Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Olympic::Men's Hockey Day 2 Preview

South Africa faces defending Olympic champion

South Africa in pool B will face defending Olympic champion Australia, while World No. 2 Germany will compete with Belgium in pool A as the Men's Hockey tournament continues with day two at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Wednesday, August 13.

The first match of the day sees Australia and South Africa face off in pool B. Australia, nine-time winners of the Hockey Champions Trophy and bronze medalists in the Sydney and Atlanta Olympics, defeated Canada 6-1 in their first match, while South Africa lost 0-5 to the Netherlands on the first day.

World No. 3 the Netherlands will meet Great Britain. The Netherlands won silver in the Athens Olympics and finished first in Sydney. Great Britain, the 1988 Olympic gold medalists, beat Pakistan 4-2 on day one. It was Britain's first win against Pakistan in the Olympics since the 1952 Games.

Canada will play Pakistan.

In pool A, World No. 2 Germany will face Belgium. The third-place finisher in Athens, Germany won the Hockey Champions Trophy in 2007 but finished in fifth place this year. They beat China 4-1, while Belgium lost 2-4 to Spain on day one.

China, making their Olympic debut as the host country, will compete with the Republic of Korea, which was defeated by New Zealand 1-3.

Winners on the first day New Zealand and Spain will compete for more points.

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