Sport - Hockey

New Zealand, Korea in final

Changzhou (China): New Zealand shocked England and Korea upset Pakistan to set up a title clash in the World Cup hockey qualifying tournament here on Saturday.

However, all the four teams have qualified for the World Cup to be held in Monchengladbach, Germany, in September.

In well-contested semifinals, New Zealand overpowered England 3-1, while Korea pipped Pakistan 2-1.

The semifinals were slated to be played on Friday evening, but heavy rain forced the matches to be deferred to Saturday morning.

For New Zealand, which led 2-0 at half-time, the scorers were Simon Child (ninth, 27th minutes) and Hayden Shaw (58th minute). James Tindall reduced the margin for the loser in the 45th minute.

In a fast-paced encounter, New Zealand took the lead when a shot from the left hit the crossbar and on the rebound an unmarked Child deflected the ball home.

In the 27th minute, Child got the ball near the penalty spot and pushed it in without difficulty, giving his team a two-goal lead.

However, England went on the offensive as the second session opened. Tindall, back in this game after a one-match suspension, managed to get one back for the loser, but New Zealand, despite looking a little tired towards the end and playing somewhat listlessly, soon increased the tally as its dragflick specialist Shaw converted a penalty corner.

In the play-off for the seventh place, Belgium beat Ireland 2-1. In other matches, Malaysia beat Canada 2-1 to finish ninth, while Egypt beat China 3-2 to take the 11th place and host China finished last. — UNI

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