News

Japan and New Zealand qualify for 5th place

2012-02-04 11:02:00

Day 5 of the Argentina FIH Champions Trophy started with a surprising win from Japan defeating Korea 4-3 in extra-time. The second match in Rosario saw New Zealand beat China 3-2 also in extra-time. Japan and New Zealand play off for the 5th place while Korea and China compete for 7th ranked place. The Semi Finals are played on Saturday with Germany facing Great Britain before it comes down to the giants meeting between the Netherlands and host Argentina.

Full reports on all the matches can be found below, with extensive tournament information available by clicking here.

Komazawa’s Golden Goal gives Japan victory
5/8 – KOR 3-4 (AET) JPN
Despite of high temperatures this afternoon both teams started off with great pace as they knew that a victory would lift them into Sunday’s 5th place play off. It took Japan not even two minutes until they penetrated the circle for the first time. Their attack led to an early penalty corner which was converted by Rika Komazawa (3’). Afterwards the Japanese goalkeeper Sakiyo Asano got into action when she saved Korean Lee Seon-Ok’s drag-flick at a penalty corner and also cleared the rebound afterwards. However, Korea equalized when Han Hye-Lyoung (31’) scored her first ever Champions Trophy goal.

Just before halftime Korea took the lead after team-captain Lee Seon-Ok (34’) scored from a penalty stroke. The stroke was awarded due to an aggressive stick-tackle in the circle. Japan took their team referral on this decision but their request was denied. It was the first time that Korea led at half-time at Rosario 2012. Japan struck back in the second half when Akane Shibata (53’) managed to lift the ball into the net after the Korean goalkeeper Moon Young-Hui has saved a flick with her glove.

The next goal in this match came from a penalty corner. Lee Seon-Ok (64’)’s drag-flick went into the top corner of the goal and made Korea lead 3-2. Japan fought back again when Rika Komazawa (68’) tied the score to 3-3. Korea were unhappy with the decision and used their team referral to ask whether there had been a five metre distance from a side-line-hit just before the ball was played into the circle. The video umpire confirmed that the match umpire’s decision to award the goal was correct. Korea were short-handed at the end of the match as Cheon Eun-Bi and Hong Ji-Seon were sent off with yellow cards within one minute.

In the second half of the extra-time it was Komazawa again scoring her third goal in this game made Japan win their first Champions Trophy encounter with Korea ever. The game winning goal was confirmed after the match umpire Wendy Stewart had taken the umpire referral to be absolutely sure in such a crucial action.

For more information on KOR v JPN click here.

Michelsen’s Golden Goal makes New Zealand win
5/8 – NZL 3-2 (AET) CHN

New Zealand and China have met seven times in Champions Trophy competition before with New Zealand only winning their last encounter; 4-3 in the 2010 5th place play-off. China, who were close to defeating the World Champions from Argentina in Thursday’s Quarter Final, proved that they really wanted to play off for the 5th place. They won an early penalty corner which was saved by New Zealand’s goalkeeper Bianca Russell. Afterwards New Zealand missed the opportunity to take the lead when they failed to score from four successive penalty corners. All of flicker Clarissa Eshuis’ attempts were either run down by a Chinese player or saved by goalie Li Dongxiao.

China took the lead thanks to Gao Lihua (24’) who made her team lead for the first time at halftime in this competition. At the beginning of the second half Song Qingling (41’) doubled the lead after a great penalty corner variation. The ball was played precisely to the injector Song who was able to shoot into the empty goal. New Zealand fought hard but the Chinese defense stayed strong.

Cathryn Finlayson (60’) finally put New Zealand on the score-board when she managed to tip in the ball, which was difficult to control, into the goal. If the ball has really crossed the goal-line needed to be confirmed by the video umpire. This goal gave New Zealand confidence. They penetrated the Chinese with a lot of pressure from that point on. Three minutes before the final whistle Finlayson (67’) equalised and brought her team into extra-time.

In the first half of the extra-time China could have decided this match but Ma Yibo’s penalty corner shot went wide. Instead it were New Zealand who won two successive penalty corners converting the second. Stacey Michelsen (77+’) was the goal scorer.

For more information on NZL v CHN click here.

Flash quotes on Day 5

Lim Jung Woo (KOR coach)
“First of all I would like to congratulate Japan. We have come from the 4-Nations in Cordoba, a hard previous competition, and the players feel tired now. We have already two injured players who won’t be able to play any match in this tournament anymore. Moreover there are another three players who are not physically fit.”

Lee Seon-OK (KOR team-captain)

“Today we haven’t performed as we would have liked to perform.”

Zenjiro Yasuda (JPN coach)

“I’m really happy with our victory today. The Korean team is very good one but their tiredness helped us. Now we have to work on many mistakes we made in our defence and our attacks. We must improve if we want to succeed.

Yukari Yamamoto (JPN team-captain)
“We started this match winning and never gave up. This victory is thanks to our persistence and perseverance”.

Sang Ryul Kim (CHN Coach)

“We played very well. We had a good first half but in the last 10 minutes New Zealand played very well. We lost because were unable to convert our opportunities.”

Mark Hager (NZL Coach)
“China played a great game. And we were lucky as they controlled almost all the match. But we were able to score in the right moments. The players are really tired. We have many young players in this team who made a great effort tonight”.

Kayla Sharland (NZL team-captain)
“We are disappointed with the first half we played where we couldn’t even control the ball. We played better in the second half, but we couldn’t score easily. We finished the match really tired and we decided to do our best in the extra time.”

Source FIH