Hockey Olympics Qualifiers: Great Britain, Germany win big to complete Tokyo lineup

Men's and women's teams of Great Britain and Germany qualified for Tokyo 2020 with easy wins over their respective opponents in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers.

Published : Nov 05, 2019 02:00 IST

Ireland women celebrate after beating Canada in a penalty shootout at Donnybrook.
Ireland women celebrate after beating Canada in a penalty shootout at Donnybrook.
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Ireland women celebrate after beating Canada in a penalty shootout at Donnybrook.

The hockey lineup for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is ready as New Zealand, Germany and Great Britain were the final men's teams to secure a place at the summer games next year.

In the women's qualifiers, 2018 World Cup finalist Ireland emerged the winner against Canada via a the 4-3 win in the shootout. German women thumped Italy 9-0 on aggregate, while Olympic gold medallist Great Britain got the better of Chile in a 5-1 aggregate win over two legs.

 

NZ overpowers Korea in the second leg

New Zealand entered Sunday's second leg at Stratford with a single goal advantage after winning an closely-contested first leg 3-2. However, the Black Sticks were in inspired form, scoring three goals without a reply in the second game.

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Stephen Jenness opened the scoring off a slick move in the 27th minute while Sam Lane added a second in the 23rd minute. Penalty corner specialist Kane Russell then scored with a dragflick in the 42nd minute to secured a 3-0 win for New Zealand in the second leg.

Great Britain teams down Chile and Malaysia

 

Great Britain's women prevailed over world no 18 Chile with 3-0 and 2-1 wins in the two-legged qualifier tie at London as they aim to defend their Olympic title from Rio 2016.

Britain's men fell behind Malaysia in the first leg after Nabil Noor scored from a penalty corner in the 6th minute. The host got the equaliser through Sam Ward's field goal in the 33rd minute. Phil Roper (36') , Alan Forsyth (42') and James Gall (47') added to the scoreline as GB cruised to a three-goal advantage by the end of first leg.

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Forsyth (9',56',57') scored a hat-trick while Ward (11',31') bagged a brace in the second leg as Great Britain's sealed Olympic qualification. Fitri Saari (24') and Razie Rahim (40') got Malaysia close but it was not enough for the world no 11.

German teams rout opponents

 

Germany men thrashed world no 20 Austria 5-0 in the first leg at Monchengladbach. The four-time Olympic champion faced resistance from its neighbour in the second leg when Austria pulled levelled at 3-3. However, Niklas Wellen (57') and Christopher Ruehr (58') sealed 10-3 win on aggregate for Germany.

In the women's qualifiers, Germany recorded thumping 7-0 and 2-0 wins over two legs against lowly-ranked Italy to seal an Olympic berth.

Irish women edge out Canada in a thriller

 

In the women's qualifiers in Donnybrook, host Ireland was unable break down Canada's defence as the first leg ended in a 0-0 stalemate. No goals were scored in the regulation time of the second leg as the game went into penalty shootout.

Unlike Ireland men, who lost a penalty shootout to Canada after a controversial equaliser in regulation time, the Irish women held their nerve to win the 4-3 in the shootout and seal a maiden Olympics spot.

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