Day 8 at the Tokyo Olympic Games

New Zealand is opponent of the Orange in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which finished first in Group A. Argentina will face Germany in the battle for a place in the semifinals. Olympic defending champion Great Britain plays in the quarterfinals against Spain (main photo, ed.) and India will compete against Australia, the number one of Group B

The Spanish ladies, with coach Adrian Lock who was released from quarantine back on the bench , easily won 4-1 against Japan in the last group match. New Zealand lost to China (3-2), but that team was ahead on goal difference in the final ranking of the group.

In the group of Orange, coach Sjoerd Marijne took an advance with India on reaching the quarterfinals by beating South Africa 4-3. Only Ireland’s victory over Great Britain could have thrown a spanner in the works. But the vice world champion and Olympic debutant failed to do so. It lost 2-0 to the Olympic defending champion. As a result, India took the eighth and final ticket.

Ireland – Great Britain 0-2 (0-1)

With the defeat (1-0) against India, Ireland had put itself in a difficult position. Great Britain had to win for a place in the quarter-finals, but the Irish team lacked quality to hurt the big neighbour.

In the second quarter, the British took the lead through Susannah Townsend, who reacted alertly after a penalty corner. Ireland could hardly make a fist offensively. The best chance of the equalizer was for Nicola Daly. However, her bet was saved by Maddie Hinch.

After the break Hannah Martin, Hurley’s new signing, put the 2-0 on the board for Great Britain. It was the death blow for the Irish. A number of tears were shed on the bench well before the final signal. A good result against the British team was a bit too much to ask for the Olympic debutant.

’17 Susannah Townsend 0-1 (sc)
’32 Hannah Martin 0-2

Japan – Spain 1-4 (1-1)

Japan started the game against Spain well by scoring the opening goal, but the home country had lost its strength with that. In the remainder of the game, Spain was clearly the better team, but it didn’t go any further than a goal by Laura Navarro (1-1).

In the second half, the difference in power was further expressed in the score. Begoña Grau made the 1-2 just after the break and in the final phase the Spanish ladies ran out to 1-4 by goals from Candela Zanetti and Berta Peremateu.

6′ 1-0 Kanon Mori
’25 1-1 Laura Navarro
’38 1-2 Begoña Grau
’55 1-3 Candela Zanetti
’57 1-4 Berta Peremateu

China v New Zealand 3-2 (1-1)

China and New Zealand turned it into a nice game on Saturday morning in Japan. China did everything they could to secure a place in the quarterfinals at the Oi Hockey Stadium, but knew in advance that they had a much worse goal difference. The Chinese shot at the New Zealand goal no less than 22 times in the entire game. That resulted in three hits. New Zealand, a team that does not score easily but also concedes few goals, was accurate twice and never really got into trouble.

’20 0-1 Elizabeth Gunson
’24 1-1 Meng Liu
’37 2-1 Yang Chen
’45 2-2 Elizabeth Keddell
’54 3-2 Meiy Liang

Argentina v Australia 0-2 (0-0)

The women of Australia close the group stage of this Olympic tournament with no less than five victories. The team, where there was a lot of commotion earlier this year, seems to have things in order in time. Both teams had already secured a place in the quarterfinals before the start of the last group match.

It wasn’t easy for Australia against Argentina, who are not doing great but always a team to be reckoned with. The Australian ladies were in good condition again, which ultimately resulted in two hits in the fourth quarter.

The defeat dropped Argentina to third place in favour of Spain. As a result, the Argentines do not play against Great Britain but against Germany in the quarterfinals.

’49 0-1 Savannah Fitzpatrick
’59 0-2 Emily Chalker

India – South Africa 4-3 (2-2)

India and South Africa were quite evenly matched. After the first quarter it was 1-1, after the second 2-2 and after the third quarter 3-3. In the last quarter the tension was to cut. Marijne’s India again proved to be technically quite proficient and was regularly dangerous. The winning goal was eventually scored by Vandana Katariya, who scored from a penalty corner to make her third goal of the game.

Then came the long wait for Marijne and his team, but thanks to the victory of Great Britain over Ireland, India qualified for the quarter-finals.

‘4 1-0 Vandana Katariya
’15 1-1 Tarryn Glasby
’17 2-1 Vandana Katariya
’30 2-2 Erin Hunter
’32 3-2 Neha Neha
’39 3-3 Marizen Marais
’49 4-3 Vandana Katariya

Group A

Group B

*to quarterfinals