Important victories for China\u2019s women and Spain\u2019s men headlined the latest round of FIH Hockey Pro League action in Hobart, Tasmania on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Red Sticks secured their first win of the tournament so far with a solid 2-0 victory over India’s men, while China claimed just their second victory with a 3-0 defeat of Spain\u2019s women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Women\u2019s) China 3 \u2013 0 Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n China were completely dominant in their 3-0 victory over Spain, a scoreline that could easily have been far more emphatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chinese got off to a quick start courtesy of a 3rd<\/sup>-minute drag flick from the ever-reliable Ma Ning. They went on to boss the first half, and Ning doubled their lead from a penalty corner rebound in the 15th<\/sup>. Yu Anhui made it 3-0 with a deflection from a recycled penalty corner in the 21st<\/sup> minute, and it could have been more but for a couple of good saves from Clara Perez in Spain\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A goalless third quarter was more evenly contested, although Spain struggled to apply any real pressure. The best chances again fell to China, Liu Chencheng driving a shot over the crossbar mid-quarter, and a late penalty corner going awry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The final quarter saw the Chinese fail to take advantage from four penalty corners, but their tight structure and high work rate simply gave Spain nothing to attack. The final stats told the story \u2013 China created 31 circle penetrations to Spain\u2019s five and earned 11 penalty corners compared with just one for the Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Men\u2019s) India 0 – 2 Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain scored two brilliant goals in their 2-0 win over India, who showed glimpses of their capabilities while struggling with their connections when it mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There wasn\u2019t much to separate the teams in a tight first half with few chances, but the opening goal from Spain in the 6th<\/sup> minute was worth the price of admission. It was a double deflection of the highest quality, Borja Lacalle\u2019s deflection from the top of the circle finding Ignacio Abajo on a leading run behind the defence for the critical touch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n India\u2019s Suraj Karkera was by far the busier of the goalkeepers as Spain created better circle entries, while India had a couple of ambitious attacks break down on the final pass inside the Spanish 23-yard zone. The Red Sticks held a narrow 1-0 lead at half time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain assumed control in the third quarter, and they were rewarded in the 36th<\/sup> minute. Pol Cabre Verdiell cut the defence apart before slipping a neat pass under the shoulder for Ignacio Cobos to hammer home from the top of the D. India\u2019s defence held firm against a flurry of penalty corners to keep their hopes alive heading into the final quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They found another gear, and an excellent glove save by Luis Calzado denied them some momentum from a penalty corner. India pulled their goalkeeper off with four minutes remaining to chase a result, but they couldn\u2019t turn things around. In the end, Spain enjoyed 23 circle penetrations and seven penalty corners to India\u2019s nine penetrations and a solitary PC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we needed a win, but the most [important] thing is that we felt like ourselves again. I think we lacked a lot of essence in what we did the last four games, five games, and I think we came back pretty well,\u201d said Xavier Gispert, the player of the match for Spain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Important victories for China\u2019s women and Spain\u2019s men headlined the latest round of FIH Hockey Pro League action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-9721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-hockey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t