The Argentine girls wrestled down New Zealand 1-0 on Sunday in Singapore making them winners of the round-robin. Netherlands finished second after they drew 2-2 with Korea. South Africa lost 0-1 to Ireland, both meet again on Tuesday for the 5th place playoff.
The classification matches are held on Tuesday. While the girls have a rest day the boys will play their last preliminary round day on Monday.
Ireland take first victory after defeating South Africa 1-0
The Irish girls finished the round-robin ranked fifth after they beat South Africa on Sunday night. Both teams meet again on Tuesday in the 5th place playoff.
South Africa and Ireland were still on zero points before this match started. Both put a lot of effort into this game as nobody wanted to finish last in the round-robin. Ireland started off with two penalty corners but Kathryn MULLAN was denied twice. Keisha ARNOLDS was close to scoring for South Africa in the 16th minute but her attempt went wide. The crowd had to wait up to the 27th minute until they saw the first goal. Lucy McKEE converted the third attempt during a penalty corner; South African goalkeeper Phumelela MBANDE had saved MULLAN’s and Rebecca BARRY’s shots before. South Africa wanted to strike back but the Irish girls including second goalkeeper Lucy CAMLIN did a great job and kept the opponents from scoring. South Africa won another penalty corner in the 66th minute but Jacinta JUBB could not get the shot away.
South Africa – Ireland 0-1 (0-1)
0-1 27' Lucy McKEE (PC)
Netherlands drew with Korea 2-2 and finish the round-robin ranked second
Korea came back after being 0-2 down and took one point against the Dutch. The late equaliser was scored by NAM So Ri in the 68th minute.
Both teams knew before the game in which of Tuesday’s classification matches they will play off. The Netherlands face Argentina in the Gold Medal match while Korea take on New Zealand in the Bronze Medal match.
The first have was goalless. Lara DELL’ANNA missed a great opportunity when her reverse-stick-shot went wide and Korea were also unable to score when NAM So Ri’s one-on-one was saved by the Dutch goalkeeper Saskia van DUIVENBODEN. The second half was more interesting than the first: After four minutes Frederique DERKX’s flicked in a penalty corner and opened the scoring. Netherlands could have extended their lead afterwards but the ball was saved by an Korean defender’s foot on the goal-line. The awarded penalty stroke was also converted by DERKX making her new top scorer in the Youth Olympic Games with six goals in total.
Korean CHOI Suji defeated van DUIVENBODEN in a one-on-one and cut the lead in half two minutes later. The Dutch played with more power now and took control of the game. However Korea watched out for counter-attacks which led to penalty corners. One of them succeeded in the 68th minute when NAM So Ri converted the second attempt and tied the score to 2-2.
Netherlands v Korea 2-2 (0-0)
1-0 39' Frederique DERKX (PC)
2-0 44' Frederique DERKX (PS)
2-1 46' CHOI Suji (FG)
2-2 67' NAM So Ri (PC)
Argentina’s win over New Zealand makes them and Netherlands play off for Youth Olympic Gold
Argentina beat New Zealand 1-0 in Sunday’s first match. While Netherlands and Argentina are qualified for the Girls' final, New Zealand join Korea in the Bronze Medal match.
The result of last round-robin match between New Zealand and Argentina was very important for both. Argentina needed at least a draw to qualify for Tuesday’s Gold Medal match while New Zealand needed a victory to make the final. Both teams started off nervously, the game took place mostly in the midfield. Argentina created better opportunities in the first half but couldn’t benefit from them. They won four penalty corners but all of them failed: Either the flicks went wide or the New Zealand runners blocked the shots. Julia CASTIGLIONI missed what was probably Argentina’s biggest chance when she couldn’t control a pass coming from Agustina ALBERTARRIO across the circle.
Team Argentina dominated the second half but was still unable to capitalise on the many opportunities in the circle. For example Agustina ALBERTARRIO had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but mishit the ball left of goal under pressure from the goalkeeper. The New Zealand defence was busy as the attack was not able to penetrate their attacking circle until the 64th minute of play. The young Las Leonas took the lead in the 61st minute when Rocio BROCCOLI flicked a penalty corner into the bottom right of the goal. New Zealand became stronger after they went 0-1 down. The won four penalty corners in the last five minutes but none of them succeeded.
New Zealand v Argentina 0-1 (0-0)
0-1 61' Rocio BROCCOLI (PC)
The FIH tournament micro site http://www.worldhockey.org/yog/ will be bringing you extensive coverage of all the action from the first Youth Olympic Games. The site will provide all official information and news from the tournament, keeping you fully up-to-date with the latest scores and league tables. The site will also include written match previews and reports, action photos, video interviews and much more. Photos of the opening ceremony are provided as well.
