Malaysia v Japan in pictures...

by Frank Uijlenbroek

England bronze..

England – Korea 2-1 (1-0)

A 59^th minute goal from Harry Martin gave Bobby Crutchley’s young England team a 2-1 victory over Korea in the 3-4 Placement match at the Hockey World League Semi Final event in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The victory confirmed England as third place finishers in the competition, denying Korea automatic qualification for the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The Hague.

The result was good news for New Zealand, who are confirmed qualifiers for the World Cup by virtue of being the highest ranked of the two fourth place finishers from Rotterdam and Johor. The Black Sticks are ranked 6^th in the world, ahead of Korea who are 8^th.  However, Korea's high finish in the tournament means that they still have an excellent chance of qualifying for the event should they fail to do so at their continental championship.

Despite missing key players Ashley Jackson and Mark Gleghorne for this match through injury, England gave a good showing of themselves in the first half and took the lead in the 12^th minute. Ben Arnold was the scorer, driving from left to right across the circle before firing accurately into the bottom left corner of Lee Myung Ho’s goal.  Korea’s chances in the first half were limited, but looked extremely threatening in the early stages of the second period.  

Korea came agonisingly close to levelling the scores in the 48^th minute when Jeon Byung burst into the circle and tipped the ball past England goalkeeper George Pinner, only for Lee Nam Yong’s diving backhand effort to travel just wide of the unguarded net.

Moments later, Nam Hyun Woo brought another fine save from Pinner, before Korea eventually grabbed an equaliser in the 51^st minute. England charged down the initial penalty corner flick, but a second effort towards goal was deflected in by Kim Seong Kyu.

The goal seemed to be something of a wake-up call for England, who once again began to take the game to Korea and scored what proved to be the winning goal eleven minutes from full time. A penalty corner variation came the way of Nick Catlin, who placed a perfect pass onto the stick of Harry Martin who could not miss from close range.

Korea had a superb chance to equalise in the final minutes of the game when they won a penalty corner, but England shot-stopper Pinner produced a fine diving save to deny the flicked effort from the top of the circle. 

German gold..

Germany are the winners of the Hockey World League Semi Final tournament in Johor Bahru after defeating Argentina 4-2 in a pulsating tournament final. Florian Fuchs scored twice to help the world number 1 side to victory, although they were given a huge test by an Argentinean team that looks capable of rapidly rising up the FIH World Rankings over the next few years.

The match brought to an end a fantastic week of top class hockey in Malaysia, which saw three teams – Germany, Argentina and England – seal their places at the 2014 Rabobank Hockey world Cup. There were also individual prizes handed out to the players who excelled during this tournament, with Germany captain Max Mueller winning the Player of the Tournament while 20 year old Argentina defender Gonzalo Peillat picked up the gong for Talent of the Tournament (U-21). The Goalkeeper of the Tournament award was given to Korea’s Lee Myung Ho, while three players – Abdul Haseem Khan (PAK), Gonzalo Peillat (ARG) and Christopher Zeller (GER) – shared the top scorer awarded with seven goals apiece.

Argentina gave as good as they got in a fiercely contested and hugely entertaining first half, twice coming from behind against the Olympic champions to go into the half time break with the scores on par. Christopher Zeller opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute after brilliant build-up play from Moritz Fuerste, but Argentina’s 20 year old penalty corner expert Gonzalo Peillat rattled in a stunning leveller just four minutes later. Florian Fuchs volleyed Germany back in front in the 32^nd minute only for Matias Paredes to tie the scores up on the stroke of half time.

The South Americans were arguably the better team in the early stages of the second period, but Germany grew in strength as the half progressed and netted a stunning 67^th minute goal when Florian Fuchs touched home a brilliant pass from Christopher Ruehr. The win was sealed by Christopher Wesley in the final minute, who blasted a powerful backhand shot into the roof of the net via the glove of Argentina keeper Juan Vivaldi.  

Final Standings

Gold: Germany (Qualified for 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup)
Silver: Argentina (Qualified for 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup)
Bronze: England (Qualified for 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup)
4: Korea
5: Malaysia
6: Japan
7: Pakistan
8: South Africa

Awards
Top Scorers: 7 goals - Abdul Haseem Khan (PAK), Gonzalo Peillat (ARG) & Christopher Zeller ( GER)
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Lee Myung Ho (KOR)
Talent of the Tournament (U-21): Gonzalo Peillat (ARG)
Player of the Tournament: Maximilian Mueller (GER)