Hockey World Cup: South Africa, Argentina, Wales win 1st round of classification

South Africa Wales Argentina and India registered wins in the first round of classification matches at the FIH Mens Hockey World Cup 2023 at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on ThursdayWith their wins South Africa Wales Argentina and India head into the 912 playoff matches while losses for Malaysia France Chile and Japan see them go to the 1316 playoff matches All classification matches will take place on January 28South Africa vs Malaysia 63Malaysia were quicker off the blocks with form man Faizal Saari managing to get a shot in the circle inside the first minute but South Africa survived that early chance and started to get in the game on counter attacks They got the first goal through Bradley Sherwood who attacked a cross from the left by NqobileWith the impetus now on Malaysia they tried to press higher up the field allowing South Africa to play on the counter which is their preferred style South Africa won 6 penalty corners in the first half and managed to convert one in the 17th minute as Guy Morgan pounced on the rebound after Eustices flick was blocked by the first rusher They added a 3rd in the 26th minute through Nqobile to cap off a perfect halfMalaysia got the early goal they desperately needed at the start of the 3rd quarter with Razie Rahim finding the mark from a penalty corner South Africa got the next goal of the game as fabulous work by Mvimbi required the easiest of touches from Keenan Horne in front of the goal to restore South Africas 3 goal leadA minute later South Africa extended the lead further as Mustapha Cassiem dispatched a penalty stroke won by Mvimbi With just one second left in the 3rd quarter South Africa conceded a penalty stroke and Rahim scored his second of the game to reduce the deficit back down to 3South Africa and Malaysia traded one late goal each as South Africa ran out winners to advance to the 912 place playoffs while Malaysia will play in the 1216 place classification matchAlso Read Hockey World Cup 2023 Troubled India take on Japan look to avoid worstever positionWales vs France 22 SO 21France were the higher ranked team in the matchup but Wales looked like the more likely team to score early in the game as they committed a bulk of their players into the attack They were rewarded for their adventurous play as a quick move from the left by James Carson left the French defence exposed and his cross was deftly touched into the goal by Luke HawkerFrance equalised with 6 seconds left in the opening quarter as Draper turned over possession in a dangerous position and van Straaten found Sellier who scored to bring France level Pieter van Straaten and Sellier connected again quickly after the break to give France the lead with Sellier getting his second of the gameGareth Furlong equalised for Wales converting on their 4th penalty corner of the game as the teams headed into the break on level termsNo goals were scored in the third quarter as both teams struggled with clinicality in the opposition circle France won 2 penalty corners in the 3rd quarter and two more in the final quarter but a combination of sloppy stopping at the top of the circle and captain Victor Charlets inability to find the target meant the score stayed level and the teams headed into a shootoutFrance struggled in the shootouts with Clement the only scorer from their 5 attempts as ReynoldsCotterill stopped the other 4 French attempts while Benjamin Francis and Rupert Shipperly scored 2 of the 4 attempts and that was enough to see them over the lineChile vs Argentina 08Chile started their game against South American rivals Argentina looking to attack and had two early circle penetrations but it didnt lead to shots Argentina slowly got into the game and started to dominate possession in the Chilean half Their first goal for Argentina came from Nicolas della Torre through a penalty cornerThe goal seemed to deflate the Chilean team as Argentina started to dominate in attack Before the half time whistle went Argentina had added 4 more goals to take a huge 5goal lead into the breakAlso Read Indian womens hockey team loses 13 to Netherlands in its second friendly tieArgentina kept up their high press to start the second half and Miaco Casella scored the goal of the game getting in front of his marker and the Chilean keeper in the circle and deflecting a cross between his legs with his back to the goal that nutmegged the keeper and crashed into the goalMartin Ferreiro and Tomas Domene added two more goals for Argentina in the final quarter of the game to push the final score to 80 earning Argentina a great win after the disappointment of the loss in the crossovers to South KoreaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion 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