Lausanne, Switzerland: Australia’s women made it 4 wins from 4 while India secured their place in the semifinal in dramatic fashion to round out the morning session.
India’s men registered a big win over Canada in the first game of the afternoon, while Wales kept their hopes of semi-final alive following a win over Ghana.
The evening session began with a thriller between Pakistan and Scotland’s men, with Pakistan edging the tie and keeping their slim hopes of qualification alive. A packed day was ended by Australia making it 3 wins from 3, securing their top spot in Pool A.
Australia 2 Scotland 0 (Pool B women)
Australia made sure they finished with a perfect record in the Pool stage as they beat Scotland in a game that ended their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
The first quarter began with Australia on the front foot, as the Hockeyroos bid to secure their top spot in the Pool. As would go on to become a theme of the match, Amy Gibson pulled off a great stop from a Mariah Williams shot as the first quarter ended goalless.
Further Hockeyroos pressure was asserted in the opening exchanges of the second quarter, but a steely Scotland defence stood firm. Eventually, just 2 minutes before half-time the Hockeyroos did find the precious opening goal, Grace Stewart with the finish after Maddy Fitzpatrick’s effort was denied.
Knowing a win or draw would mean they guaranteed top spot in Pool B the Hokceyroos put their foot on the gas, searching for more goals to put the game, and the Pool, to bed. Greta Hayes and Stephanie Kershaw both went close but to no avail, as Scotland hung on in the game as it headed into the final 15.
Needing to find a couple of goals to re-ignite their hopes of a semi-final spot Scotland got the final quarter off to a nightmare start, as Shanea Tonkin tucked the ball home for the Hockeyroos after some good work from Hayes to double the Australia lead. It would prove to be a knockout blow as the game, and Scotland’s medal hopes, came to end with no further score.
Kaitlin Nobbs (AUS): “We always knew Scotland were going to come out with lots of fire and passion and that’s exactly what they did. We were just trying to match it. It was a very fun game to play.”
Amy Gibson (SCO): “We always knew it was going to be a tough game playing against the world No.3, but we believed in ourselves after our performances in previous games in the tournament and we put it all out there. We couldn’t have put any more effort in.”
Canada 2 India 3 (Pool A women)
It was a fight to the very end between India and Canada women as they battled for a place in the semi-finals. Canada needed just a draw to progress, while for India nothing less than a win would do.
Had Canada triumphed it would have been a historical moment as the Wolf Pack have never finished higher than fifth at the competition. For India, a place in the semi-finals would represent an opportunity for them to finish higher than their fourth place at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In the end, it was the Eves who took the win and the chance to play for medals but the game hung in the balance until the final whistle.
India began the match with all the intensity of a team that was going to leave everything on the pitch. They were rewarded for their efforts in the third minute when Tete Salima was able to steer the ball home after a penalty corner strike had bounced around the Canadian goal.
The lead was doubled in the second quarter when Navneet Kaur showed all her considerable skill and agility to dance her way into a scoring position and guide the ball past Rowan Harris in the Canada goal.
