The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Germany wins Champions Trophy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 10, 2007
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Sport - Hockey

Germany wins Champions Trophy

S. Thyagarajan

Kuala Lumpur: Efficiency and excellence brought Germany, the World champion, its ninth Champions Trophy here on Sunday. Only a solitary goal separated the winner and Australia in a nerve-wracking final.

The Germans in almost every aspect of the game had the edge over the Aussies.

An ingenuous penalty corner goal by skipper Timo Wess was all that the Germans could slot in the early minutes. But in the rest of the contest, they managed to defend that lead with an amazing system where goalkeeper Christian Schulte stood out. Some of the saves he effected from the marauding Aussie attackers were breathtaking.

Only once was he taken aback by the Aussie sally and Grant Schubert all but scored after evading the ’keeper. As the ball rolled, in came Maximillian Mueller with a fantastic diving goal-mouth save.

To be fair to the Aussies, it must be admitted they made valiant efforts to pick the equaliser. Nathan Eglington’s yellow card did upset the rhythm for some time. But Jaime Dwyer, Rob Hammond, and Grant Schubert, were all over the Germans.

However, the German defenders stood like a bastion denying them.

The Netherlands wins bronze

The Netherlands, which lost to Korea 2-6 in the pool game, won the bronze medal match against the same opponent by the odd goal in five.

Korea was in the contest till 10 seconds from the hooter. What the Koreans proved on Sunday, despite the loss, was that their 6-2 win in the last meeting should not be reckoned as fluke.

The results: final: Germany 1 (Timo Wess) bt Australia 0.

Play-offs (3-4): The Netherlands 3 (Taeke Takema, Rob Reckers, Jeoren Hertzberger) bt Korea 2 (Yeo Woon Kon, Kim Byung Hoon); (5-6): Spain 4 (Victor Sojo, Xavier Ribas 2, Santi Friexa) bt Great Britain 2 (Ben Hawes, Richard Mantell); (7-8): Pakistan 3 (Imran Muhammad 2, (one golden goal), Arshad Muhammad) bt Malaysia 2 (Tajuddin Ahmed 2).

Player of the tournament: Matthias Witthaus (Germany); Fair play: Great Britain; Top-scorers: 7 goals each - Taeke Takema (Netherlands) and Jang Jong Hyun (Korea); Best goalkeeper: Guus Vogels (Netherlands); Young player: Edward Ockenden (Australia); Player of the Final: Timo Wess (Germany).