Japan defeats Spain by 3-2 in 2011 Electric Ireland FIH Champions Challenge I: Women Hockey Recap
Japan overpowered Spain by 3-2 in the extra-time of the semi-final match of the 2011 Electric Ireland FIH Champions Challenge 1 for women, held in Dublin on June 25, and made it into the finals.
With a locked up score at 2-2 until the closure of the match, sudden death was introduced as the decider in which a penalty-corner conversion by Ai Murakami in the eighth minute, turned into a golden score for the team, making them
qualify into the final match against USA.
Japan opened the match with an offensive approach, whereas Spain stood back, playing at defence and waiting for a goal scoring opportunity.
The Japanese women dominated the ground with a fast paced game that successfully pressurised their opponents from scoring.
In ten minutes, scores were on the scoreboard with Japan’s Rika Komazawa hitting a shot into the open net, opening scores at 1-0.
Spain tried hard for an equaliser until the 51st minute, when Berta Bonastre made a shot into the goal to level the scores at 1-1. From here onwards, the Spaniards picked up the pace and conquered the Japanese women, receiving
two back-to-back penalty-corners in the next three minutes. Rocio Ybarra from Spain successfully converted the second short-corner into a lead for the team at 2-1.
The rest of the play was a struggle for an equaliser from the Japanese side until it was half-time.
In the second half, Japan was found under-pressure and exhausted. During this fight, four of the players from Spain, namely Puig, Perez, Malda and Flores were shown cards, sending them out of the ground. Out of these two were out during
the same time, leaving just nine against eleven in the field to play in the closing fourteen minutes of the match.
Amazingly, in the 67th minute, Japan re-emerged with power and control when Komazawa struck a shot past Isa Barguna of Spain and levelled the scores at 2-2.
The match closed with scores locked up at 2-2. Therefore, extra-time was put into play for deciding the finalist team.
This round was dominated by the Japanese throughout with a penalty-corner in the eighth minute, which was a golden goal by Murakami, making her team to go ahead for the finals.
Tags: