March 10, 2002	Sunday	Zilhaj 25, 1422

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KUALA LUMPUR, March 9: Germany rounded off what has been a rewarding two weeks for them by capturing the World Cup Hockey crown Saturday for the first time, finishing off Australia 2-1 in a Kuala Lumpur classic.

A packed to capacity National Stadium saw Germany, who had not won the trophy in nine previous attempts, score the match-winner through their evergreen forward Oliver Domke in the 65th minute after both teams were level 1-1 at halftime.

Germany, the European champions, had to brush aside a strong challenge from Australia to score this memorable victory that left the Kookaburras ruing their fate over yet another near miss, having failed to get rid of the ‘chokers’ tag that has seen them fall at the penultimate hurdle three times in the past. They lost in the semifinals at Lahore in 1990, again in Sydney ‘94 and Utrecht four years later.

Germany, in only their second final since the World Cup began in 1971, fought back from a goal down with a 35th minute short corner strike from their captain Florian Kunz who neutralised Australia’s advantage they had gained only four minutes earlier when Troy Elder was bang on target off a well-executed penalty corner drill.

The Germans attacked through Domke, Christoph Bechmann and Sascha Reinelt with all of them coming close to scoring after being pinned down in the initial stages by the speedy Aussies.

Germany’s best chance to go 1-0 up came when Matthias Witthaus hit the post with 13 minutes to go for halftime while Domke and Bechmann also came dangerously close, only to be blocked by Lachlan Dreher in goal.

It was the first defeat of the tournament for the Aussies, who had gone into the decider after topping Pool ‘B’ with a maximum of 21 points from seven games and seemed unstoppable. Not even the Olympic and defending champions the Netherlands could put the brakes on them and were flogged 4-1 in the semifinal, so explosive was their form.

But it was not to be their day Saturday. Despite having taken the lead and putting on another good display they were stunned by the talented Domke, who scored in a crowded circle at a time when there was barely any time to stage a fight back.

Australia worked hard with Jeremy Hiskins, captain Paul Gaudoin and Bevan George creating problems for the German defence, which however stood strong. Germany had only two short corners in the match while Australia forced five.

The King of Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah presented the glittering World Cup to the German captain, who only last Wednesday was named Player of the Year.

German coach Bernard Peters could not hide his excitement and told a post-match news conference that his side deserved the victory. “Once Kunz scored the equalizer, I knew that we could do it.”