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| June 26, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1427 |
Dutch thrash Aussies to claim Azlan Shah Cup
Netherlands 6 .......... Australia 2
India 3 .......... New Zealand 2
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25: The Netherlands routed Olympic champions Australia 6-2 to lift their first-ever Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in style on Sunday.
The Dutch, ranked third in the world, were in top form and lead from start to keep total domination of the game.
The Australians, bidding for their third straight Cup, were a pale shadow of the team that whipped New Zealand 7-1 in the semi-finals.
“It is always good to win a title, and for us winning it for the first time is an achievement. I was surprised at the scoreline considering we played the best team in the world,” Dutch coach Roelant Altmans said.
Just six months ago the Australians had beaten the Dutch twice in the Chennai 2005 Champions Trophy.
But the Dutch had all the answers to counter the Australian game plan in a match that was expected to be a close affair.
Roderick Weustof, the top scorer (five goals) of the tournament, found the net three times in the sixth, 48th and 66th minutes.
Taeke Taekema scored a penalty corner in the 23rd minute while Teun de Nooijer, man-of-the-match in the final, scored in the 42nd minute. The other goal came through Ronald Brouwer in the 52nd minute.
Matt Naylor and Russel Ford put the Australians on the board in the 60th and 66th minutes.
India secured a third place finish after coming back from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-2 in the earlier play-off match.
India coach V. Bhaskaran said he was happy with the outcome.
“This has been a good tournament for us. India always had problems playing in classification matches. We have learnt a lot,” he said.
The Indians fared better with their moves creating more chances. They also managed to control play by not giving away too much space to the Kiwis.
Pakistan, who finished fifth in the tournament, was awarded the Fair Play Trophy.—AFP
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