Blake Govers ran riots with his four goals as Australia mauled South Africa 9-2 to reign supreme in Pool A and directly qualify for the quarterfinals for the Hockey World Cup 2023 at the Birsa Munda Stadium on Friday (January 20).
The Kookaburras will not lock horns with the winners of the crossover match Malaysia and Spain in the quarterfinal on January 24.
Govers was all guns blazing as he found the back of the net in the 4th, 15th, 19th and 20th minutes as the dominating Australians took a 7-1 lead till the summation of half time. Tom Craig (10th), Jake Harvie (22nd), Daniel Beale (28th), Jeremy Hayward (32nd) and Tim Brand (47th) also contributed with a goal each in Australia's triumph.
Meanwhile, for South Africa Ntuli Nqobile (8th) and Kok Tevin (58th) scored.
The Kookaburras slowed down a bit in the third and fourth quarters, just scoring a goal each. The fourth quarter saw both sides scoring a goal each.
Five of the Australian goals were field efforts while three were from the penalty corners. Australia earned eight PCs as against five of the South Africans.
Belgium hammer Japan
In another match, the defending champions Belgium routed Japan 7-1 to top the Pool B. With a draw in the previous game against Germany, the Red Lions needed a big win against Japan to try and seal their spot at the top of the pool and earn direct qualification to the quarterfinals. The first-half hat trick by Tom Boon gave them a 4-goal lead by the end of the first half, and increased their goal difference to +9, with another 30 minutes to further extend their lead over Germany, who had a +3 goal difference with one game to go in the final match of the day against Korea. Japan had a much better start to the second half, keeping Belgium out in the 3rd quarter and scoring their first of the game early in the 4th. But Belgium had a much better finish to the game scoring thrice in the final 10 minutes, including 2 more goals for Tom Boon, to win with a 6-goal margin and bump their overall goal difference to +11. Tom Boon who became only the 4th ever player to score 5 goals in a World Cup game, was awarded player of the match and said: "I think after scoring no goals in the first quarter, it's good to get 7 goals and a +6 goal difference in the final 3 quarters. Looking forward to playing in the knockouts going forward.
Germany annihilate Korea
The second half started frantically as both teams traded end-to-end counter-attacks. Korea had the best chance in the 32nd minute with Junwoo Jeong finding shooting space in the German circle, but his venomous hit sailed inches over the goal. Wellen increased the German lead completing his hat-trick in the 41st minute and Gonzalo Peillat added another for the Honamas in the 43rd minute from their 6th penalty corner of the day. The 4th quarter saw Germany overrun Korea in attack, scoring thrice in the first 7 minutes, but Korea retreated into their defence as German attempts at overtaking Belgium fell narrowly short. Korea added a second goal in the final minute as they won a penalty corner while the Germans had subbed their keeper out for an outfield player. Hat-trick hero Niklas Wellen was awarded player of the match and said: "We knew how many goals we needed to finish top of the group, and we fell short by a couple of goals, but 2 wins and a draw from the three pool stage matches is a very good result for us on the whole.
The final game of the day was also the final game of the pool stages, with Germany needing a win by 9 goals to overtake Belgium in the Pool B standings and gain direct entry into the quarterfinals, but against an in-from Korea team that would prove to be too big a mountain to climb for the Honamas. Germany did start the game brightly, scoring in the second minute of the game, through Niklas Wellen, but by the end of the first quarter, Korea had pulled a goal back to keep the scores level. Wellen, who is in red-hot scoring form, gave Germany their lead back before their half-time, but with just a 1-goal lead halfway through the game, German hopes of topping the group were rapidly fading.
Argentina held in a draw
In another Pool A match, Argentina and France scored a goal each in the final minute to play out a 5-5 draw in a dramatic contest.
Argentina finished second in the pool with five points from three matches -- one win and two draws -- while France ended at third with four points -- one win, one draw and one loss. Argentina will play the third place team in Pool B in their crossover match on January 22 in Bhubaneswar while France will take on the second place team in Pool B the next day.
France thought they had won the match 5-4 after Victor Charlet scored in the final minute from the penalty stroke but Argentina equalised after a few seconds through a penalty corner. Argentina earned four penalty corners in succession and scored from the last one to split points with France.
Charlet (36th, 38th, 48th and 60th) struck four goals for France with two coming from penalty strokes. His first and last were from penalty strokes while the second and third were from PCs. Tynevez Etienne scored the other goal for France in the 11th minute.
For Argentina, who had played out a 3-3 draw against pool topper Australia, Nicolas Della Torre (34th, 42nd and 60th) struck a hat-trick while Keenan Nicolas (3rd) and Martin Ferreiro (51st) were the other goal scorers.
The Netherlands and England also booked direct quarterfinal berths after topping Pool C and Pool D respectively on Thursday.
