Hockey World Cup 2023: The quarterfinals continued on Wednesday, as England went up against Germany, while after a shootout, the latter made it to the semis. Elsewhere, the Netherlands thumped South Korea 5-1 to qualify.
The 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup is happening in Odisha, as the quarterfinals continued on Wednesday at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. The day's opening contest was between England and Germany, which turned out to be a close contest that ended 2-2 in regulation time. While Zachary Wallace scored the opener for the English in the 12th, Liam Ansell doubled it in the 33rd through a penalty corner. However, the Germans came back strongly, with skipper Mats Grambusch firing in on the 58th, while Tom Grambush drew the equaliser a minute later through a penalty stroke as things moved into the shootout.
In the shootout, James Albery, Wallace and Phil Rper were the ones to score for England, while David Goodfield and Anseell missed out. As for Germany, Niklas Wellen, Hannes Muller, Thies Prinz and Christopher Ruhr found the net to comfortably send the side into the semis. While Wallace was green-carded in the 58th, Ruhr saw yellow in the 38th, whereas Timur Oruz saw green in the 31st. England takes on Australia in the semis on Friday at the same venue.
In the final quarterfinal game, the Netherlands was up against South Korea, and it was a one-way contest, as the former hammered the latter 5-1. While Koen Bijen scored the opener in the 27th, he successfully converted a PC a minute into the third quarter to double the lead for the Dutch.
Justen Blok netted the fourth in the 36th, followed by Steijn van Heihningen in the 50th. While the Koreans pulled one back a minute later, thanks to Inwoo Seo, it was nothing more than a consolation, as Teun Beins pummeled in the fifth and the winning goal for the Netherlands in the 58th through another PC. With this victory, the Dutch would be up against Belgium in the semis at the same venue on Friday, whereas Korea would go home.