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#1 Blake Govers (Australia)
Australia got their first Penalty corner in the ninth minute and the Kookaburras had the lead with a fine drag flick from Blake Govers.
Govers displayed brute power and amazing quality. He flicked it right into the top right corner. The Aussie player also sent in a lot of good through balls and was undoubtedly the most outstanding player on the pitch.
The No. 13 worked hard and constantly received appreciation from Colin Batch and his teammates from the sidelines -- which further spurred him to keep pushing himself.
Harvie won Australia's third Penalty corner in the 19th minute. Govers fired it into the goal again. It was a bit unlucky from the Chinese perspective as the ball took a wicked deflection off Guo Xiaoping to end up in the back of the net.
The young player found his third goal from open play. Hayward sent the ball in his path with a smart push and Govers hit it first time past the helpless Ao.
The 22-year-old is looking much more mature as a player and his monstrous drag flicks are sure to be of immense value for the team in the future stages of the tournament. The high-quality flicker has a lot to look forward to in the quarterfinal match.
Govers even assisted the 6th goal and did really well to trap the ball from a quick long pass. He found Jake Whetton, who in turn deflected the ball home brilliantly after diving full stretch on the ground.
The Kookaburras finish at the top of Pool B in emphatic fashion after a thumping win. Colin Batch would have no complaints from this match as his team made 42 circle entries and got 17 shots away. Comparatively, China had just one shot on goal from their six circle entries.
There were many other players who were exceptional in the match. It was a phenomenal team effort from Australia.
They just did not allow China to have any sort of possession. The switch play between the two flanks was also of top-notch quality. Number 26 Dylan Wotherspoon assisted Aran Zalewski for the second goal.
Tom Craig scored the third goal for Australia in the 16th minute through a neat finish. It was some unselfish play by the Australians to get the 7th goal -- Ogilvie Flynn found Tim Brand in the 33rd minute who deflected it in smartly.
Australian No. Dawson was intent on keeping a clean sheet. There was a rare break from China and a red shirt was waiting in a dangerous position.
Dawson made a full-length dive to stop the ball from reaching its target man. Matthew Swann was a livewire as usual. However, he only played in the first half.
There is a reason why Australia are the World Champions.
The Kookaburras now have a five-day break before they play their quarterfinal match. All eyes are now on the England vs Ireland game. China would hope that it is anything but a draw.
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