australia target Olympics gold after world cup victory with Germany

australia target Olympics gold after world cup victory with Germany

Having won the hockey World Cup after 24 years, Australian captain Jamie Dwyer
said they would now aim to win the gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
Australian coach Ric Charlesworth, who won the World Cup both as a player and a
coach, said there is still scope for the team to improve, specially in the
finishing of the forwardline.Dwyer said they had prepared hard for the tournament.
“We are happy to win the tournament. We played better tonight. Every player in the
team contributed towards the effort of the team,” said Dwyer, who was playing in
his last World Cup.
“We have been preparing for the World Cup for 14 months and it is a fantastic
feeling to win it finally after losing twice to Germany in the last two editions.
Now we will go back home, take a few weeks’ rest, and set a new goal to win the
Olymics,” said Dwyer.

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Australia beat Pakistan to qualify for semis

Australia beat Pakistan to qualify for semis

Tournament favourites Australia advanced into the semi-finals of the men's hockey World Cup on Monday after they beat Pakistan 2-1 in a pulsating match to finish top of Pool B.
Desmond Abbott scored twice as Australia completed their matches in the six-team pool, finishing level with England on 12 points but topping the group on goal difference.
European champions England, who pulled off a surprise 3-2 victory over Australia in the opening match, lost 2-0 to Spain at the Dhyan Chand National Hockey Stadium for their first defeat in the competition.
Pau Quemada and Eduard Tubau scored for Olympic silver medallists Spain who finished third in the group on nine points. India meet South Africa in the day's final match.
Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead against Australia, who won a 10th Champions Trophy in December, in the 24th minute through a penalty corner.
Abbott scored the equaliser three minutes into the second half and netted again shortly before the final whistle.

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England beats India and out of world cup hockey semi final race

England beats India and out of world cup hockey semi final race

India are out of the semi-final race after going down 2-3 to England in Pool B of the Hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Saturday.
India bounced back after conceding three goals, but an impressive England defence stood firm and the European Champions expectedly marched into the semifinals, winning all their four matches.
England scored through James Tindall in the 16th minute as he deflected in a cross from Nick Catlin. Ashley Jackson (42nd minute, 47th)) first converted a penalty corner soon on resumption and scored again to make it 3-0.
India rallied with goals from Gurwinder Singh Chandi (54th) and skipper Rajpal Singh (57th), but could not find the equaliser in the end, despite a couple of gilt-edged chances coming their way. It was the hosts' third straight loss, after the euphoric victory over Pakistan 4-1 in the first match. They went down to Australia, and Spain by an identical 2-5 in their next two games.
England's fairytale performance continued since their shock victory over Australia on the opening day.
England now top the pool with 12 points from four games while India are fourth on three points.
The English team continued to be India's nemesis as they had knocked them out of the Beijing Olympic qualifiers in 2008, the first time in 80 years that the eight-time Olympic gold medallists failed to make the quadrennial event.
Both teams muffed opportunities in the first half, but it was England who looked the better of the two to score.
England, who have an all-win record in the tournament so far, made some fine moves but fumbled in the goalmouth.
India, too, missed chances after getting to the top of the circle on several occasions. Shivendra Singh, back after serving a two-match suspension, was through on his own, but lost control of the ball as English goalkeeper James Fair charged out. India got two penalty corners but Sandeep Singh and Diwakar Ram failed with both.
England repeatedly penetrated the Indian defence and goalkeeper Adrian D'souza managed well to thwart some of the moves.
India made some swift counter-attacks but England defenders were equal to the task.
Iain Mackay was injured when Sandeep's stick inadvertently found him, but he was back after medical attention.
England finally opened the scoring through Tindall who had another opportunity soon, but this time he failed to strike.
India would have lost by a bigger margin but for Adrian, who saved a well-directed flick by Ben Hawes in the second half and blocked England captain Barry

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India have no chances in WCH 2010

India have no chances in WCH 2010

After India's humiliating losses to Australia and Spain in the Hockey World Cup 2010, an Indian fan said, "Indian players spent all energy, aggression and stamina during the 4-1 victory against Pakistan in the opening match. Now they have nothing to give". Bitter truth, but well said.
If you ha [India Hockey World Cup 2010] ve seen India playing yesterday, you will admit that they kept attacking Spain throughout the game, but failed to penetrate into their strong defence. On the other hand, Spain scored goals without much resistance from the goalkeeper and India's defence.
Spain converted half-chances into goals, much to the surprise of the fans and experts. Even though India dominated the proceedings in the second half, Spain scored three goals, against India's two goals.
The end result 5-2 speaks much about India's poor defence. Certainly, they don't deserve a place in the semifinals, when teams like England, Australia, Netherlands, Spain and South Korea are playing above expectations.
As Indians, we may be disappointed to see our team losing. But if we thing about the game, strategy and defence, there will be no denying that we may end up at No. 5 - 8 in the tournament. Certainly, the top four spots are out of our reach now.

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Spain checks india in world cup hockey 2010

Spain checks india in world cup hockey 2010

India's hopes of making it to the semifinals of the Hero Honda FIH Hockey World Cup 2010 were dashed, as Spain beat India 5-2 in a crucial Pool B match at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi.
Spain played [Spain beat India 5-2] attacking hockey throughout the match and their defence was very solid. Although India fought back hard in the second half, they failed to convert at least four penalty corners.
The Spanish strikers were brilliant and Indian defence looked fragile, resulting in many field goals in favour of Spain.
Spain was leading 2-0 at the half time. For Spain, Pau Quemada scored two goals, while Albert Sala, Pol Amat and Ramon Alegre scored one goal each. ForIndia, Sandeep Singh and Gurwinder Singh Chandi scored the goals.
Team India had begun their Hockey World Cup campaign with a 4-1 victory over arch-rival Pakistan. However, the lost the momentum completely and went down to Australia and Spain by identical margins 2-5.
With this loss, India is virtually out of the semifinal race in the Hockey World Cup 2010. While England and Australia top leaders from the Pool B, Spain also stays in contention with two wins from three matches.

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