Men's Field Hockey Champions Trophy Glance

[H Khan]

.c The Associated Press

At Lahore, Pakistan=

Top two teams to final=

Team GP W D L GF GA Pts

Spain 1 1 0 0 4 0 3

Netherlands 1 1 0 0 5 2 3

Pakistan 1 1 0 0 3 1 3

New Zealand 1 0 0 1 2 5 0

Germany 1 0 0 1 1 3 0

India 1 0 0 1 0 4 0

Saturday, Dec. 4=

Netherlands 5, New Zealand 2

Spain 4, India 0

Pakistan 3, Germany 1<

Sunday, Dec. 5=

Netherlands vs. India 0500 GMT

Germany vs. Spain 0800 GMT

New Zealand vs. Pakistan 1000 GMT<

Tuesday, Dec. 7=

Spain vs. New Zealand, 0530 GMT

Pakistan vs. Netherlands, 0730 GMT

India vs. Germany, 0930 GMT<

Wednesday, Dec. 8=

Netherlands vs. Spain, 0600 GMT

Germany vs. New Zealand, 0800 GMT

Pakistan vs. India, 1000 GMT<

Friday, Dec. 10=

Spain vs. Pakistan, 0400 GMT

New Zealand vs. India, 0600 GMT

Netherlands vs. Germany, 1000 GMT<

Sunday, Dec. 12=

PLAYOFFS=

Fifth Place=

TBD, 0400 GMT<

Third Place=

TBD, 0630 GMT<

Final=

TBD, 0930 GMT



12/04/04 06:31 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

[H Khan]

Netherlands, Spain and Pakistan start Champions Trophy with victories

By RIZWAN ALI
.c The Associated Press

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Penalty corner shooter Taeke Taekema scored two goals Saturday as defending champion Netherlands claimed a convincing 5-2 win over New Zealand on the first day of the men's field hockey Champions Trophy.

In the other matches, Spain grabbed four second half goals to trounce India 4-0 and inexperienced young Germany fought hard before going down 3-1 to host Pakistan.

Holland missed some scoring opportunities in the opening minutes against a shaky New Zealand defense until Taekma converted his team's first short corner in the 26th minute.

New Zealand equalized three minutes later through Bevan Hari before Ronald Brouwer's neat deflection off experienced Teun de Nooijer's pass gave the Dutchmen a 2-1 lead at halftime.

The Kiwis equalized through another Hari field goal in the 43rd minute, but the Netherlands maintained the pressure. Rob Reckers and Karel Klaver extended the lead with their smart deflections off man of the match de Nooijer's timely passes in the 44th and 60th minutes respectively.

In between these two sharp field goals, Taekma converted 50th minute short corner with powerful low push.

``We are very pleased to win the first contest. It's nice to start with a win and get three points,'' said the Netherlands' Australian-born coach Terry Walsh.

New Zealand coach Kevin Towns predicted his team had plenty of improvement to show in this tournament.

``We were a bit rusty and we will improve as the tournament goes on,'' Towns said.

Alex Fabregas opened the scoring for Spain in the 43rd minute on a Francisco Fabregas pass before the Spanish team scored three goals in five-minute span.

Eduard Arbos made it 2-0 in the 60th minute while Santiago Freixa converted a 63rd minute penalty stroke. One minute later, Juan Escarre completed the Indian rout with a hard push from the right side which beat Indian goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan.

India was included in the Champions Trophy after Olympic champion Australia pulled out due to security fears.

``The key point in this game was that we did not concede a single penalty corner which is very important against a a team (India) which is not very attacking,'' said Spain coach Maurits Hendricks.

World record holder Sohail Abbas edged Pakistan 1-0 ahead with his trademark dragged flick against Germany off a 33rd minute short corner in the last match of the day.

Jan-Marco Montag equaled in the 40th minute through a penalty corner and the German forwards continually tested Pakistan goalkeeper Salman Akbar in search of the lead.

Against the run of play, unmarked Rehan Butt scored in the 52nd minute off a fine pass from Abbas to put Pakistan ahead 2-1. Kashif Jawad sealed the win on a Abbas low shot off a 63rd minute short corner when he flicked the ball over the head of German goalkeeper Ulrich Bulbolz and into the goal.

``Our goalkeeper played well in the match and he saved the day for us with his vigilance,'' Pakistan coach Roelant Oltmans said after the match.

On Sunday, Netherlands meets India, while Spain takes on Germany and Pakistan faces New Zealand.



12/04/04 07:03 EST

[H Khan]

By RIZWAN ALI
.c The Associated Press

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - Tournament favorite the Netherlands claimed a tight 5-4 win over India Sunday at the men's field hockey Champions Trophy, while Spain downed Germany 5-2.

Penalty corner striker Sohail Abbas struck twice in four minutes and helped Pakistan came back from a one-goal deficit to beat New Zealand 3-1 in the last match of the day.

The Netherlands, which beat New Zealand 5-2 in its opening match, led 4-2 at halftime, but the Indians closed the gap to 5-4 and could have scored the equalizer in the last minute had Sundeep Michael not fumbled off Arjun Halappa's deft pass with only goalkeeper Guus Vogels to beat.

Michael opened the scoring in the 5th minute, but Geert Jan Derikx got the equalizer for the Netherlands from a 10th minute penalty corner and man of the match Taeke Taekema converted a 16th minute short corner.

V. S. Vinay brought India on level terms with a field goal in the 20th minute, but experienced Dutchman Teun de Nooijer pounced on a 25th minute penalty corner rebound and Karel Klaver dodged passed three Indian defenders in the 34th minute and scored a classic field goal.

Halappa converted a penalty stroke for India in the 45th minute before de Nooijer's rasping shot from the top of the circle in the 59th minute caught Indian goalkeeper Adrian D'Souza on the wrong foot and Holland went 5-3 ahead.

With nine minutes remaining in the match, Vikram Pillay salvaged a goal for India off his team's second short corner.

``We were disappointing in defense and put ourselves in the position where we had to fought till the last,'' said Netherlands coach Terry Walsh

After losing two games in a row, India is now out of contention to play for the top two slots and its coach Gerhard Rach says his players must show more aggression on the field in the remaining three games against New Zealand, Pakistan and Germany.

Albert Sala's 20th minute field goal for Spain was equalized by Germany's Florian Keller in the 25th minute as both teams went locked 1-1 at the break.

Captain Juan Escarre scored with a reverse flick in the 40th minute followed by another smart field goal by Eduard Arbos a minute later.

Germany reduced the margin through Keller in the 55th minute, but Spain ensured its win when Pau Quemada scored his team's fourth goal three minutes before full-time and Sala converted a penalty corner seconds from the end of play.

``It was a tough match unlike what the scoreline suggests,'' said Spanish coach Maurits Hendricks.

``Germans fought hard but missed couple of good scoring opportunities,'' he added.

Pakistan made some bold moves but its forwards Mohammad Saqlain, Kashif Jawad and Rehan Butt were guilty of missing easy scoring chances against New Zealand.

The Kiwis also kept Abbas away and conceded just one penalty corner in a 0-0 first half. Wayne McIndoe stunned a strong Pakistan and struck a goal with a flat hit off a 39th minute short corner.

Pakistan, which defeated Germany 3-1 on the first day, struck three times in the space of seven minutes to restore its dominance.

Ghazanfar Ali beat New Zealand defense with smart stick work and Shakeel Abbasi equalized in the 50th minute before Abbas' strong pushes off 52nd and 56th minute short corners ensured the win.

``Overall New Zealand played much better than us. They had more possession of the ball and we missed some easy scoring chances,'' conceded Pakistan captain Mohammad Wasim.

``But I am happy that we are still in the tournament with six points from two matches,'' he added.

Monday is the rest day in the tournament and the third round begins Tuesday when Spain takes on New Zealand, Pakistan plays against Netherlands and India meets Germany.



12/05/04 07:09 EST