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| August 26, 2002 | Monday | Jamadi-us-Saani 16,1423 |
China shock Olympic champions Australia
MACAU (China), Aug 25: Unsung hosts China stunned reigning Olympic champions Australia 1-0 in the elite six-nation women’s hockey Champions Trophy in Macau on Sunday.
The once dominant Australians, chasing a record sixth Champions Trophy, were shocked by a brilliant 58th-minute strike by Ma Yi Bo as their run of recent woeful form continued.
The upset comes just weeks after the World Cup champions, heavy favourites to take gold at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, stumbled to England in the semi-finals and were fortunate to scrape a bronze medal.
A hard-working Chinese side proved more than a match for the Hockeyroos in the first half at the Macau Stadium, restricting the feared Australian strike-force, lead by Nikki Hudson, to just a few half-chances in an uneventful first 35 minutes.
However it took some desperate defending to keep out Julie Towers at the start of the second half after a six-player goalmouth melee.
Ma then sent the partisan crowd wild with a cleanly struck shot from just beyond the circle which found its way past Toni Cronk’s outstretched pad into the bottom right-hand corner.
Though the Australians created two more chances they failed to convert and the Chinese celebrated their first ever win over the Australians by dancing with joy at the final whistle.
Meanwhile their Commonwealth Games conquerors England were also brought crashing back down to earth in a 5-0 rout by a remorseless New Zealand.
The Kiwis capitalised on some sloppy England defending to snatch an early lead, Suzie Pearce powering home a penalty corner after just 10 minutes.
Jaimee Provan doubled the All Blacks’ advantage with an unstoppable flick into the top corner three minutes before half-time and killed off the game with an almost identical strike in the second half.
Michelle Turner added the fourth from close range and Piki Hamahona completed the rout three minutes from time.
Defending champions Argentina were given a scare before fighting back to scrape a draw against a fired-up Dutch side.
Karina Masotta cancelled out an early strike from Holland’s Minke Booij to earn the Argentinians a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
The European champions opened the scoring after 15 minutes when Ageeth Boomgaardt’s tame shot was neatly deflected into the back of the net by Minke Booij.
Captain Masotta then hauled the South Americans level seven minutes into the second half with a simple tap-in after a neatly worked penalty corner.
Masotta could have snatched the three points for the reigning champions in the last minute but her powerful run and shot from a tight angle was brilliantly parried by the outstretched leg of Clarinda Sinnige.—AFP
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