FIH Champions Challenge II (Men) – Number Five and Six Positions
Ireland drowned the host team of France in finals of the second edition of the FIH Champions Challenge II, being held from July 02 to 10, 2011 in Lillie, France. The nine-day hockey tournament not only provided entertainment to the people sitting in the grounds, but across the world through television screens and other online sources.
The teams of Russia and Scotland managed third and fourth places, respectively in the eight-nation tournament. Furthermore Czech Republic and China were the 5th and 6th ranked teams in the second version of the Champions Challenge II.
Czech Republic: Number Five
The 24th ranked men’s hockey team of Czech Republic though has had an impressive track record in the recently-concluded FIH Champions Challenge II, but they stood at the 5th position in the mega event. On the way to the fifth rank, the Czechs won three games, drew a single, while lost a couple of matches out of the total six games.
It edged past USA in the opening fixture and established their dominance on the field. It scored three goals against the two of their rivals. But Czechs failed to hold back their winning-streak and lost to Austrians in the very next game by 4-3. The third game between China and Czech Republic concluded at 1-1 draw in which both displayed dazzling performances. In the fourth match, Russia downed Czech Republic in a ten goal thriller, out of which nine belonged to the former one. However, the Czechs cranked up their offence and won the next two games. But these two victories helped it to fix only 5th place in the tournament. In the second last game, it defeated once again USA by a single goal, 2-1. The Czech Republic overcame China by a single goal 3-2 in the play-off game and secured 5thplace out of total eight teams.
The Czech Republic scored 14 goals, while conceded 22 goals in the last six competitions.
Filip Neusser, Richard Kotrc, Stepan Bernatek and Ondrej Vudmaska were among the experienced names of the Czech Republic. Out of total 14, highest six were scored by Tomas Prochazka, while his team-mates, Stepan Bernatek and Jakub Kyndl, added three each. David Vacek accounted for a couple of goals in the event.
China: Number Six
The Asian team of China, which is currently holding the 14th position in the world ranking, failed to show an outstanding performance what it really worth. Out of total six games, it lost three games, drew one and won only two games. In the first competition, the Chinese team lost to Austria by a single goal, 2-1. In the second fixture, the Chinese team whitewashed USA at 3-0, while it drew a competition against Czech Republic at 1-1. After losing to a game to Scotland, the Chinese men took Austria down by a single goal and took revenge of the first defeat of the tournament. However, once again the Asian giants failed to continue their winning streak and lost to Czech Republic by a single goal, 4-3 in the playoff match.
The Chinese men scored 13 goals, while conceded only 10 in the last ten encounters. Among the goal scorers, Yixian Liu and Yubo Na were at the top of the list with four and three goals respectively. Moreover his teammates Xiantang Liu and Long Sun scored two goals each while Yang Dong and Liguang E added one apiece in the previous six appearances.
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