The Hindu : Sport : New depth and dimension revealed

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Friday, Sep 15, 2006
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New depth and dimension revealed

S. Thyagarajan

Reputations were made and images destroyed in phase one

MONCHENGLADBACH: Eventful, exacting and exciting, phase one of the World Cup here reflected hockey's new depth and dimension. Reputations were made and images destroyed as the eight day high voltage competition ended spotting title holder, Germany, European winner, Spain, the Olympic gold medallist, Australia, and the Asiad champion, Korea, as semifinalists.

As the summit reaches the flashpoint on Sunday when the destination of the cup will be decided, a look back at the progress thus far brings back a melange of emotions -- of joy, anguish, despair and what not. The line-up for last four perhaps underlines equations in clear terms; two from Europe, and one each from Oceania and Asia.

Mirroring the ratings

There was a thought the European representation could be three, mirroring the ratings obtained in the recent Champions Trophy at Terrassa. But Korea made the grade again demonstrating its fighting qualities, and showing why it is the major player now in the continent and not Pakistan or India.

That Korea would be a force surfaced in the opening match when it outwitted the formidable Dutch. And that really helped it till the final step, though the deciding encounter against Germany-a 0-0 draw-raised some disturbing questions. Brushing that aside as an aberration, the Korean performance was striking for its vigour, vitality and variations.

Germany had a shaky start, almost sharing points with India. But recovered well enough to be there. Progressively lifting its class and competence, the Germans, helped by the enterprise and efficiency of Christopher Zeller, supported by Timo Wess and Matthias Witthaus, despite a 2-2 draw the Dutch, moved to the top of the table.

Dip in form

On the contrary, Spain downed Australia in the opening game in which every line worked to perfection but dipped in form against Argentina and Pakistan raising a filament of doubt of reaching the last four. Even against Japan, the team struggled palpably to stay afloat before Maurits Hendriks' men managed join Australia.

If fortitude is a virtue no combination displays it as much as the Aussies. A bad defeat in game one would have demoralised any. But Australia recovered smartly as though to silence those venturing to predict a cup final between Germany and Holland. The team won the next four games, that included a 7-1 thrashing to New Zealand. The patterns designed by Barry Dancer and Colin Batch helped the Aussies on the field immensely.

Sense of anguish

A sense of anguish surfaces while dealing with the sub-continental powers. Both India and Pakistan are languishing somewhere in the grey zone. Pakistan is lucky to be in the fight for 5-8 because Japan caused an upset beating Argentina. The return of Sohail has not helped. The chances of retaining the fifth place secured in 2002 appear bleak.

An avalanche of words has been written of India's plight (or is it a curse?) of scoring first and then courting defeat. Chief coach Baskaran is at a loss for words to comprehend the causes for the defence performing deplorably. A silver lining is that a majority in the squad are in the early 20s and scope to improve.

India takes on Argentina on Saturday in the 9-12 group. Japan and South Africa are the other two teams in this group.

The action resumes on Friday with excitement expected to touch a crescendo during the semifinals. Fasten your seat belt for thumb chewing moments.

The result: Australia 3 (Bevan George 2, Jaime Dwyer 1) beat Pakistan 0. HT 2-0.

Friday's matches: (5-8) New Zealand v England (4 p.m.); Pakistan v Netherlands (6.30 p.m.); Semifinals: Australia vs Korea (9 p.m.); Germany v Spain (11.45 p.m.).

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