Hockey Olympic Qualifiers: Germany beat USA 2-0 in final, finish first

Ranchi: World No.5 Germany, the top favourite here, lived up to their billing as they defeated the United States 2-0 in the final of the Women's FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers here on Friday to clinch their Olympic berth by finishing first here.

Germany, along with the United States, had assured their tickets to the Paris Olympic Games after making it to the final.

On Friday, the Germans scored a comfortable victory over the United States. Germany took the lead early when Jette Fleschutz scored a field goal in the third minute. Seasoned defender Sonja Zimmermann then converted a penalty corner in the 20th minute to double the lead, which proved sufficient as they defended well.

Having suffered at the hands of Japan in a 1-1 draw, Valentin Altenburg's side did not allow the United States to play their defensive game and took an early lead. They kept up the tempo and attacked at regular intervals and also did not concede a single penalty corner.

Germany went on the attack from the start and earned three penalty corners in the first quarter. Though they failed to convert those, they could not be denied for long as Zimmermann converted their fifth PC to make it 2-0. In all, they earned 12 penalty corners, five of them retakes.

Thus, Germany topped the final standings with the United States in second. Japan finished third after beating India 1-0 while the hosts had to settle for fourth position. New Zealand, Italy, Chile and the Czech Republic finished from fifth to eighth in that order.