Lausanne, Switzerland – The Netherlands males introduced an finish to Australia’s unbeaten run within the FIH Hockey Pro League with a methodical efficiency on the ultimate day of motion in Rourkela, India on Sunday. 

The 5-3 victory noticed the Dutch avenging their loss to the identical opposition 9 days earlier and likewise consolidating their high spot within the standings with 26 factors from their 12 matches up to now. Australia are second with 20 factors from their eight matches.

India at present occupy third place after wrapping up their house mini-tournament with a 4-0 victory over Ireland on Sunday to maneuver as much as 15 factors from their eight matches up to now.

FIH Hockey Pro League motion now strikes to Antwerp, Belgium the place matches will resume on 22 May.

(Men’s) Australia 3 – 5 Netherlands

The Netherlands regarded composed of their 5-3 win over Australia in what was a conflict between the highest two sides within the males’s standings. The Australians had the higher hand within the opening minutes and Jacob Anderson opened the scoring for them within the sixth minute, his lightning-fast reactions making certain he bought stick on a deflected move to faucet in on the left publish. They misplaced some momentum by way of participant suspensions and the Dutch bought a purpose again within the 13th minute, Duco Telgenkamp bunting in from shut vary after a very good crew transfer alongside the baseline. Telgenkamp added a second from an virtually an identical place within the 20th, getting a stick in entrance of his defender to deflect within the acute cross from the left. Neither crew might discover one other purpose within the half, though Andrew Charter within the Aussie purpose pulled off a very good penalty nook double save after which moved shortly to scale back the angle from the third shot to forestall a purpose.

The Dutch turned the screws within the third quarter, attacking for lengthy intervals and incomes seven penalty corners. That allowed Jip Janssen to increase his lead on the high of the goalscoring desk with a strong drag flick within the 35th minute, and Tjep Hoedemakers deflected in from a penalty nook variation to the fitting publish within the 42nd. The Kookaburras threatened a comeback with Tim Brand deflecting in from their first possession of the ultimate quarter, however Terrance Pieters nipped it within the bud with a 48th-minute area purpose. Jeremy Hayward scored an enormous drag flick for Australia seven minutes later, however the Netherlands emerged as snug winners towards the beforehand unbeaten Kookaburras.

The participant of the match went to Thierry Brinkman of the Netherlands who mentioned: “The most important thing is that we learnt from the first game against Australia. We did quite a lot of things much better than the first game against them, so I’m really proud of the team, a good tournament here for us.”

(Men’s) India 4 – 0 Ireland 

Hosts India put in a scientific efficiency to beat Ireland 4-0 within the remaining match of the FIH Hockey Pro League mini-tournament in Rourkela. Ireland performed optimistic attacking hockey all through, however had been inaccurate in entrance of purpose and it was India who had the killer contact when it mattered. Nilakanta Sharma opened the scoring within the 14th minute, a penalty nook variation deflecting off the primary wave and touchdown in his arc for a first-time smash. Akashdeep Singh made it two with a deflection from a flat move throughout the purpose a minute later and India led 2-0 at half-time, though Sreejesh had arguably been the busier goalkeeper.

Sreejesh was known as into motion once more initially of the second half as Ireland continued to assault with out reward. Gurjant Singh then made an important diving deflection to increase India’s lead within the 38th minute and India began taking extra management of the match. Goalkeepers Jamie Carr for Ireland and Sreejesh for India needed to make necessary saves all through the ultimate quarter, and it was Jugraj Singh who closed the e book on the mini-tournament with a well-placed drag flick within the remaining seconds, a lot to the delight of the house followers.

 India’s Manpreet Singh was named participant of the match and mentioned: “We are really proud of the game we played today… It’s awesome when we play here in Bhubaneswar or Rourkela, the crowd is amazing here, they always support us, and we are really proud to be here, it’s our second home.”

Top Scorer Armband

To have a good time the gifted goal-scorers all through the season the FIH has launched the Top Scorer Armband, which is being worn by the main goal-scorers within the males’s and ladies’s competitions within the present season, as a visible mark for the followers, and for the gamers to put on proudly, match after match.

Current Top Scorers:

Women – Yibbi Jansen (NED) (15 objectives)

Men – Jip Janssen (NED) (12 objectives)

To see the present standings within the FIH Hockey Pro League, click here. 

FIH Pro League – 25 February 2024 

Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela (IND)

Result: Match 31 (M)

Australia 3 – 5 Netherlands

Player of the match: Thierry Brinkman (NED)

Umpires: Martin Madden (SCO), Gareth Greenfield (NZL), David Tomlinson (NZL-video)

Result: Match 32 (M)

India 4 – 0 Ireland 

Player of the match: Manpreet Singh (IND)

Umpires: David Tomlinson (NZL), Kristy Robertson (AUS), Junko Wagatsuma (JPN-video)