Day 9: Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 Day 9: Charlier strike sends Belgium through to final in Raipur

Red Lions defeat India to set up final meeting with Australia’s Kookaburras on Sunday

Host nation will play Netherlands in Sunday’s Bronze medal match
Capacity crowd watch the action in Raipur

5 December 2015: A solitary strike from Cedric Charlier gave Belgium a semi-final victory over host nation India, setting up a meeting with reigning World champions Australia in the title match at the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 in Raipur.

The contest at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium was witnessed by a sell-out crowd that turned up in their thousands to watch the home favourites but did not get the result that they so desperately wanted.

The Red Lions dominated the early stages of the game and took the lead in the fifth minute when Cedric Charlier was allowed to cut in from the right before firing a backhand strike between the legs of India goalkeeper P. R. Sreejesh from the edge of the scoring circle.

Belgium could have been even further ahead at half time, but India raised their game considerably in the third and fourth quarters and would have equalised were it not for a number of excellent saves from Vincent Vanasch. Arguably the best of those chances fell to S.V. Sunil, who saw his goal-bound effort kicked away by the Belgian goalkeeper with three minutes remaining to give the Europeans victory.

“We knew it would be difficult today because they have the crowd with them”, said Belgium’s Sebastian Dockier, who made his 100th senior international appearance in the match. “We did a great job in defence, but maybe we could have scored two or three more goals earlier in the match, but I am really pleased that we kept them out. We did a great job.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s final against Australia, Red Lions Head Coach Shane McLeod said: “They [Australia] are used to the experience of playing in big finals, whereas for us it is the first time that we have been in the top four at a world level event, and now we are in the top two, so we are really looking forward to it.”

India Head Coach Roelant Oltmans said: “We did everything we could to score a goal. We created chances, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are not and that is just the way it is. In the third and fourth quarters the team played really well, giving everything they could to change the score. They fought their hearts out, but sometimes you need a little bit of luck.”

Sunday’s final – which will be witnessed by a capacity crowd of 3500 – will be a rematch of the first place match from the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final, which took place in Antwerp, Belgium, earlier this year.

The 7-8 Classification match also took place on Saturday, with Olympic champions Germany cruising to an 8-3 win over Canada to end a disappointing campaign on a positive, crowd-pleasing note.

Christopher Rühr scored twice inside the opening four minutes to put Die Honomas in charge, with Moritz Fürste, Niklas Wellen and Lukas Windfeder taking the score to 5-0 before Gordon Johnstone pulled a goal back just before half time.

Matthew Guest and Canada captain Scott Tupper found the target after half time to make the score 5-3, although any thoughts of a comeback were ended thanks to a trio of German goals, with Florian Fuchs, Olver Korn and Constantin Staib completing the match scoring.

Results – Day 9

Semi-Final
India 0, Belgium 1
Hero Man of the Match: Arthur van Doren (BEL)

7-8 Classification

Germany 8, Canada 3
Hero Man of the Match: Christopher Rühr (GER)

Day 8:

Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 Day 8: Dwyer inspires Kookaburras into Hero Hockey World League Final

World champions Australia defeat European champions the Netherlands in semi-finals

Kookaburras star Jamie Dwyer marks his 350th international match with two assists
Australia will face either Belgium or India in the title match in Sunday

4 December 2015: Jamie Dwyer marked his 350th international appearance with two assists to help World champions Australia defeat European champions the Netherlands 3-2 to reach the final of the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 in Raipur, India. The Kookaburras’ opponents in the final will be either Belgium or India, who meet in their semi-final on Saturday.

In a high quality match, five times FIH Player of the Year Dwyer provided the perfect pass for Dylan Wotherspoon to open the scoring before forcing a save from Hero Man of the Match goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann only for Daniel Beale to fire home from close range. The Oceania champions could easily have scored more, but the Dutch fought back with excellent finishes from Constantijn Jonker and Mirco Pruijser either side of half time to level the match at 2-2.

The winning goal arrived in the 42nd minute, with Matt Gohdes getting the perfect touch inside the scoring circle to guide the ball just inside the right post, giving Australia a narrow victory over the defending Hockey World League champions.

“It doesn’t feel like I’ve played 350 games, to be honest with you”, said Dwyer after the match. “I just want to go out there and play hockey for my country, and to do it so many times, I’m very proud and honoured to do so. Every time I go out there I just really enjoy wearing the green and gold shirt and representing my country. I guess this year I had something to prove, both to myself and to those people who didn’t think I could do it at 36 years of age. It is good to be out there, not just participating but also having an influence.”

Netherlands goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann said: “In the first quarter we were nowhere, and we had to get into the game. I’m glad that in the second quarter we came back and scored a goal, and in the end we played way much better than the first quarter.”

The 5-6 Classification match also took place on Friday, with Argentina securing a fifth place finish with a 4-2 win over Great Britain.

Argentina needed just 17 minutes to establish a 3-0 lead, with team captain Pedro Ibarra scoring two penalty corners either side of a trademark set piece from Gonzalo Peillat. Simon Mantell pulled a goal back for Great Britain in the fourth quarter before Peillat scored his second of the match and eighth of the tournament with six minutes remaining.

Great Britain’s Phil Roper completed the match scoring three minutes from time, but it was not enough to stop Great Britain finishing the competition in sixth place.

Results – Day 8

Semi-Final
Australia 3, Netherlands 2.
Hero Man of the Match: Jaap Stockmann (NED)

5-6 Classification
Great Britain 2, Argentina 4
Hero Man of the Match: Pedro Ibarra (ARG)