Friday 22 / November / 2024
MUSCAT- Oman's dream run at the inaugural FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup continues as they marched into the semi-finals on Tuesday morning.
In the quarter-finals, the hosts, coached by Seigfried Aikman, overpowered Kenya 5-2 to set up a mouth-watering clash against fancied the Netherlands later in the evening.
Oman had booked a historic spot in the quarter-finals on Monday. The Red hockey stars became the first from the Sultanate to reach the last eight stage of a World Cup in any Olympic sport. And the fantastic run continues with high hopes of a World Cup medal.
Against Kenya, Oman led 2-1 in the first half, thanks to a brilliant display from Khalid Al Shaaibi. Al Shaaibi completed his hat-trick in the win (9', 20' and 22'). Rashid Al Fazari and Asama Barazahan were the other scorers in the facile victory.
In the other quarter-finals played, the Netherlands beat India 7-4 to set up a clash with the hosts and Poland edged past an unbeaten Egypy 2-1 in a thriller with the winner coming in the final seconds of the match. Poland will take on the winner of final quarter-final match between Trinidad & Tobago and Malaysia.
Both the semi-finals will be played later in the evening with the first edition of the Hockey5s World Cup concluding on Wednesday.
