Kim Jong's hat-trick leads Koreans to a 5-3 win over Black Sticks in 2011 Rabo FIH Champions Trophy
South Korea whipped out the Black Sticks women by 5-3 in another Pool C match at the 2011 Rabo FIH Women’s Champions Trophy being played at Wagner Stadium, in Amstelveen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kim Jong Hee, with an astonishing hat-trick, was the star performer of the day for the Koreans. The victory put the Koreans on the top spot at the points table in the medal round, Pool C, where Netherlands, New Zealand and Argentina, along with Korea,
are competing to capture the winning podium with a gold medal.
The first half of the match was the best half so far in the event, where Koreans were really awesome with their flamboyant attacks and scored two early goals, just thirteen minutes into the first half. The first goal came in the 7th minute
by Kim Jong Hee, while the second in the 13th minute by Hong Yoojin. But the Black Sticks women really stunned the Koreans by opening the score in the 27thminute, a couple of goals in one minute by Katie Glynn and Charlotte
Harrison, respectively.
In the second half, Korea was once again on the move when they took a lead in the 42nd minute with Kim Jong Eun, but minutes after the Kiwis levelled the score and the scorer was Anita Punt. However, Kim Jong Hee scored the
last two goals and completed her hat-trick; the fourth in 55th, while the fifth in 65th minute.
The coach of the Kiwis looked very disappointed over their defeat against Korea.
“We are frustrated to have lost that game. We started slow, fought back really well but we conceded too many goals and you can’t do that at this stage of a tournament. Our defensive structure was poor, especially in our defensive circle,” Mark Hager,
coach of the Black Sticks women’s stated after the defeat.
"If you score three goals at this level you shouldn't concede five to a team ranked a place behind you. That was the disappointing thing. We probably had an even amount of chances too but they put theirs away and we didn't,” Marker Hager further stated
about the chances his athletes had during the match but could not utilise those to the perfection.
Mark Hager also stated that his players showed good improvement and he also looked happy over the decision of FIH as it has announced that the top five teams from this event will automatically qualify for next year’s Champions Trophy in Argentina.
However, the Black Sticks women still have an opportunity to qualify for the final if they defeat Argentina, the World number One and the current World Champions, and at the same time the Dutch women defeat South Korea in their next fixtures.
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