Men’s Event
In the first round of fixtures, games largely went as expected. Belgium beat the Netherlands to take advantage of Pool B whilst Argentina could only draw with Spain in Pool A. Australia showed their impressive level of form by beating India 7-1. Australia would go on to win the group with the only blemish being a draw against Spain. India came second whilst Argentina edged Spain. Germany got a big 5-1 victory in Pool B over Great Britain but Britain rebounded to grab a draw with the Netherlands as South Africa upset Germany. Germany beat the Netherlands, dropping them into fourth whilst Great Britain got a draw with Belgium to come third in the group. Germany were strong in the quarter-final, beating Argentina 3-1. Australia took an early lead against the Netherlands but late in the fourth quarter, the Netherlands brought it back to 2-2. It went to a shootout where Australia would take the win. Belgium came from 1-0 down against Spain to win 3-1. India took a 1-0 lead over Britain in the first quarter and made it 2-0 for halftime. Britain pulled one back and with India down to ten men, Britain looked to have a chance only for an unbelievable finish to put India 3-1 up. India would start quickly in the semi-final, going up 2-1 by the end of the first quarter. Belgium would fight back and go on to win 5-2 with three fourth-quarter goals. Australia would win 3-1 against Germany to set up the final between the group winners. In the bronze medal match-up, Germany would take a 1-0 lead before a crazy second quarter which saw them extend into a 3-1 lead only for India to peg them back to 3-3 at halftime. Five minutes into the second half and India had extended to 5-3. It was a score Germany would never catch up to, finally succumbing 5-4. Australia and Belgium would play a tight game, it was still 0-0 at halftime. Belgium would take a 1-0 lead in the third quarter only for Australia to get an equaliser. It would go to a shootout, with Australia missing their first shot. Belgium would score their first two, only to miss their third. Australia would miss their fourth after it was tied before Belgium scored. In a score or lose situation, Australia would see their shot save, handing the gold to Belgium.
🥇Belgium 🇧🇪
🥈Australia 🇦🇺
🥉India 🇮🇳
Women’s Event
Reigning champions Great Britain were beaten 2-1 by Germany in the opening game. That result seemed stronger as both Germany and Netherlands had four wins heading into their final game of the group. The Netherlands beat Germany in that fixture, with Britain qualifying in third. In Pool B, Argentina were also involved in a bit of a shock losing 3-0 to New Zealand. Spain beat New Zealand 2-1 in their third group game. Australia qualified unbeaten ahead of Spain and Argentina, with New Zealand in fourth. Argentina took a 3-0 win over Germany after leading 2-0 at half time which some would potentially describe as an upset given the relative group stage form of the two teams. A bigger upset came as India beat Australia 1-0. The Netherlands scored a goal in each of the first three quarters to take a 3-0 victory over the Netherlands. Great Britain took a 1-0 lead over Spain in the second quarter but Spain quickly drew level. They extended to 2-1 in the third quarter only for Spain to hit back in the fourth. This meant we had the first shootout of the tournament. Maddie Hinch would save the first two and Hannah Martin put Britain 1-0 on the second shot and following another goal, Hinch saved her fourth consecutive Spanish attempt to see Britain go through. The first quarter saw the Netherlands frustrated by Britain defensively, but two goals would come in two minutes in the second quarter. In the third quarter, they would add two more, eventually taking it 5-1. India would lead Argentina 1-0 but the Argentinians would pull it back to take a 2-1 victory. In the third place playoff, it would start slowly. Britain would score at the start of the second period and then again in the 24th minute. By half time though, India was 3-2 up. Britain would equalise in the third quarter and in the 48th minute Grace Balsdon would score from a penalty corner, with Britain not relinquishing the lead. The action in the final would all come in the second quarter as the Netherlands took a 3-1 victory with Caia van Maasakker scoring a quick double.
🥇Netherlands 🇳🇱
🥈Argentina 🇦🇷
🥉Great Britain 🇬🇧
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