Pakistan 4 defeated India 3
Goals: IND – Kanwal Preet Singh PC 2m, Prabjoth Singh FG 14m, Gagan Ajit Singh FG 64m; PAK – Muhammad Imran PC 33m, Ali Akhtar FG 38m, Muhammad Saqlain PS 48m, Rehan Butt FG 62m
The tournament’s last day started off with the battle to avoid relegation between hosts India and neighbors Pakistan.
India started off strong and from a penalty corner scored as early as the 2nd minute. The hosts clearly dominated this early phase of the match and when they added a second little less than ten minutes later, it looked like the winner was decided already.
In a dramatic turnaround though, Pakistan first got on the scoreboard from a penalty corner that came from one in a string of attacks in the last five minutes of the first half, and right after the break, scored the equalizer on the other side of halftime.
As Pakistan became stronger, India withered by the minute, and in the 48th minute, a penalty stroke gave Pakistan the lead after having been two down already.
From then on, India had less and less to add to the encounter, while Pakistan went another one up when Butt hit in a rebound with less than eight minutes to go.
There was a last rearing up of the hosts in the dying minutes of the match, and India even reduced the gap to one goal, but they ran out of time and Pakistan was the winner.
Spain 5 defeated Germany 2
Goals: ESP – Santi Freixa FG 13m FG 69m, Alex Fabregas FG 22m, Pol Amat FG 41m FG 57m; GER – Moritz Furste FG 28m, Matthias Witthaus FG 59m
In the match for the bronze medal, Spain and Germany despite the pouring rain delivered an entertaining match with many goals, all of which were field goals.
Germany played better than the score line which was rather clear at the end suggests and had quite a few very nice opportunities even though Spain had a good grip on the game for most of the 70 minutes.
Santi Freixa opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Spain soon went up another one when Alex Fabregas completed a perfectly set up attack. Germany got one back before halftime when Moritz Furste deflected a free hit into the circle past goalkeeper Cortes.
For a while it looked like Germany might catch up with their opponents but two goals from later to be named Sahara Man of the Match Pol Amat practically ended their plight.
A sensational goal from Matthias Witthaus with a flick from a narrow angle got the Germans to two goals scored, but the minutes were ticking down and Spain even restored their three goal lead with less than two minutes ago when Santi Friexa scooped the ball over goalkeeper Schulte for his second goal of the day and seventh in the event, which at least for the time being secures him the solitary lead in the list of goalscorers.
Australia 3 defeated Netherlands 1
Goals: AUS – Matthew Wells PC 21m, Liam de Young FG 36m, Jamie Dwyer FG 62m; NED – Taeke Taekema PC 66m
The final in the Sahara Champions Trophy in Chennai today in a remake of last year’s Olympic final pitted reigning Olympic champions Australia against the Netherlands who have not been successful in a final since last year’s Olympic qualifier.
From the beginning, Australia were clearly the stronger team, and while the Dutch fought tooth and nail to stay even, they struggled throughout the seventy minutes to create scoring opportunities, a task at which the Kookaburras succeeded much better.
A deflection of a penalty corner hit over Dutch keeper Vogels gave Australia their first goal in the 21st minute, and that was all they could achieve in the first half.
Less than a minute into the second half, Australia scored their second through Liam de Young, minutes before the match was temporarily suspended for the heavy rainfall.
After the restart, the resistance of the Dutch dwindled, and the Oranjes struggled increasingly with the rolling attacks of their opponents. Jamie Dwyer took the score line to 3-0 with eight minutes to go, and Roelant Oltmans’ boys wrapped up the proceedings with a consolation goal by penalty corner ace Taeke Taekema.
This win gives Australia their 8th Champions Trophy title in the event’s history, while the Netherlands will feel disappointed at the 4th final lost in a row after the 2004 Olympic final (against Australia), the 2004 Champions Tropy (against Spain), and the 2005 European Nations Cup (also against Spain).
