NZ and Australian women draw, Aussie men beat India

South Korea’s Youngran Kim (second left) attempts to score past Netherlands goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek at the Hockey World Cup in The Hague, yesterday. The Netherlands won 3-0. (EPA)DPA/The HagueNew Zealand and Australia drew 0-0 in their group A match at the women’s hockey World Cup in The Hague yesterday, while in the men’s competition, Australia beat India 4-0 to reach the semi-finals. The New Zealand women, the Black Sticks, needed a win against Australia’s Hockeyroos to have any hope of getting to the semi-finals. But they failed to make the breakthrough in a game with very few chances for either side. Indeed it was the Australians who came close, Emily Hurtz putting the ball in the net in the second half, only to see the attempt chalked off for an infringement. Both sides struggled in the hot conditions, and there were only eight shots on target in the game. The Hockeyroos’ coach Adam Commens pointed to the fact that three of his players were not a hundred per cent fit. “We had a tough match against the Netherlands the other day, and are still feeling it,” he said. Black Sticks counterpart Mark Hager summed up his side’s fortunes: “We threw everything at them, but it just didn’t fall for us today.” In the men’s group A, reigning champions Australia beat India to win the group and proceed to the semis. First-half goals came from Kieran Govers, Jeremy Hayward and two from Chris Ciriello. Despite conceding four times, India played some attractive hockey, but in the end they had no answer to the fine Australian display. Australian goalscorer Hayward said: The Indians kept playing and coming at us, so we had to work hard defensively.” India’s coach Terry Walsh, noting the 4-0 half-time deficit, said: “Just because we didn’t concede in the second half doesn’t mean that we were significantly better in that half - the heat had just gone out of the game.” Elsewhere in group A, the Spanish men beat Malaysia 5-2. Spain’s Gabriel Dabanch scored twice, in the 13th and 46th minutes, and Spain’s other goals came from Marc Salles in the 33rd minute, Santi Freixa in the 37th and Sergi Enrique, who wrapped things up just before the end. Malaysia’s goals were scored by Tengku Ahmad in the 24th minute and Fitri Saari in the 51st. The result means Spain’s men finished fourth in the group, the Malaysians, sixth. Later, in the women’s competition, the Netherlands beat South Korea 3-0. The Netherland are in the semi-finals, topping group A, with the South Koreans finishing in fourth place in the group.