The FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup got here to an exhilarating conclusion on Sunday with Poland’s ladies getting their arms on the trophy for the primary time and Germany’s males defeating Austria in a shootout to reclaim the title they final gained 14 years in the past.
The lads’s ultimate produced a high-paced goal-fest with the scores locked on 6-6 in regulation time. It was a top-quality encounter with the edges by no means separated by multiple aim all through. Austria lived dangerously round their very own circle at instances and Germany punished them for it. On the different finish of the court docket, Fabian Unterkircher was at his easiest, including 4 targets in Austria’s dropping trigger.
There have been targets for Younger Participant of the Match Ben Hasbach, and a number of other wonderful saves from Goalkeeper of the Match, Germany’s Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji.
The motion was unrelenting and the tip couldn’t have been extra dramatic with each groups having alternatives to seal the deal in regulation time. First Unterkircher levelled the scores for Austria within the 36th minute. Then Austria’s goalkeeper, Mateusz Szymczyk, made a pointy save to disclaim Germany a winner. Unterkircher then struck the publish with two minutes remaining, taking the match right into a shootout the place Germany held their nerve to raise the trophy for the primary time since 2011.
“This isn’t for me, it’s for the entire group,” Participant of the Match Paul Dösch afterwards. “It’s unbelievable what we did the final 10 days. We didn’t play in the future, we met 10 days in the past, it’s unbelievable.”
In sharp distinction to the boys’s ultimate, the ladies’s gold-medal match featured only one aim.
Polish captain Marlena Rybacha obtained her group off to an ideal begin, threading a powerful ball by the attention of a needle for Amelia Katerla who scored within the third minute. Poland had good alternatives to double their lead within the 16th and 18th minutes, however Austrian goalkeeper Michaela Streb was alert to the hazard and shut them down. Down on the different finish of the court docket Poland’s keeper, Marta Kucharska, completed the half with top-quality saves from a penalty stroke and a penalty nook and her group carried a slender 1-0 result in half time.
The Austrians cranked up the strain because the second half progressed, however the Poles managed the sport properly. With three minutes to play Austria pulled their goalkeeper out to have a final roll of the cube and it almost paid off. Kucharska made one nice save from open play after which led her defence in opposition to two penalty corners within the ultimate 20 seconds as Poland held on for his or her first-ever FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup crown.
Rybacha and Kurcharska have been named joint Participant of the Match for Poland and a delirious Rybacha, who was later additionally named Participant of the Match, mentioned afterwards: “It feels unbelievable. It’s simply one thing that we can not imagine that we made it to be the world champions. You can not describe it, it’s one thing that by no means, ever occurred to Poland hockey and we’ve made historical past.”
Earlier, South Africa’s males topped off their historic week with a 6-5 win over Belgium to take the bronze, a primary medal for the nation and the continent in a FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup. Mustapha Cassiem, who was later named Participant of the Match, grabbed one other hat-trick to complete on 17 targets.
Within the ladies’s third-place playoff, Czechia equalised within the final play of regulation time in opposition to Germany and went on to win the shootout for back-to-back bronze medals within the match.
Greatest Gamers of the Match
Males
Greatest junior participant – Ben Hasbach (GER)
Greatest goalkeeper – Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji (GER)
Prime scorer – Philippe Simar (BEL)
Greatest participant – Mustapha Cassiem (RSA)
Ladies
Greatest junior participant – Reese d’Ariano (USA)
Greatest goalkeeper – Somlak Suttiprapa (THA)
Prime scorer – Ines Wanner (GER)
Greatest participant – Marlena Rybacha (POL)
9 February 2025 Outcomes
Males
Consequence: Match 29 (M)
Malaysia 6 – 4 Trinidad & Tobago
Participant of the match: Ashran Hamsani (MAS)
Umpires: Salman (INA), Lukasz Zwierzchowski (POL)
Consequence: Match 30 (M)
Argentina 1 – 7 Croatia
Participant of the match: Mario Mucić (CRO)
Umpires: Ayden Shrives (RSA), Lukasz Zwierzchowski (POL)
Consequence: Match 31 (M)
Iran 5 – 4 Namibia
Participant of the match: Hamid Nooranian (IRI)
Umpires: Ben Goentgen (GER), Zeke Newman (AUS)
Consequence: Match 32 (M)
Poland 6 – 2 Australia
Participant of the match: Mateusz Popiołkowski (POL)
Umpires: Melina Illanes (ARG), Ayden Shrives (RSA)
Consequence: Match 33 (M)
South Africa 6 – 5 Belgium
Participant of the match: Mustapha Cassiem (RSA)
Umpires: Michelle Meister (GER), Ben Goentgen (GER)
Consequence: Match 34 (M)
Germany 6 – 6 Austria (SO: 2 – 1)
Participant of the match: Paul Dösch (GER)
Umpires: Pieter Hembrecht (NED), Sean Edwards (ENG)
Ladies
Consequence: Match 31 (W)
Thailand 3 – 5 United States
Participant of the match: Reese D’Ariano (USA)
Umpires: Ana Ortega (ESP), Ivona Makar (CRO)
Consequence: Match 32 (W)
Namibia 1 – 6 Belgium
Participant of the match: Laurine Delforge (BEL)
Umpires: Kristy Robertson (AUS), Abby Macarthur (WAL)
Consequence: Match 33 (W)
Germany 3 – 3 Czechia (SO: 2 – 3)
Participant of the match: Barbora Ćecháková (CZE)
Umpires: Emily Carroll (AUS), Ana Ortega (ESP)
Consequence: Match 34 (W)
Austria 0 – 1 Poland
Participant of the match: Marlena Rybacha (POL)
Umpires: Rachel Williams (ENG), Michael Pontus (BEL)
Ultimate match standings:
Ladies
- Poland, 2. Austria, 3. Czechia, 4. Germany, 5. Belgium, 6. Namibia, 7. United States, 8. Thailand, 9. South Africa, 10. Australia, 11. New Zealand, 12. Croatia
Males
- Germany, 2. Austria, 3. South Africa, 4. Belgium, 5. Poland, 6. Australia, 7. Iran, 8. Namibia, 9. Croatia, 10. Argentina, 11. Malaysia, 12. Trinidad & Tobago
All pictures: ©FIH/WorldSportPics
