Germany Claim Champions Trophy Hockey Title
In the final match Germany's men's field hockey team have beaten Pakistan 2-0 to claim the Champions Trophy to their Olympic gold medal. Australia secured the bronze medal with a 2-1 win over India.
Chris Wesley opened the scoring in the 18th minute for Germany following a penalty corner, with Florian Fuchs banging in the second goal three minutes before the final whistle. Some 7,000 Indian fans at the Kalinga stadium cheered wildly as the young Germans, with seven junior World Cup winners from 2013 in their side, won back the Champions title they took in 2007.
Furste was named Player of the Tournament and admitted he was delighted with the progress of his young team-mates ahead of the Olympic Games in 2016. Several German hockey players, past and present, and other athletes showed their support for the national hockey team who won the gold medal at London 2012.
Pakistan had two players banned for the final and one reprimanded by the International Hockey Federation for making obscene gestures at the crowd after the 4-3 win over hosts India in Saturday's semi-final. But the South Asians, looking for their first major world title since 1994, kept the rampaging Germans at bay for a major part of the 60-minute match played under floodlights.
The closest Pakistan came to scoring was early in the fourth quarter when a loose ball from the left caught the Germans on the wrong foot, but Muhammad Bhutta was unable to slot the ball in. Pakistan had failed to qualify for the World Cup in June and were also unable to book a direct entry to the 2016 Olympics after losing to India in the Asian Games final in South Korea in October.
