International tournament news

WC 2010 New Delhi Germany made grade at FIH World Cup Hockey after beating NZ

2010-3-10

The German machine roared, stuttered a bit, then sprung back to life. A 5-2 victory over New Zealand in Tuesday's action in the Hero Honda FIH World Hockey Cup sealed a semifinal spot for the Olympic and defending champions but not before the Black Sticks threatened to spoil the script by reducing a 0-3 deficit to 2-3.

The Kiwis, handicapped without injured captain and striker Phillip Burrows, now face the possibility of playing off for the 9th-10th positions unless Canada beat Argentina to push them a rung higher.

Germany on their part won't be affected by the next match between the Netherlands and South Korea, one of whom will now be eliminated from the semifinal race.

Captain Maximilian Muller wasn't entirely happy with his team's performance but praised his players' ability to play as a solid unit. "After being 3-0 up we lowered our game by 20 per cent. Guess it's a mental thing," he said.

A disappointed Dean Couzins, the stand-in NZ captain, said, "We didn't play well enough in crucial positions in the last two matches and, of course, we missed Phil (Burrows)."

Times of India