The Hindu : Sport : Australia reigns supreme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 19, 2005

Sport

Sport

Australia reigns supreme

S. Thyagarajan

— Photo: Vino John

HITTING HOME: Rehan Butt of Pakistan is all joy after slotting in a goal against India.

Chennai: With a display that underscored the efficacy of technical excellence, tactics and tenacity, Australia regained the glittering Champions Trophy, which it last won in 1999, against the Netherlands on Sunday. This was Australia's eighth win in the competition.

Difficult conditions

As puddles of water made things difficult for the players — there was even a stoppage for 20 minutes after the resumption — the players fought with grit and determination.

A splendid penalty corner by Matthew Wells inspired the Aussies go full steam. Grant Schubert, Jaime Dwyer and Mike McCann punched holes in the Dutch defence, notwithstanding some smart saves by Guus Vogels.

Minutes after resumption, the Aussies hoisted their second goal when Liam de Young found the target. Australia earned five penalty corners, with one coming late in the second half.

Taeke Takema slotted Holland's only goal when five minutes remained from the hooter. Earlier, the Aussies had put the issue beyond doubt when Jaime Dwyer sprinted his way through after picking up a pass from Andrew Smith to hit the third goal.

Friexa top scorer

Mobile and methodical, Spain, profiting from a splendid individual display Santi Friexa and Pol Amat overwhelmed Germany for the bronze medal.

Friexa finished the competition with seven goals.

Frittering it away

Earlier, India squanderd a 2-0 lead to capitulate to Pakistan by the odd goal in seven in the contest to decide the fifth and sixth places.

The outcome means that India is out of the elite zone and has to fight its way back through the Challenge event.

To recount the progressive deterioration after starting with a flourish and leading 2-0 within 15 minutes is agonising indeed.

Great start

A comfortable win was on vision from the manner in which the team, especially the defence, worked. Kanwalpreet's penalty corner goal within a minute from the start was followed by a tap into the net by Prabhjot Singh who provided the finishing touches to a Tushar Khandekar move.

The defence, guarded well by William Xalco, and to some extent by Hardip Singh, did not allow much elbow-room to the Pakistani attack. But the mid-field, where Vinay and Ignace were conspicuous, began to slowly slip into errors.

The frontline should have seized the initiative at this point but the moves that came up were anything but incisive to rattle the stabilising Paksitani defence.

Hitting back

Slowly, but emphatically, the Pakistanis escalated pressure. A penalty corner hit by Muhammad Imran two minutes before the half-time brought the team back into the fight. Minutes after resumption a feeble resistance by the defence allowed Ali Akhtar enough space and time to restore parity.

At this point, India should have tightened up. But that was not to be. A cross by Rehan Butt prompted a skirmish that ended with Kanwalpreet Singh coming in the way of a reverse flick by Saqlain, who converted the ensuing stroke. Another solecism by Kanwalpreet opened the gate for Rehan Butt to find the target for the fourth goal.

Gagan Ajit deflected a long pass by Kanwalpreet into the net to narrow the lead.

Ms. Els van Breda Vriessman, President, International Hockey Federation presented the trophy and medals.

The results:

Final: Australia 3 (Matthew Wells, Liam de Young, Jaime Dwyer) bt The Netherlands 1 (Taeke Takema). HT 1-0. Player of the Match: Jaime Dwyer

3-4: Spain 5 (Santi Friexa 2, Pol Amat 2, Alex Fabrigas) bt Germany 2 (Mortiz Furtse, Mattias Witthaus) HT: 2-1. Player of the Match: Pol Amat.

5-6: Pakistan 4 (Muhammad Imran, Ali Akhtar, Muhammad Saqlain, Rehan Butt) bt India 3 (Kanwalpreet Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Gagan Ajit Singh). HT 1-2. Player of the match: Zeeshan Ashraf.

Fair Play Award: Spain

Player of the Tournament: Bevan George

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