The semi-finals are here. After an eventful series of matches, Round 1 of the Hockey World League 2016 nears the end. Four teams from the men’s hockey teams qualified for the semi-finals. First Sri Lanka and Thailand came together to compete against each other in the first semi-final of the series. Later on, China and Singapore met each other to play in the second semi-final.
The first match of the day was held between Vietnam and Myanmar. Myanmar was successful in defeating Vietnam and will go on to compete with Brunei for 7th place in Round 1 of HWL 2016/17. The third match took place between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. Hong Kong went on to win the match, securing the 5th place while Kazakhstan claimed 6th place.
Moving over to the two important matches of the day, the semi-finals. The first semi-final, between Sri Lanka and Thailand, started off in favor of the Sri Lankan team. By half time, Sri Lanka had scored two goals while Thailand’s score remained stagnant at zero. Even in the second half, the Sri Lankan team was going strong but the match had to be halted at the 64th minute due to rain in the area. Once the match resumed, Sri Lanka started off from where it had left, not even slightly deterring from its previous position in the match. By the end of the match it had scored five goals! And hence, Sri Lanka won the match and will be playing in the final on 17th April.
In the second semi-final of the match, China and Singapore came head-to-head. China, similar to Sri Lanka, started off with a strong start and was successful in securing two goals in the first half. So much so, China also scored three goals in the second half and won by five goals and is now on its way to the final of this Round 1 event.
Now we’ll be seeing China face Sri Lanka in the final where both teams will compete to get hold of the gold medal. Meanwhile, Singapore and Thailand will try their luck in getting the bronze medal. Let’s see which team will be securing gold, silver and bronze come Sunday.
Men
7-9th place: Vietnam – Myanmar 0-6
Semi-final 1: Sri Lanka – Thailand 5-0
5/6th place: Hong Kong – Kazakhstan 4-3
Semi-final 2: China – Singapore 5-0
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