Spain upset Australia, Korea edge past Malaysia

With two rounds to go, Germany lead the standings with 13 points, South Korea have 10, Australia nine, the Netherlands eight, Britain six, Spain five, Pakistan four and Malaysia one. In a rematch of last year’s final, the Dutch looked like losing a second straight match when they trailed 3-2 with six minutes left, but Robert Reckers equalised to earn a point.

Taeke Taekema beat Germany goalkeeper Max Weinhold on the first penalty corner of the match in the fifth minute then Florian Keller equalised in the 14th with a mis-hit that crept past Dutch goalkeeper Guus Vogels. In the 32nd, Roger Hofman ran 20 meters, beat Weinhold, and slotted home from the top of the D to give the Dutch a 2-1 lead.

Germany’s forwards dominated the game after halftime. Jan Marco Montag scored in the 56th and Keller made it 3-2 two minutes later, before Reckers’ late goal kept the Dutch in contention for a sixth consecutive final. South Korea, playing Malaysia for the first time in Champions Trophy, opened the scoring in the sixth minute through a pen-alty corner converted by Jang Jong-hyun.

But Malaysia struck back twice by Selvaraju Sandrakasi and captain Azlan Misron to lead 2-1 at halftime and give the home fans hope of a first win. But South Korea’s attacked relentlessly in the second spell, and inevitably leveled when Oh Dae-keun deflected in a free hit in the 53rd minute.

A tiring Malaysia played a man short for the last five minutes and You came through in the 69th with the winner. Spain earned their first win at Australia’s expense with a better start through Eduard Tubau’s 10th-minute penalty corner and Jordi Clapes’ first goal in the 32nd.

Australia halved the deficit through Luke Doerner six minutes into the second half, but Clapes restored the two-goal margin with his second in the 51st. Nathan Eglington made it 3-2 in the 68th but Australia couldn’t bridge the gap and slipped in the standings from second to third. Britain beat Pakistan 4-1 in their first Champions Trophy match in 13 years. Britain had scored only three goals in its previous four matches.