The Australian hockey machine seems to have picked up steam early on in this Tokyo Olympic hockey tournament. The third game, against reigning Olympic champions Argentina, also ended with a resounding 5-2 for the Kookaburras. In the same group A, Spain lost to India (3-0), so the Red Sticks have to fear for a place in the quarterfinals. Japan took their first point against New Zealand (2-2), while Belgium crushed South Africa: 9-4.
Japan v New Zealand 2-2 (1-1)
Emotionally, Japan coach Siegfried Aikman walked through the interview zone after the game against New Zealand (2-2). After defeats against Australia and Argentina, his team had managed to take a point for the first time in this Olympic tournament.
“I’ve been touched by the energy my boys have played with. They gave everything. They played hockey with their heart. They want Japan to be proud of them. That people love hockey,” Aikman told the press conference. Despite the absence of an audience, Aikman feels the support of the Japanese people.
“It is a pity that there are no spectators at the games. With spectators in the stadium, we would have had a twelfth man. But Japan is cheering for us. I know that. There is a lot of media attention. We get a lot of nice videos in, we feel and appreciate the support. We know that the people in Japan are watching us.’
Japan still plays in the group against India and Spain. Aikman’s team needs at least a win to not be eliminated. Should Japan make it to the quarterfinals, Aikman knows a country he would like to play against. ‘My heart is in the Netherlands.’
3. Koji Yamasaki 1-0
11. Nick Wilson 1-1 (sc)
40. Kenta Tanaka 2-1
45. Sam Lane 2-2 (sc)
Australia v Argentina 5-2 (4-1)
With the full nine points from three games and a goal difference of 17 for and 6 against , the Aussies are on fire . Top scorer on the Australian side is former Bloemendaler Blake Govers, who already has five in this Olympic tournament. Against Argentina he was again accurate twice from a penalty corner.
Argentina started the game well, which was led by Coen van Bunge, and already led 1-0 after four minutes by a goal from José Tolini. But after Govers had produced the equalizer just before the end of the first quarter, things went fast. Australia waltzed over the Argentines in the second quarter with three goals in five minutes.
The Australian acceleration made the third and fourth quarters a formality. In the final phase, Maico Casella, who will play for Tilburg next season, scored the final result even more bearable from a penalty corner.
4. José Tolini 0-1
15. Black Govers 1-1 (sc)
21. Tom Wickham 2-1
23. Black Govers 3-1 (sc)
25. Lachlan Sharp 4-1
39. Jeremy Hayward 5-1 (sc )
55. Maico Casella 5-2 (sc)
India – Spain 3-0 (2-0)
Worrying times for Spain. Even after three matches, the team that will be coached after the Games by Max Caldas is without a win. The Red Sticks must fear that they will miss the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament this way.
The Spaniards were in any case a size too small for India, which recovered with the 3-0 victory from the beating against Australia (7-1) in the previous round. Rupinder Singh was the celebrated man on the Indian side with two goals. He scored, after the opening goal in the fourteenth minute, and a minute later the 2-0 from a penalty shot and a penalty corner in the last quarter.
14. Simranjeet Singh 1-0
15. Rupinder Singh 2-0 (sb)
51. Rupinder Singh 3-0 (sc)
Germany – Great Britain 5-1 (2-1)
In group B – the group of the Netherlands – Germany is at the top after a big 5-1 win over Great Britain. The man of the match was Bloemendaal’s Florian Fuchs, who scored three goals. He scored both the 1-1 after the opening goal of Phil Roper, who will play for the Orange-Red next season, as well as the 4-1 and 5-1. For the British, this was the first defeat of the tournament, after two victories.
9. Phil Roper 0-1 (sc)
15. Florian Fuchs 1-1 (sc)
35. Christopher Rühr 2-1
42. Justus Weigland 3-1
51. Florian Fuchs 4-1
60. Florian Fuchs 5-1 (sc )
Belgium v South Africa 9-4 (7-3)
World champion Belgium recorded its third win of these Games in group A. After a very goal-rich game, there was finally 9-4 on the board, the second biggest victory of the Belgians in Olympic history. Only in 2016 did the Red Lions win by an even wider margin: 12-0 in the group stage against host country Brazil.
Alexander Hendrickx accounted for three of the nine Belgian goals, and has now scored seven (!) times from eleven penalty corners. Jubilee Arthur Van Doren – he played his 200th international match for the Belgians – was also accurate, just like Cédric Charlier. The veteran striker also scored in his fourth Olympics and now has nine Olympic goals to his name. He equaled the Belgian record of Jérôme Dekeyser.
South Africa, which suffered its third defeat in a row but already scored seven times in Tokyo, played with guts against the world champion and had two tastemakers in Mustapha Cassiem and Abdud Dayaan Cassiem. They were good for three of the four goals against Belgium. Nqobile Ntuli scored the other goal.
4. Dohmen 1-0
5. A. Cassiem 1-1
9. Hendrickx (sc) 2-1
12. Briels 3-1
14. Van Doren 4-1
15. Dohmen 5-1
18. Hendrickx (sc) 6- 1
23. M. Cassiem 6-2
25. Gougnard 7-2
29. Ntuli 7-3
31. A. Cassiem 7-4
40. Hendrickx (sc) 8-4
41. Charlier 9-4
Netherlands V Canada 4-2 (2-1)
The Dutch team showed the first slight signs of recovery against Canada on Tuesday evening at the so far poor Olympic hockey tournament in Tokyo. The team of national coach Max Caldas again did not play great, but nevertheless won 4-2 against the number ten in the world. Because of the victory, the Orange is almost certain of a place in the quarterfinals.
The way the players and technical staff celebrated the victory together said everything about the relief in the Dutch camp. Just like after the win against South Africa, there was no joy, but everyone seemed happy that this hurdle had been overcome. The team is definitely not yet in the desired Olympic form, but after three matches it has six points and can cherish the hope that it will still run this tournament. Stranger things have happened in international hockey.
‘1 Billy Bakker 1-0
‘4 Thierry Brinkman 2-0
’10 Jamie Wallace 2-1
’50 Joep de Mol 3-1
’53 Mark Pearson (sc) 3-2
’60 Mirco Pruyser 4-2
Group A
| Item. | Country | GP | W | D | L | For | Against | Ptn |
| 1. | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 9 |
| 2. | India | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| 3. | New Zealand | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| 4. | Argentina | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 5. | Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
| 6. | Spain | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
Group B
| Item. | Country | GP | W | D | L | For | Against | Ptn |
| 1. | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 9 |
| 2. | Germany | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 6 |
| 3. | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 6 |
| 4. | Britain | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 5. | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 0 |
| 6. | Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 0 |
