In a stunning development overnight, Argentina were given a place in the final of the women’s Champions Trophy field hockey yesterday, replacing South Korea.
South Korea had taken second place in the semi-final pool with four points, the same as Argentina, but with more goals scored in the semi-final pool round. Argentina appealed to tournament director Stephanie Martens-Hodges on Saturday night, arguing that the standings in the semi-final pool were wrong as Argentina should be allowed to include the total points for all matches played in the tournament, and not just the points from matches in the semi-final pool.
South Korea won only one match in the tournament, and Argentina three. Martens-Hodges rejected the appeal and Argentina sought a hearing before a jury.
Photo: REUTERS
The jury then upheld the appeal, based on their understanding of the tournament regulations.
The jury included the seven points from the preliminary round of Argentina and three points from the semi-final pool for a total of 10 points for the South Americans.
South Korea had three points from the preliminary round and three points from the semi-final round. The jury therefore concluded that Argentina should be ranked second in the semi-final pool and play Netherlands in the final.
South Korea were to play New Zealand for the bronze medal, also yesterday.
The Netherlands beat South Korea 2-0 in the semi-final pool on Saturday.
Kim Lammers scored in the first seconds of play, taking a long pass from the backfield and carrying possession unchallenged into the circle to shoot past South Kore goalkeeper Moon Young-hui.
South Korea defeated both penalty corners from the Netherlands by running down the powerful flick of Maartje Paumen.
Lidewij Welten scored the Netherlands’ second field goal late in the first half, making the rebound off Moon’s pads from Marilyn Agliotti’s hard work to carry possession out of the backfield and shoot from the right.
South Korea earned three penalty corners for one clean shot on goal, saved by Netherlands goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek.
Earlier on Saturday, Argentina defeated New Zealand 3-2.
Argentina dominated the first half with three goals into New Zealand’s open net by Soledad Garcia, Luciana Aymar and Moccia Sanchez in the first half.
New Zealand hit back when Clarissa Eshuis converted New Zealand’s first penalty corner with a clean flick high into the net after the half time siren.
Charlotte Harrison scrambled the ball across the line off Eshuis’ second penalty corner flick early in the second half.
Luciana Aymar attributed Argentina’s attitude to their lack of power in the second.
“After New Zealand’s second goal it was mentally hard for us to continue,” Aymar said.
China yesterday beat Germany 5-3, putting China in seventh place and leaving Germany at eighth. England and Australia played for fifth position later yesterday.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS