hockey.world.league

China and Great Britain claim two Olympic places

Argentina and Germany to contest third automatic spot

Great Britain beat Germany 1-0 in close encounter

China stand strong against Argentina

Final Olympic spot still up for grabs

Great Britain and China will meet in the World League Semi-Final’s final after they both confirmed Olympic places in Valencia, leaving Germany and Argentina to battle for the third automatic spot on Sunday evening.For GB and China, it will be a repeat of their closely fought battle in the group stage when the former won out 2-0 with Sophie Bray sealing the deal with a pair of goals – one in the first five minutes, the other in the last five.

Whether GB can repeat the feat will be their big challenge but they look in good shape to do so having won all six of their games so far in the competition, five of them courtesy of clean sheets from Maddie Hinch.

But China have saved their best form for the back-end of the competition as they followed up their quarter-final win over Ireland with a dramatic late 2-1 victory over Argentina in the semi-final.

The third place playoff should be an equally exciting battle, especially as the third Olympic ticket is still on the line. Argentina were stunned by a penalty corner brace from Wang Menyu to turn the tables in their semi-final.

Now, they face a German side against whom they have a decent record against in recent years, winning their last competitive meeting in the Champions Trophy 1-0 while they were also 3-0 winners in the World Cup last summer.

USA will meet Spain in what could be a pivotal tie in the Olympic shake-up when they battle for fifth and sixth place. The Americans produced their best performance to date when they beat Ireland 6-1.

Spain will be without Begona Garcia following a disciplinary hearing in the wake of two yellow cards against South Africa.

Ireland play South Africa for seventh and eighth place at 11.30am in a repeat of day one’s action. Ireland won that one 4-1 but South Africa will be keen to finally land their first win of the competition.

The Irish will be without Shirley McCay who is suspended following three yellow cards in the tournament.

11:30 RSA v IRL
14:00 ESP v USA
16:30 GER v ARG
19:00 GBR v CHN
 
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