Argentina wins Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament 2010
Argentina’s women hockey team won the Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament 2010 in Nottingham, England against the Netherlands on Sunday. After a lukewarm start to the tournament, including a defeat against England and a draw against Germany, Argentina went on to win all four games by scoring 4 goals in every match. This was Argentina’s 6th final and 4th Championship win since the tournament started in 1987.
Argentina meant business from the opening minute of the game and started to trouble Holland’s defence. The Dutch could not hold the super-charged Argentineans for long as Barrionuevo opened the scoring in the 9th minute through a penalty corner. It took the Netherlands nine minutes to respond when Jonker equalized in the 18th minute. This was the closest that the Dutch team ever came to have a glance at the championship trophy.
It didn’t take Argentina too long to restore the lead as Rebecchi drilled a powerful shot into the goal in the 26th minute of the match. Four minutes later, Barrionuevo added another goal from a corner to make it 3-1. The Netherlands tried hard to get back into the game but their only addition to the score line came in the 56th minute of the match through a field goal by Goderie. Argentina was hanging onto the one goal lead when Barrionuevo scored another one just 2 minutes from the final whistle. Her third goal also came from a penalty corner.
The final was a special occasion for Noel Barrionuevo who equalled three records on the day. She became only the second player to score in all six games of the Champions Trophy Tournament. The feat was previously achieved by Jackie Pereira in 1987. Barrionuevo also equalled the record for the highest number of penalty corner goals in Champions Trophy games. She has now taken her tally to 19 goals along with her retired compatriot Alejandra Gulla. Barrionuevo will seek to break the record in next year’s edition. Barrionuevo also won the award for the highest number of goals scored in the tournament. Her 8 goals this year also put her alongside Kye-Sook of Korea who scored as many goals in 1987.
Argentine Coach Carlos Retegui expressed her delight after the victory and said that the teams’ hard work paid off and her team provided the spectators with an excellent display of hockey. She further said that the difference between the two teams was the hat-trick scoring Barrionuevo, who always shot the ball on target.
Dutch Coach Herman Kruis congratulated the winners and said that after the defeat, they learned a lot about how to play Argentina and their weakness in the game was largely due to some lack of creativity in the shooting area. Kruis explained that the Dutch should’ve won more penalty corners when they couldn’t move the ball around in the circle.
In the other two classification games played on Sunday prior to the final, England beat Germany for the second time in the tournament to claim the bronze medal. Germany opened the scoring through Stockel in the 24th minute and defended the lead till the half time whistle. England, who were a far better side in the second half won the game, courtesy to the penalty corners won by Gilbert in 43rd and Cullen in 51st minute.
The third place was England’s best finish in a Champions Trophy tournament till date. Germany are England’s only opponent who they have now beaten twice in the history of the competition.
The playoff for 5th place was a very exciting encounter between New Zealand and China. New Zealand went into the game without a victory in their previous games. China, with a victory over New Zealand a few days ago and a few close battles with other teams, was the favourite to win the game.
China took the lead through Ma Yibo’s 9th minute penalty corner which was instantly neutralized by Harrison’s goal three minutes later. China once again went into the lead when Yudiao scored in the 22nd minute but Glynn’s penalty corner right after the half time levelled the score once again. In 44th minute, China took the lead for the third time in the match through another penalty corner by Ma Yibo and once again Hamahona responded in the 58th minute to make it 3-3. The blow to China came when New Zealand scored their fourth goal and led the game for the first time with a 62nd minute goal by Flynn. The game finished at 4-3 with New Zealand claiming the 5th spot and its first ever victory over China.
The tournament which saw some very close games and thrilling finishes drew to a close on Sunday. The six goals scored in the final brought the total number of goals in this competition to 75 which is a record high in any Champions Trophy tournament.
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