FIH Professional-League: New FIH Hockey Professional League Season Kicks Off With Gripping Shootout Wins For China And The Netherlands

The brand new FIH Hockey Professional League season kicked off with two high-quality encounters that includes three of the groups that contested gold-medal matches at Paris 2024.

The ladies’s sides bought the event underway in Hangzhou, with Olympic silver medallists China taking up third-ranked Belgium for the primary time since their hotly contested semifinal showdown in Paris, with the Chinese language as soon as once more prevailing in a shootout.

Over in Amsterdam, the boys’s event opened with the defending FIH Hockey Professional League champions, the Netherlands, taking up Germany in a repeat of the Olympic remaining. And identical to in Paris just a few months in the past, it was the Dutch who prevailed, additionally in a shootout.

Current on the opening ceremony in Hangzhou on Saturday was the president of the Worldwide Hockey Federation, Tayyab Ikram, who thanked all these concerned and stated: “As we open this chapter of the FIH Professional League, allow us to have fun not solely the video games to come back but in addition the enduring legacy of sport as a unifying drive. Could these matches encourage future generations to dream huge and work collectively to attain greatness.”

The best-placed ladies’s and males‘s groups on the finish of this season, who will not be already certified, will safe direct qualification to the FIH Hockey World Cup Netherlands-Belgium 2026

(Girls’s) China 2 – 2 Belgium (SO: 4 – 1)

After main for a lot of the match, China misplaced their manner within the fourth quarter permitting Belgium to grab a 2-2 draw and a share of the factors. The house aspect recovered to assert a bonus level for profitable the shootout 4-1, nevertheless.

The Chinese language have troubled the perfect groups over the previous yr, most lately knocking Belgium out of the Paris Olympics in a semifinal shootout earlier than dropping narrowly to the Dutch within the gold-medal match. They began their FIH Hockey Professional League marketing campaign with excessive expectations and bossed lengthy durations of a high-paced first half earlier than Xu Wenyu opened their account with a 20^th-minute penalty nook strike.

Zou Meirong prolonged China’s lead within the 32^nd minute, bagging a rebound from a penalty nook. The momentum then shifted away from China whereas Liu Hua served a 10-minute suspension by way of the third quarter, however Belgium struggled to take benefit.

The Purple Panthers sparked to life within the remaining interval although, Michelle Struijk discovering the again of the web with a deflection from a well-worked penalty nook variation within the 50^th minute. Belgium took super confidence into the closing minutes, creating quite a few alternatives earlier than Justine Rasir discovered an equaliser from a penalty nook rebound with simply two minutes remaining within the match. A tense end failed to supply additional objectives and with the factors shared, the match went to a shootout the place China repeated their heroics from Paris to assert the bonus level.

China’s Meirong Zou was named Participant of the Match and stated after their opening win, the staff will now swap focus to the subsequent match: “We are going to play our personal sport, work laborious and attempt to win our subsequent sport.”

(Males’s) Netherlands 1 – 1 Germany (SO: 4 – 1)

The Netherlands and Germany performed out an in depth 1-1 draw for a share of the factors earlier than the hosts ran away 4-1 within the shootout for a bonus level. The Dutch most lately pipped Germany in a fiery gold-medal sport on the Paris Olympics and bought on the assault early within the rematch, calling on Alexander Stadler to avoid wasting a drag flick within the second minute. Germany settled rapidly although and began to stamp their authority on the quarter. Mauritz Visser was busy within the Dutch aim, saving an 11^th-minute penalty nook and making two good saves from open play. The second quarter was a decent affair with each groups struggling to create alternatives till the ultimate two minutes of the half. Stadler first denied the Dutch from a poorly struck shot with simply two minutes remaining within the half, however he had no reply when Thierry Brinkman’s cross from the baseline deflected off a German defender to provide the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The house closed once more within the third quarter with the perfect alternatives falling to the Dutch late on. Germany survived a half shot and a flurry of penalty nook re-awards within the 39^th minute earlier than Johannes Große saved and cleared a drag flick from the aim line. The Netherlands camped in German territory because the interval got here to an finish, however they couldn’t create any additional probabilities. The Dutch have been very a lot within the ascendancy within the remaining quarter and solely the put up denied final season’s FIH Hockey Professional League high aim scorer, Jip Janssen, from opening his account with a drag flick. Janssen pushed one other drag flick huge with six minutes remaining, and Germany have been nonetheless in competition once they pulled their goalkeeper off with a little bit over three minutes remaining. Raphael Hartkopf discovered the equaliser along with his 58^th-minute discipline aim, and Germany almost snatched the win within the dying seconds. The Dutch recovered to win the shootout comfortably, a lot to the delight of the house followers.

The Netherlands’ Joep de Mol was named Participant of the Match and stated afterwards: “It’s a disgrace we didn’t win. I feel we should always have gotten the additional level out… we have been 1-0 up with 10 minutes to play and we stupidly misplaced it, so I feel there’s loads to get higher at, however I feel for now it’s good.”.

Present Hero Prime Scorers:

Girls – Xu Wenyu (CHN), Zou Meirong (CHN), Michelle Struijk (BEL), Justine Rasir (BEL) (1 aim)

Males – Thierry Brinkman (NED), Raphael Hartkopf (GER) (1 aim)

To see the present standings within the FIH Hockey Professional League, click on right here.

FIH Hockey Professional League – 30 November 2024

WOMEN

Gongshu Canal Sports activities Park Hockey Stadium, Hangzhou (CHN)