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The Hockey World Cup 2018 has been a nail-biting affair so far. Currently being hosted at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, except for the matches between India and South Africa, and Netherlands vs. Malaysia, there haven't been any one-sided affairs.
While teams like Canada and Pakistan have sustained themselves, despite the continuous assaults from all sides, teams like France and China have given literal nightmares to even stalwarts like England and Argentina.
In this scenario, China, who had surprised England and Ireland with gutsy draws, looked all set to face Australia. While Australia had almost booked their berth for the quarter-finals, China looked forward to a major upset by defeating the defending champions in their penultimate league match.
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They were not too optimistic in their thinking, given that France, who had made it to the World Cup after 28 years, shocked Olympic champions Argentina by 5-3, making a comfortable progress into the crossover round.
However, the Kookaburras had other plans for the Chinese team. They not only burst the bubble that China got with their back-to-back draws, but also mauled the Chinese challenge with an iron fist.
From goalkeepers Andrew Charter and Tyler Lovell, who denied China even a single chance to strike back, to penalty corner specialists Blake Govers and Jeremy Hayward, who feasted on every single opportunity, every Australian player had a field day against China, scoring goals at whim and denying even a single chance to the Chinese to strike back.
Even though the match was a one-sided affair, the classic Australian hockey sent a strong message to other opponents: they're no pushovers at all, and they're here for a 3rd consecutive title. Following are some of the interesting points about the match between Australia and China, which ended 11-0 in Australia's favour:-
#5 Australia on attack from the first whistle itself
Australia went into attack mode from the word 'Go.' Contrary to the expectations, the Kookaburras dominated throughout the game. Giving no respite to the Chinese players, Australian players broke into their defence more than once, accounting for more than 40 circle entries, of which Australia shot on the goal 20 times, succeeding in 11 instances, which speaks volumes in itself.
From the time Blake Govers opened the account for Team Australia in the 10th minute, with a brilliant conversion on the penalty corner, the writing was on the wall. Interestingly, the attacking prowess of Australia was so brilliant that throughout the match, they earned a whopping six penalty corners, and converted four of them, which proves why Australia are the undisputed masters of the penalty corners. It was due to this attacking prowess that Australia earned 6 of their 11 goals in the first half itself.
#4 Australia's penalty corner specialists were on a roll
It was the 10th minute of the game, when Australia earned their first penalty corner, and Blake Govers wasted no time in converting the same into a brilliant goal. This followed suit to a barrage of Australian goals that didn't allow China to even recover from the assault, forget making their famed comebacks. For the first time, none of the tactics employed by the classic Korean coach Kim Sang Ryul worked.
Interestingly, of the six penalty corners earned, four were converted into brilliant goals, and all of them were struck within the first half. It speaks a lot about the intensity with which the Kookaburras have prepared for this World Cup.
Blake Govers, who hadn't scored much in the previous two matches, came out on his own in this match, scoring a hattrick of goals, including a one that came on rebound. The only other goals on penalty corners came from Aran Zalewski and Jeremy Hayward, the other two penalty corner specialists for Australia.
#3 Goalkeepers stand solid as a rock
There is no doubt about the fact that Colin Batch's boys from Australia had a field day against China. However, if they managed to keep a clean slate, a huge credit goes to the two goalkeepers, the much more experienced Andrew Charter and star goalkeeper Tyler Lovell, who stood steady as a rock.
Andrew Charter, who had misfired for Australia in the inaugural match against Ireland, was more than determined to prove himself against China. Against the mammoth 40 circle entries, China could only make 4 circle entries, and had only one genuine shot at the goal. It was due to the quick reflexes of the veteran goalkeeper that denied China even that single shot.
By the time he was substituted by the much more famous goalkeeper Tyler Lovell, China was already reeling by 0-6. Tyler only had to keep his cool, as the Kookaburras pumped in 5 more goals, to take their tally to a mammoth 11-0 against China.
#2 Australia dominate in every aspect of the match
To be honest, it was Australia all the way, as they dominated every aspect of the match. Before the match, it looked as if even Australia couldn't escape the Chinese assaults, going by the recent track record of the latter in this World Cup.
However, the performance on field has proved that Australia haven't come this far for nothing. Having won 2 World Cups in a row, the recent match is a clear testimony to the fact that Australia will settle for nothing less than the coveted championship. The team, coached by the successful Australian coach Colin Batch, performed on an outstanding note throughout the match.
The way Australia have played throughout their match against China is also a clear warning for their opponents: the Kookaburras are no pushovers. From the hattrick of Blake Govers, which has propelled him to the position of the top goalscorer, to the brilliant seven field goals, Australia were a clear winner in this encounter.
#1 A hattrick on the cards for Team Australia?
With this humongous win against China, Australia not only topped the tables, but also became the 2nd team after Argentina to book their places in the quarter-finals without any hassles. By winning all the three matches on the trot, Australia will now face the winner of the match between China and France in the crossover league.
Going by the team's performance against China, one can't help but wonder if this is an indication of a hattrick for Team Australia. Having already won 2 World Cups before, in 2010 and 2018 respectively, Australia are looking forward to winning a hattrick of World Cups, something that no team has ever done before.
Even Pakistan and Germany have failed in this pursuit, despite winning World Cups on the trot from 1978-1982 and 2002-2006 respectively. If Australia win their quarter-finals with ease, they don't have many serious opponents, going by the current track records of other teams. Besides, Kalinga Stadium has also been lucky for the Kookaburras, who have won the FIH World Hockey League Finals 2016 -17 here last year.
