunita Kullu scored a brilliant field goal, chipping the ball home after finding herself one-on-one with goalkeeper Caroline Jack.
South Africa rarely looked likely to score although they managed three late corners in a final flurry, only for their set plays to crumble under pressure.
India coach MK Kaushik was relieved to have avoided last place.
"It was not in our plan to defend, we wanted to win and Kullu had a good match with a wonderful goal," Kaushik said. "We missed a lot of open goals and the team made good passes. It was not a great match but we were the better team and we are happy to win."
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Taiwanese martial artists bagged one gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the World Junior Wushu Championships in Brunei, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei Darussalam said yesterday. Liu Yu-tzu won the gold medal in the girl’s taijiquan A group and also picked up a silver medal in the girl’s taijijian A group. Hu Hsin-ling, Yu Min-hsun and Chen Chao-hsiang each won a silver medal in the girl’s jianshu B, boy’s nangun B and boy’s taijijian A groups respectively. Hu also won a bronze medal in the girl’s qiangshu B group, while Yu and Lin Shih-hung picked up bronze medals
RSS