With the first weekend of the Hockey World Cup all done and dusted, I’ve picked a few bits and pieces that caught my eye, piqued my interest or things you could’ve missed at the time.
This is not meant to be especially analytical or telling the story of the tournament, more just things that made me stop and take note. Enjoy.
The Good:
Belgium vs France.
What a game! If you were looking to get someone interested in the sport and the Hockey World Cup, you could do worse than sit them down in front of this.
A packed house, plenty of goals, including an absolute stunner from Eliot Curty for France, a comeback from the Belgians and then the noise when Alexander Hendrickx scored what turned out to be the winner – wow! I absolutely love it.
England off to a good start.
England’s men find themselves in a tricky pool with Pakistan, India and Wales, so getting off to a good start was imperative. Goals from Stuart Rushmere, Sam Ward, Sam Hooper and James Albery steered them to a 4-1 over Pakistan, which they will be very happy with.
Hooper scoring from a penalty corner will be of great satisfaction to England fans, too. Having slightly struggled from the set piece aspect of the game, it looks like Hooper could be emerging as the answer. Anyway, all in all, a good day at the office for Zak Jones’ side.
There’s no place like home.
A good weekend for the host nations. Belgium and Netherlands managed a record of played four, won four, scored 15, conceded five. Also good for those of us who predicted those teams would do well in the tournament. *cough*.
England off to a good start, part two.
England’s women had a tough Pro League season and things were looking pretty bleak for them until they rallied at the end of the campaign to pull away from danger. They seem to have taken a little of that momentum into this tournament and started with a good win over South Africa. Scoring four and keeping a clean sheet will have been very pleasing for David Ralph’s side. Sophie Hamilton’s goal was really nicely worked, too. Sterner tests await and they won’t be getting carried away, but they will be happy overall.
The return of Hannah French.
A ruptured ACL, a torn MCL and tears to both lateral and medial meniscus meant Hannah French has been through a very tough time with surgery and rehab over many many months. And yet, here she is, in her third World Cup, doing what she does. She won’t see it like this, because she’s a competitor, but whatever happens, kind of doesn’t matter – just being there is a huge win.
The New Netherlands Kit.
As someone who collects football shirts, seeing the lack of publicity and the lack of availability of hockey shirts is both baffling and frustrating to me. So it was nice to see Adidas actually promoting this new Netherlands kit. It’s a great shirt, too. More of this please.
Vamos Las Diablas.
I think it’s fair to say everyone who followed it, very much enjoyed Chile’s run to the World Cup finals. And now Las Diablas are there, they’re determined to enjoy themselves. This is class.
The Not So Good.
A little bit of regional league in the World Cup.
I’ve lost count of the number of matches I’ve played in or watched at a regional league level where a penalty corner is given and the shout of “who’s got the masks?” goes up. As though it hadn’t occurred to anyone till now, that some PC protective gear might be needed. So it’s nice to see a little homage to that in the World Cup. Pakistan’s PC gear was still in the changing room when England won a penalty corner. I would imagine captain Abu Mahmood found it less funny, as he was sent off for his team not being ready.
With friends like these…
This India penalty corner didn’t quite go to plan, and you have to feel for Lalremsiami, who copped it from not one, but two of her team mates. Oof.
That’s not me.
Having done many a pitchside interview in my time, this made my stomach churn. Liam Henderson was not making his 150th international appearance. Ireland’s Jeremy Duncan was, and he was interviewed after.
The Slightly Quirky.
Playing with the language.
At the risk of going a bit nerdy, the phrase “the rub of the green” which means ‘an instance of good or bad luck’, is derived from golf or lawn bowls, for obvious reasons. I therefore enjoyed commentator Chris Sharples saying “not getting the rub of the blue” due to the shade of the pitch. I realise this is very niche, but that’s why you’re here, right?
Who throws a shoe?
I’ve never seen anything like this before. England’s Ellie Rayer loses her shoe in the process of an attack, picks it up, keeps going with it in her hand and then throws it off the pitch. Great determination.
A bad drop.
During Wales scoring their goal against India, umpire Sean Rapaport dropped his whistle right at the key time. He stayed very calm and called for a video referral. Not ideal timing but fair play to him for laughing it off and not panicking. And well done to Sean Edwards for just about keeping a straight face.
So there you go, I wrote more than I meant to, but there was a lot to get in. I’ll try to pull something similar together later on in the week.
The Top of the D 