Day 2 has been concluded here in the city of Rio de Janeiro with the second set of eight matches played, four each in the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Deodoro.
Let us now take a look at all the hockey results from Day 2:
In Men’s Hockey, New Zealand picked up their first point when they held Great Britain to a 2-2 draw after their opening day loss against world leaders Australia. Leicester-born midfielder David Condon’s early strike was cancelled by Kane Russell in the 14th minute, followed by a Hayden Philips goal in the second quarter. Barry Middleton then equalised for the British in the first half itself, leading to the points being shared by the two sides.
Hosts Brazil’s woes were multiplied as favourites Belgium thumped them 12-0 in what was a thoroughly uneven contest between the 6th and the 30th ranked hockey teams of the world. Brazil have now conceded a staggering 19 goals in two matches and things seem to be worsening from here since they are yet to face the mighty Aussies as also the British team.
In the 3rd Group A match, World No. 11 Spain, then pulled off a shock upset of the top-ranked Australian side with a 1-0 result, Alex Casasayas turning hero with his decisive 6th-minute strike!
In Group B, India’s concerns were multiplied with the Netherlands’ 5-0 drubbing of Ireland, Mink van der Weerden with a brace after opening the scoring in the 7th minute. Jorrit Croon, Mirco Pruijser and Jeroen Hertzberger were the three others to get their names on the scoresheet.
In women’s hockey, India earned a hard-fought draw after bouncing back from a two-goal deficit against Japan in Group B. Rani Rampal and Lilima Minz scored in the 3rd quarter to ensure they opened their account at Rio.
The three other games were played in Group A where New Zealand thrashed South Korea 4-1 and the Germans were held by China with one goal apiece. In a remarkable coincidence, the Dutch women mirrored the men’s team’s result from the same day, as they routed Spain by a massive 5-0.
