FIH Pro League 2020: German women make a winning start
FIH Pro League 2020, Germany vs Belgium (Women): The first game after the postponement of the FIH Pro League in March early this year, DieDanas (Germany) were face to face with RedPanthers (Belgium). The hosts won by two second-half goals. It was the second defeat for Belgium women in five games.
When the RedPanthers arrived in Düsseldorf, they were sitting fifth in the current FIH Hockey Pro League standings, two places higher than their seventh-placed hosts. It was worth remembering that Germany had not even played its first match when COVID-19 brought the competition to a standstill in March this year.
And the Dusseldorf Hockey Club 1905 had the distinction of going down into hockey annals as the first venue for the hosts Germany to play its first game of the second edition of this elite event. Till this morning, there were three teams - Germany, China, and the USA - who were yet to lodge their first point in the second edition. While China has lost both its games, the USA, too, was yet to lodge its first point even after five games.
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DieDanas were strong performers in the 2019 edition, finishing fourth in the ‘league’ phase before going on to take the bronze medal at the end of season Finals event. Although there will be no final competition this time around, Germany – who also claimed European bronze last year – had every reason to believe that it could put together a serious title challenge.
Both Head Coach Xavier Reckinger and captain Janne Müller-Wieland expressed their enthusiasm about the return of international hockey, eager to get back to doing what they do best. Star attacker Charlotte Stapenhorst – who has been out of international action for over a year due to serious injury - made her 100th appearance for Die Danas, and was a little unlucky not to score in the first half from three excellent breaks she made into her opponents' citadel.
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Belgium’s Red Panthers have now six points on the board following a fruitful tour of Oceania in January and February, where they were only beaten once in their four matches against the higher-ranked home teams.
Belgium battled to two draws against Australia in Sydney, claiming a bonus point in match 2 thanks to a shoot-out win before travelling to Auckland and inflicting a 2-1 home defeat on the Black Sticks, thanks to strikes from Ambre Ballenghien and Anne-Sophie Weyns. New Zealand were 4-1 winners of their second meeting, but Belgium had proven yet again that it was capable of taking on the big guns in this competition.
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Despite being without ace goalkeeper Aisling D’Hooghe, who is pregnant, Belgium even after losing the first game feels confident about its chances of giving Germany a run for the money in the return game tomorrow.
For Germany Naomi Heyn (36th minute, field goal) and Lina Mucheel (47th minute, penalty corner) were the scorers.
There were no spectators allowed and there were no handshakes between the players of two teams either at the start or the end of the game. The two captains, however, exchanged broad smiles at the start. It was the 18th game between Germany and Belgium that got the hosts' 12th win. Belgium has won 4 times. Of the two drawn games, Germany won one in the penalty shootout.
-PTC News
