SAMSUNG WORLD CUP

England Take-Away the Points!

England 3 China 2 (Danson 12, Wright 29, Cullen 55pc) (Yi Bo 27pc, Ren Ye 40)

The Chinese, ranked fifth in the world, finished second only to Olympic gold
medallists Germany in July's Champions Trophy so this is an important victory for the English team!

Coach Kerry was pleased to get the World Cup off to a winning start: "China are one of the world's best teams and they wanted to come out and attack - and that suited what we wanted to do,'' he said.

The lead was intact until five minutes after the interval when a free-hit was deflected past Storry by Ye. There followed a period of Chinese domination before Danson stole the ball off
Yi Bo, rounded two defenders and fired in a good shot which was saved. Midway through the second half, China were reduced to 10 and England seized their chance, Cullen flicking in a 55th-minute penalty corner.

England 0 Holland 1 (Schopman 14pc)

England suffered their first defeat. Coach Danny Kerry said: “I thought in the first 10 minutes some of our girls played nervously, which I couldn't understand because this was a win-win match for us - no-one expected us to beat Holland. A few of our inexperienced players on the forward line couldn't quite turn the pressure into an end product.''

Kate Out!

We photographed her looking fit and keen on the first day – and now she’s out injured. The loss of captain Kate Walsh with a serious knee injury could prove to a cruel blow to our medal hopes. It hurt PUSH just as much as it was our favourite Dutch player Fatima Moreira de Melo's stick which did the damage. Walsh left the pitch on a stretcher in considerable pain and was taken
straight to hospital for treatment on her left knee.

England 1 India 1

Unbelievable! Each team had a goal disallowed!

India thought they had scored on the stroke of half-time only for Asunta Lakra's effort to be ruled out for dangerous play - a decision they were not made aware of until midway through the interval.

In the 68th minute Kerry Williams' claims for a winner were dismissed by the video umpire, who ruled she had not deflected the ball in.

With games against Spain and Germany ahead it’s looking tough for our women to get into the semis. They MUST beat Germany on Tuesday … watch this space.

England 1 Germany 0 (Richardson 37ps)

Semi Final hopes ALIVE!

Leicester midfielder Helen Richardson converted a penalty stroke in the 38th minute after Germany defender Anke Kuehn illegally stopped a shot with her hand. The result puts England on seven points and victory over hosts Spain tomorrow
in their final group match would put them into the last four and guarantee them their highest World Cup finish since

Sydney in 1990!

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Issue 4 out now!

  “More Extreme Sports than Anglers Weekly"

                                                      The Guardian 06.02.06

                         “A daring attempt to transform the stuffy image of hockey.”

                                                      The Times 10.07.06