Germany clinch 3rd FIH Hockey WC crown

BHUBANESWAR, JAN

29 (PTI): Germany ended Belgium’s dominance in global hockey in the last five years as they made yet another stunning comeback from two-goal deficit to beat the defending champions in penalty shootout to win the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup for a third time here on Sunday.

The two sides were locked 3-3 at the end of regulation time of the thrilling final before Germany eventually won 5-4 in sudden death in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium.

Niklas Wellen (29th), Gonzalo Peillat (41st) and captain Mats Grambusch (48th) scored for Germany in the regulation time while Florent van Aubel Florent (10th), Tanguy Cosyns (11th) and Tom Boon (59th) found the target for Belgium.

This was the third time in the tournament that Germany had won after trailing 0-2 and their mental strength and neversay-die attitude came to the fore again as they denied the Belgians to defend their title.

The earlier two matches were against England in the quarterfinals and Australia in the semifinals.

German players celebrate with trophy after winning the 2023 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup final match against Belgium, in Bhubaneswar, Sunday. (PTI)

Germany joined Australia and Netherlands to have clinched the World Cup title three times. Their earlier triumphs had come in 2002 and 2006. Only Pakistan have won the event four times.

A day before the summit clash, head coach Andre Henning had said that Germany have given massive focus on their defence but a two-minute Belgium blitzkrieg left them in daze.

Van Aubel gave Belgium the lead in the 10th minute. The ball got a deflection and went up inside the German ‘D’.

Aubel leapt in the air and smashed it down into the German goal. Even before the packed crowd barely settled down after the first goal, Cosyns made it 2-0 as he got down on his knees and tapped in a Antoine Kina cross from the left.

Germany took a referral for a back stick but the video umpire ruled against them. Belgium could have been 3-0 up in the first minute of the second quarter but for German goalkeeper Alexander Stadler who brilliantly palmed away an effort from Gauthier Boc-

Serie A: Juventus suffer shock home loss to Monza

pen. We were unbeaten at home until now. Monza are a good side, but we cannot concede those two goals so softly,” Allegri told DAZN.

Gianluca Caprari thought he had given Monza the lead after 10 minutes, but he was ruled offside by VAR when he got the pass inside the box

The visitors did score after 18 minutes when Jose Machin sent a well-timed through ball to Patrick Ciurria, who shot high into the net.

TURIN, JAN 29 (AGENCIES): Juventus suffered another blow in their bid for Champions League qualification as they slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Monza in Serie A on Sunday.

Juventus are languishing 13th in the standings with 23 points, two places behind Monza. Massimiliano Allegri’s side have not been able to recover

KNG FC emerge as champion of 2nd United Gorkha Cup

DIMAPUR, JAN 29 momentum after being docked 15 points this month following an investigation into the club’s transfer dealings. They are 15 points behind AC Milan in the last Champions League qualification spot.

(NPN): Krishna Nitra Guria (KNG) FC emerged as the champion of the 2nd United Gorkha Cup 2023 after defeating United Gorkha Football Club (UGFC) 4-1 in the final match that concluded on January 29 at Singrijan village ground. The tournament that began on January 24 concluded on Sunday.

The winner KNG FC received a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 with trophy, medals and certificates while the runners-up United Gorkha Football Club (UGFC) received a cash amount of Rs. 15,000 with trophy, medals and certificates.

In the individual category, Vibeizolie Nagi of KNG FC secured the top scorer of the tournament with 7 goals.

Best goal keeper was awarded to Govind Thapa of Krishna Nitra Guria FC. Best player of the tournament was bagged by Rahul Gurung of United Gorkha Football Club while best defender of the tournament was adjudged to Ashish Rai of United Gorkha Football Club.

“Every game is decisive, we need to get out of this vortex as quickly as possible. We have one point from three rounds and that should not hap- card from a penalty corner variation.

Dany Mota doubled Monza’s lead six minutes before halftime when he got the ball inside the box, rounded Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny and put the ball into the empty net.

Juve dominated the second half but were repeatedly denied by Monza keeper Michele Di Gregorio who made a particularly fine save from Manuel Locatelli’s shot.

Germany had the golden chance to pull one back in the 19th minute but Tom Grambusch wasted a penalty stroke with Vincent Vanasch making a stunning save. Considered the best goalkeeper in the world, the 35-year-old Vanasch correctly predictedGrambusch’s powerful shot directed at the right top corner. The ball deflected from Vanasch’s stick and hit the post.

The never-say-die Germans reduced the deficit two minutes before the

Sports Ministry launches app for KIYG 2023

BHOPAL, JAN 29 (PTI):

The Sports Ministry of India has launched a mobile application for the athletes taking part in the upcoming Khelo India Youth Games.

The Games will be held in Bhopal from January 30 to February 11.

The application will allow access to all information about the Games, on a click of a button.

The application gives an athlete a chance to check if his or her verified documents have been uploaded, before the start of the Games.

After successful registration, the athlete can check the status of the issuance of their sporting kits, the hotel in which the athlete has to stay, transportation plan for to and from the venue, as well as important contact numbers on which athletes can call in case of an emergency.

WFI row a wake-up call for sports bodies to prioritise women athletes’ safety

NEW

DELHI, JAN 29

(IANS): In an unprecedented move, India’s top wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and others, staged a protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on January 18, levelling serious charges of sexual harassment against him and the coaches of the federation.

The wrestlers in a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) also alleged financial misappropriation and misgovernance in the WFI and claimed that the coaches and sports science staff were ‘incompetent’.

The WFI hit back and said that the protest was baseless and driven by a “hidden agenda to dislodge the current management”, which led to even sharper reactions from the wrestlers.

Eventually, the PT Usha led Indian Olympic Association and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur intervened, heard the grievances of the wrestlers and promised them full justice.

Not satisfied with the assurance, the grapplers had multiple meetings with the minister, some of which were late night. This eventually led to the stepping aside of the under-fire Brij Bhushan till an oversight committee probes the allegations and submits its report.

The oversight committee led by the legendary boxer Mary Kom is currently handling the day-today activities of the WFI and also looking into the allegations made by the wrestlers.

Last week’s protest should definitely be a wake-up call for the other sports bodies in the country to address serious issues breather as Wellen struck from a penalty corner variation.

Trailing 1-2 at half time, Germany had a chance to restore parity in the 40th minute when Hannes Muller’s shot was deflected towards the Belgium goal by Marco Mailtkau but an alert Vanasch padded it away to safety. The Germans kept on pressing and got the equaliser in the 41st minute when penalty corner expert Peillat, who had scored a hat-trick in the semifinals, sounded the board to make the scoreline 2-2.

The match then turned on its head as captain Mats Grambusch gave Germany the lead for the first time in the match three minutes into the fourth quarter after an exchange of pass with Thies Prinz. Prinz sent a defence-splitting pass after receiving the ball from Grambusch and it looked like that the German captain would not able to reach to the ball. But Grambusch pulled off a smashing reverse hit which went through the legs of Vanasch into the German goal. It was one of the few occasions when Vanasch finished second best in a duel.