Jang Jong-hyun notched a hat trick of goals as South Korea thrashed defending champions the Netherlands 6-2 in Champions Trophy field hockey on Monday.
In other matches, Germany defeated Spain 4-1 for their fourth consecutive victory, Australia beat Britain 1-0, and Pakistan and Malaysia drew 2-2.
Through four rounds, Germany lead the standings with 12 points, followed by Australia on nine, and South Korea and the Netherlands on seven each.
Jang's goals in the 33rd, 61st and 64th minutes made him only the second player to score three in the Champions Trophy after Ronald Brouwer of the Netherlands did it during a 9-2 win over Pakistan last year.
South Korea, who lost to Germany 2-1 on Sunday after leading 1-0 at halftime, trailed the European champion Dutch twice but relied on superior fitness to score four times in the last nine minutes to record their best ever win in the tournament and grasp a credible chance of reaching Sunday's final for the first time.
Wouter Hermkens gave the Dutch the lead after 22 minutes but it was canceled by Jang's first goal.
The Netherlands went back in front two minutes later under controversial circumstances. A Jeroen Delmee free hit from outside the scoring zone appeared to have gone straight into goal although Matthijs Brouwer claimed he had the last touch. For the first time in this tournament, the television umpire was asked to adjudicate after field umpires Amarjit Singh of Malaysia and Simon Taylor of New Zealand could not decide.
The outcome remained inconclusive but Brouwer was given the benefit of the doubt and the goal stood.
However, it did not deter South Korea and the Dutch defense crumbled in the 55th minute when Kim Sam-seok scored a field goal.
The floodgates opened when Jang scored twice, on a field goal and another penalty corner blaster. Lee Nam-yong (67th) and Kim Joung-goo (68th) completed the rout, South Korea's first defeat of the Dutch in the Champions Trophy in eight years.
The Koreans have to play Malaysia (today), Pakistan (tomorrow) and Britain (Saturday), and if they win all three then 16 points should secure them a final berth.
The Netherlands, who were undefeated and had scored 10 goals in three matches going into Monday's match, face Germany today and Australia tomorrow. The tournament leaders are also strong final contenders, as always, but Olympic champion Australia -- unconvincing against Britain with Eddie Ockenden scoring the only goal in the first half -- have three tough games ahead against Spain, the Netherlands and Germany.
The Germans raced to a 3-0 halftime lead against sluggish Spain on goals by Oliver Korn (4th), Matthias Witthaus (32nd) and Jan-Marco Montag (34th).
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS