Champions Trophy: India lose bronze medal match; Germany lift 10th title

Bhubaneswar: An inconsistent India missed out on a podium finish going down 1-2 to Australia in the bronze medal match of the Hockey Champions Trophy while a young German team lifted the coveted title for the 10th time, beating Pakistan 2-0 in the final at a packed Kalinga Stadium on Sunday. India failed to find a second goal after Australian skipper Eddie Ockenden (19th minute) and Matt Gohdes (52nd) scored while Lalit Upadhyay (42nd) managed the consolation goal for the hosts. Australia tasted their first success in the beginning of the second quarter with Ockenden hitting the net in the 18th minute. [caption id=“attachment_1849045” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo. AP[/caption] A desperate Sardar Singh-led India then tried for the equaliser and had the better share of the ball possession. Finally, they were rewarded with a penalty corner in the 42nd minute. After Gurjinder Singh’s flick was blocked by goalkeeper Andrew Charter, the ball went to Sardar Singh, who ran out of space and passed it to Nikkin Thimmaiah. Nikkin played the ball to a better-placed Lalit, who tapped the ball in (1-1). Matt Gohdes scored the winning goal in the 52nd minute. In the final match between Germany and three-time champions Pakistan, the European champions rode on goals from Christopher Wesley (18th minute) and Florian Fuchs (56th) to lift the trophy for the first time after 2007. Germany, who Friday stunned five-time defending champions Australia in the semi-final, wasted two penalty corners in the first two quarters but Wesley bagged the first goal for the Europeans in the 18th minute with a strike from a close range. Both the teams fought hard to score in the third quarter. Pakistan, playing under pressure following the suspension of two of their players for the final match following objectionable behaviour in the semi-final against India, tried hard for the equaliser. However, the German defence stood firm to deny their every move and continued to pressurise the Asian team with several counter-attacks. Germany earned another couple of penalty corners in the 47th and 52nd minutes but Christopher Ruhr failed in both his attempts. In the 56th minute, Germany successfully blocked a drag-flick and co-captain Moritz Furste gave an aerial pass long away to International Hockey Federation (FIH) Young Player of 2012 Fuchs, who drilled the ball in the post with a brilliant finish to make it an unassailable 2-0 for the Markus Weise-coached side. Furste, who was declared Player of the Tournament, said: “The performance of our players showed that we made our best effort to win the match. Pakistan improved a lot and it was tough to play against them. But our players fought well.” Germany overcame several troubles coming into the tournament as they landed here after closing the indoor season. The team with six members from the Junior World Cup 2013 squad, finished last in the group stage but completed a sensational comeback to go home with the prestigious trophy. Earlier, the Netherlands salvaged a fifth place finish with a 4-1 win over Argentina, scoring four times in the final quarter to turn things around. Mink van der Weerden rocketed home his fourth goal of the competition from a penalty corner in the 47th minute after skipper Matias Parades had put the Argentines in the lead with a nicely taken backhand stroke in the 19th. Jeroen Hertzberger (55th and 58th), and Constantijn Jonker (56th) scored rest of the goals for the World Cup and Olympic silver medallists. England got the better of Belgium 3-2 to claim the seventh place. While David Condon (13th and 19th) and Chris Griffiths (30th) scored for the English side, Belgium got their goals from Florent van Aubel (10th and 39th). IANS