Bhubaneswar: France continued their good form in the tournament to enter into the quarterfinals of the Men’s Hockey World Cup after pipping a fighting China by a solitary goal in a cross-over match at the Kalinga Stadium here Monday.
Timothee Clement scored the only goal of the match in the 36th minute. France were clearly the dominant team on the day with maximum possession of the ball. They also earned five penalty corners in the process. China fought hard and got three penalty corners as well but couldn’t open their account.
The Chinese began with a foray into the French half but the World No.20 team won the ball back. France immediately got a penalty corner in the second minute through Charles Masson but messed it up. France earned another in the third minute. The Chinese were not afraid to take body blows and France earned another one and Victor Charelt’s flick was brilliantly saved.
France continued to press high and hard. The Chinese retreated hurriedly and made life difficult for the French defenders to penetrate. France knocked the ball around and tried hard to enter Chinese circle. There also was a midfield tussle as both the teams tried to break forward but failed to find space.
The French made few promising moves towards the end but missed their chances. The first quarter finished barren despite France’s dominance. China had also their chances, but they couldn’t take advantage of them. Caiyu Wang’s goalkeeping was most impressive.
France started aggressively in the second quarter with a series of vertical passes. But China came back strongly and tried the right flank, but Wenhui failed to find a touch at the goalmouth. The French defence was solid as ever and China struggled to get their final passes right.
The pace of the match wasn’t riveting, but an intense tussle continued at the centre of the pitch. Charlet came to the rescue of France after a quick Chinese encounter. The Frenchman tried to weave in from the left flank. But Masson lost control and the yellow shirts gave back possession.
It was a keenly-contested match at its best as both the teams failed to break the deadline after the end of the first half. It was like a cat and mouse game with the France team attacking the most and the Chinese were at their defensive best.
After the change of ends, China got a great chance to go ahead, but France had a lucky escape. France were quickly relived from two attacks by the Chinese forwards.
However, it was France who broke the deadlock when they got an opportunistic chance. Timothee Clement struck in the 36th minute from a wonderful assist from Maximilien Branicki.
China retaliated quickly to earn their first penalty corner just after a minute but missed out on the target. France fought back to earn their fourth PC in the 37th minute but couldn’t do much.
However, they persisted with their attack. China stole the ball away and tried to find space in the middle. But the third quarter remained goalless.
In the start of the final quarter Hugo Genestet and Charlet moved up to enter the Chinese circle. But Lockwood missed a golden chance to increase the lead and in the process, France got their fifth PC. However they couldn’t beat Caiyu, who had a tough but an impressive day.
China tried desperately to restore parity towards the end and earned their second penalty corner in the 58th minute, but missed the equaliser chance. They got their third PC in the last minute as well but it also went in vein as French custodian Arthur Thieffry padded it away.
