The hockey competitions at the 2nd Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, were played in the new “Hockey 5s” format, which proved exciting, high scoring and entertaining for the spectators. It also allowed for a redistribution of the hierarchy, with some non-traditional hockey countries surprising strongholds of the game. When was the last time Zambia beat Germany 8-1 in eleven-a-side hockey?
Two of the four Pan American teams competing finished on the podium: the Canadian men finished second, only losing to Australia on shoot-out in the Final, while Argentina cleanly beat Japan to bring back the bronze medal on the women’s side.
In the men’s competition, the Pan American region was represented by Canada and Mexico, second and third in the Pan American Youth Championship earlier this year in Puerto Rico. Pan American Youth Champions Argentina were not selected by their Olympic Committee, victim of the Youth Olympic Games rule that a country can only enter one team sport in each gender (Argentina preferred to send their rugby 7’s team).
Canada opened the competition nervously and were quickly trailing South Africa in their first game. It took them a period to settle their nerves, but they then scored five unanswered goals to win their first game (5-1). They lost to tournament favorite Spain (3-6), won against Bangladesh (4-1) and lost against Australia (2-5) to finish third in their pool.
In quarter-final against Pakistan, they led by four goals in the second period but were caught up at the very end of the game, before winning the challenge shoot-out. The pattern was reversed in semi-final against Spain, a very impressive team from the start of the competition: the Spaniards led from the opening minute and Canada only caught up on the final play of the match, setting up a tense shoot-out competition. After scoring two goals in regular time, Amrit Sidhu was the hero for Canada, scoring three shoot-out goals, including the winner in the second sudden-death series.
Canada repeated the same scenario in the Final, scoring two goals in the closing minutes to catch up with Australia, but this time they were not successful in the shoot-out. They were nevertheless satisfied with their silver medals, the first by a Canadian team at a world level event in a very long time.
Mexico also finished third in their pool after beating Zambia (6-2) but losing to Germany (2-4), New Zealand (1-8) and Pakistan (2-6). They were cleanly beaten by future winner Australia in quarter-final (1-8), before losing their classification matches to New Zealand (2-9) and the re-match against Zambia (4-7) to end up in 8th position.
On the women’s side, the Pan American region was represented by Argentina and Uruguay, the top two finishers in the Pan American Youth Championship played earlier this year in Montevideo.
Argentina started by a spectacular trouncing of Fiji (22-0), followed by a strong result against South Africa (9-0), but were then cleanly dominated by the Netherlands (0-6). They led their final match against Japan right until the dying seconds, but a draw (3-3) pushed them down to the third place of the pool, setting up a Pan American quarter-final against Uruguay. The continental rankings prevailed and Argentina cruised to the semi-final with a comfortable score (9-0).
In semi-final, they were pitted for a rematch against the Netherlands. The match was much closer than in the pool, with Argentina leading at the end of the first period, but they were finally defeated 2-4. The Bronze Medal game against Japan was another rematch from pool play, but the scenario was much different this time: the South Americans built up a 4-goal lead and cruised to a deserved 5-2 victory to earn a spot on the podium.
Uruguay started the competition with a spectacular win over Germany (6-2), then narrowly lost to future winner China (0-2). They comfortably won their next two matches against Zambia (7-1) and New Zealand (6-3) to finish second in their pool. Argentina stopped their winning streak in quarter-final (0-9), but they beat Germany a second time in classification for a very respectable final standing of 6th.
Scott Sandison, PAHF Athletes’ Committee Chairperson and Manager of the Canadian Team in Nanjing, commented “Seeing hockey 5's at its first global event showed the promise for this new format. Fewer athletes on the pitch allowed for more teams to take part in the competition and the never before seen game yielded a very even playing field as we saw different teams from traditional hockey move into the playoffs. The young athletes were ready for this new challenge and, though the first few games left some figuring out of the rules and tactics, there was no shortage of excitement and interest. End to end action with many goal scoring opportunities gave a good impression to those new to the game. While the rules and other aspects of the game will develop it appears that over all it was a great start to a smaller version of the outdoor game and the packed crowds on the last days for both the men's and women's competition indicate that this game has a lot of support”.
MEN:
Canada: GILL Parmeet, MANNING Liam (GK), MASCARENHAS Floyd, MULDOON Braedon, PANESAR Balraj, PEREIRA Brandon (C), SANDHU Vikram, SIDHU Amrit, SIDHU Harbir – Coach: SEHMBI Inderpal, Manager: SANDISON Scott
Mexico: ARBALLO VELARDE IR, CHAVEZ GOMEZ Irvin Baruch, HERNANDEZ ALARCON (GK), LEMUS DIAZ Reymundo, MENDEZ FALCON A.M., MONTANO JACOBO Jose Jesus, OTHON MORENO Miguel Angel, RANGEL MARTINEZ Daniel, VALDEZ SALAS Alex Agustin (C) – Coach: ZULETA SANDOVAL San Yusen, Manager: TAKEDA HIRATA Alicia
WOMEN:
Argentina: COSENTINO Cristina (GK), DICHIARA GENTILI Barbara, JANKUNAS Julieta, LOSADA Macarena (GK), ORTIZ Maria Paula, RETEGUI Micaela, THOME GUASTAVINO Delfina, TOCCALINO Sofia (C), TRINCHINETTI – Coach: CORRADINI Agustin Esteban, Manager: del VALLE Carolina Elizabet
Uruguay: AGAZZI GALEANO Valeria, ALGORTA FERRARI Milagros (C), BARRANDEGUY FERNAN, CASAROTTI GAMINARA, CASTRO SAENZ de ZU, COSTA PUIG Paula, DOMINGO ESPOSTO Agustina, PETRIK VIDAL BG, SANCHEZ GREPPI Agustina (GK) – Coach: FERRER BARDESIO Gonzalo, Manager: CORREA SAUCEDO Martin Alejandro
The following Technical Officials from the Pan American region were appointed to the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing:
- Thiago VIEIRA DE MATTOS (Brazil, ATD)
- Duvaughn HENLON (Jamaica, Umpire)
- Donovan SIMMONS (Bermuda, Umpire)
- Lorena RINALDINI (Argentina, ATD)
- Viviane CORA-XAVIER (Brazil, Judge)
- Denise PELLETIER (Canada, Umpire)
- Ana Karen VAZQUEZ ESCALANTE (Mexico, Umpire)
