31

Jul

2024 Olympic Games

image

Former champions New Zealand  on verge of elimination

Prabhjot Singh

 A person wearing a red turban Description automatically generated

Paris | Wednesday | 31 July 2024

Former Olympic champions – New Zealand (1976) – face elimination from the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. After 18 matches played in the round-robin league, defending champions Belgium are the leaders with a complete win record in pool B. Australia after suffering a massive  2-6    defeat at the hands of  Belgium has been relegated to third place behind India with six points. India climbed to the number two spot with an emphatic 2-0 win over the 2016 Olympic champions Argentina early in the day.

 

For Australia, it was its biggest defeat in Olympic hockey. Starting with a penalty corner conversion by Alexander Hendrickx in the 8th minute and a brace by Tom Boon (15the and 30 the minute) had the Olympic champions ahead 3-1 at the time of the breather. The only consolation for Australia was a goal by Lachlan Sharp in the 28th minute.

 

Five minutes into the second half,  Florent van Aubel made it 4-1 before Kina Antoine struck for Belgium in the 38th minute to make it 5-1. With less than a minute left of the third quarter, Blake Gowers reduced the margin.

 

Article at a Glance
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games hockey tournament is heating up, with defending champions Belgium leading the pack in pool B with a perfect win record. Australia, after a crushing 2-6 defeat to Belgium, has slipped to third place behind India, who climbed to second spot with a convincing 2-0 win over Argentina.
In pool A, the Netherlands maintains its top position despite a draw with Great Britain, while Spain shocked World Cup champions Germany with a 2-0 win. India, an eight-time Olympic champion, has bounced back with a win over Ireland after a slow start.
The quarterfinals are taking shape, with teams battling for a spot in the knockout round. Will Australia recover from its massive defeat, or will India and Belgium continue to dominate? The competition is fierce, and the stakes are high.

 

 

In pool A, the Netherlands continues to occupy the number one position even after conceding two goals in the last five minutes to split points with Great Britain. For Great Britain, it was the second draw after the South Africans pulled a near surprise in holding the Britons to a 2-2 draw. The Netherlands recorded an impressive 5-3 win over South Africa in its opener and followed it up with a 4-0 win over France.

 

Great Britain had a mixed start. After defeating Spain 4-0 in the first match of the competition, it had its next two games ending in draws – 2-2 with South Africa and 2-2 with the Netherlands.

 

Another surprising result came from pool A when Spain shocked World Cup champions Germany. Spain won 2-0 after losing its opener 0-4 to Great Britain. Germany had started the tournament with a flourish by blanking the host, France, 8-2 in one of the biggest wins of the tournament so far. Germany also blanked South Africa 5-1. Germany with 15 goals is now at the number two spot in the pool with six points from two wins and a defeat.

 

Belgium started with a convincing 2-0 win over Ireland and followed it up with a 2-1 win over New Zealand. Its third win against Australia was even more important as it reiterated the Belgian supremacy. It also proved that a  3-2 win in a penalty shootout in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Hockey final after a 1-1 draw in the stipulated period was no fluke.

 

Eight-time Olympic champion India started with a dying minutes penalty stroke conversion win over New Zealand and had to split points with the 2016 champions Argentina in the second game. Before staging a comeback with an impressive 2-0 win over Ireland, a team that can never be dismissed lightly.

 

Australia, after suffering a 2-6  reverse at the hands of Belgium in its third game is in little danger of losing its place in the last eight rounds. It has games against New Zealand and India in hand. It had started on a winning note with a solitary goal win over Argentina, followed by a 2-1 win over Ireland.

 

Argentina after a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Australia in the opener and 1-1 draw against India forced its way back into the reckoning for a berth in the knockout round with a 2-0 win over New Zealand in its third game.

 

South Africa has every reason to feel satisfied with its performance so far. After losing 3-5 to the Netherlands, the Springboks drew with Great Britain 2-2 but lost 1-5 to Germany to remain in contention for a quarterfinal berth.

 

The host France, after a humiliating 2-8 loss in its opening game against Germany, suffered another reverse by going down 0-4 to the Netherlands before snatching its first point with a credible 3-3 draw against Spain.

---------------

  • Share:

About Us

We must explain to you how all seds this mistakens idea off denouncing pleasures and praising pain was born and I will give you a completed accounts..

Contact Us

Contact Info

  • 70, Gyan Khand- 4, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. Uttar Pradesh.
  • +91-9810533682
  • info@mediamap.co.in
  • Week Days: 09.00 to 18.00 Sunday: Closed