Hockey World Cup 2023, Quarterfinals Round-up: Australia battles past Spain; Belgium blanks New Zealand

Hockey World Cup 2023: The quarterfinals happened on Tuesday. Australia became the first to enter the semis following a stiff competition against Spain and winning it 4-3, while Belgium blanked New Zealand 2-0 to seal its place.

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The 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup is in its knockout stages, as from Tuesday, the quarterfinals went underway at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. The opening game of the day happened between Australia and Spain, and the former had to dig deep to churn out a 4-3 win. It began in the 20th minute, with Spain earning the lead through Xavier Gispert, followed by Marc Recasens four minutes later, as the authority was doubled. At the stroke of the half-time break, Flynn Ogilvie gave the Australians their opening goal, as the Spaniards led 2-1. Meanwhile, a couple of minutes into the second half, skipper Aran Zalewski pulled back the equaliser.

The next minute, Jeremy Hayward gave the Aussies the lead, while he doubled it in the 37th. Although Spanish skipper Marc Miralles pulled one back for Spain four minutes later, the Kangaroos held on to their defence to see off the rest of the game and enter the semis. The contest saw a couple of bookings, with Gerard Clapes being green-carded on the 29th while Lachlan Sharp saw the same colour on the 56th. Australia will now face the winner of the England-Germany clash on Wednesday, while NZ goes home.

The second quarterfinal tie of the day saw Belgium going up against New Zealand at the same venue, and the former did well to see off the latter 2-0, becoming the second side to enter the semis. It was in the 11th minute when Tom Boon fired in the opener through a penalty corner, while Florent van Aubel netted the second five minutes later, which eventually turned out to be the winner.

There were three bookings during the contests, with Nick Ross off New Zealand seeing a green in the 36th, followed by Arthur de Sloover of Belgium receiving the same colour 11 minutes later. On the other hand, Kiwi skipper Nic Woods saw a yellow in the 49th. Belgium would be facing the winner of the Netherlands-South Korea clash, which happens here on Wednesday.