Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: History was made at the Hockey Oman Stadium in Al Amerat on Saturday night as the first-ever women’s champions of the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024 were crowned.
The Netherlands proved too good for India as they cruised to a 7-2 win in the summit clash of the event that began on January 24.
The Dutch women were at their imperious best as they hammered six goals at the end of first half. India fought back in the second half as they scored two goals but the Dutch were never threatened as they rounded off the final with another goal in the second half.
For the Dutch, Janneke van de Venne (2’, 14’), Bente van der Veldt (4’, 8’), and Lana Kalse (11’, 27’) scored a brace while Benninga Sosha (13’) had a goal to her credit. For India, Jyoti Chhatri (20’) and Pisal Dadaso Rutaja (23’) scored.
A total of 16 teams took part in the women’s competition with the men’s action to begin from Sunday. The final of the men’s event will be held on January 31.
Earlier in the third-place bronze medal playoff, Poland defeated South Africa 4-2.
Classification matches were also held to decide the final placings with hosts and debutant Oman finishing at the bottom as it lost 11-3 to Zambia for the 15th-16th position.
It was an encouraging display by the hosts’ women, who were playing at the biggest stage for the first time and had begun learning hockey only 20 months back.
Uruguay finished fifth after a 8-4 victory over Malaysia while Ukraine took the seventh spot with a 6-0 win over New Zealand.
United States were 2-0 winners over Namibia to end ninth and lift the Challenger Trophy.
The Challenger Trophy was contested by the eight teams that did not make it to the quarterfinals. The Challenger tournament is an initiative that was introduced by FIH President Tayyab Ikram, as a sign of encouragement for all teams.
Australia concluded their campaign with an 11th place finish after an 8-3 win over Fiji.
Thailand ended 13th after they beat Paraguay 5-3.
Earlier on Friday, Netherlands set up a summit clash with India.
The Dutch overcame Poland 3-1 while India got the better of South Africa 6-3 to progress.
In the quarter-finals, the Netherlands were tested for the first time in the tournament but still advanced with a 4-2 win over Ukraine. Poland put in a clinical performance to beat Uruguay 5-3. South Africa went into their match against Malaysia as firm favourites but found themselves three goals down and struggling before mounting an impressive fightback to secure a 6-4 win.
India’s class was on full display as they ran rampant in an 11-1 triumph over New Zealand.
