What a stunning day for Europe in Leipzig as Netherlands took both golds, Germany women took silver and an incredible journey for the Czech women as they took bronze. On the men’s side, Austria took silver, a disappointing finish for them as they didn’t take their chances. Germany men recovered from the disappointment of losing Saturday’s semi-final against the Netherlands to beat Iran and grab the Bronze medal at the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Leipzig.
The fans once again turned out in their thousands and were not disappointed as Alexander Otte scored five times to help the hosts to a 13-2 victory.
In the Final men’s game The Netherlands men took the Gold medal in the Indoor Hockey World Cup thanks to a 3-2 triumph against Austria. The result means that it is a double Dutch success in Leipzig, with men’s success coming hot on the heels of the women’s stunning shoot-out win over host nation Germany.
The Dutchmen opened up a two-goal lead inside ten minutes thanks to penalty corner efforts from Bjorn Kellerman and Robert Tigges, before Dominic Uher pulled a goal back for the Austrians on the stroke of half time. Robbert van de Peppel restored a two-goal advantage for the Netherlands three minutes after the break, with Austria’s Sebastian Eitenberger scoring four minutes from time to set up a tense finale.
Austria won two late penalty corners, but both were brilliantly charge down by brilliant Netherlands shot-stopper Laurens Goedegeburre, who was named goalkeeper of the tournament. The final save sparked wild celebrations from the Dutch players, knowing that they had won their first indoor world title at the expense of their devastated Austrian opponents.
Netherlands captain Robert Tigges was overjoyed with the victory, singling out Goedegeburre for special praise. “Our goalie was amazing throughout the tournament. I still cannot believe that we have won it, I feel like I am living a dream. To win a tournament like this you need to have all of the luck on your side, and that is what we had.”
It was a tough defeat for Austrian captain Benjamin Stanzl, whose exceptional performances in Leipzig earned him the men’s Player of the Tournament award. “We should have converted our penalty corner chances, which are usually our strength”, said Stanzl. “It wasn’t enough for this level. However, we will take a lot of self-confidence out of this, which should help us when we compete in the Hockey World League Round 2 event in California in a few weeks time, where we hope to qualify for Round 3.”
In the women’s Final, The Netherlands took their dramatic style, defeating host nation Germany in a shoot-out in front of a passion-filled audience. A late goal from Claire Verhage cancelled out a lead that Germany held for the majority of a pulsating match, with Netherlands keeper Adinda Alberts making three saves to give the Netherlands the title and break the hearts of the host nation in the process.
Regarding her team’s shoot-out success, Netherlands shot-stopper Adina Alberts said: “We practiced shoot-outs and watched how the men did it against Germany yesterday. We tried to copy it and it worked for us.”
Earlier in the day, Czech Republic women took the Bronze medal by defeating Austria in a shoot-out, with Germany’s men delighting the mammoth home crowd with a 13-2 victory over surprise nation Iran.
More information including match highlights, reports, photos and full official tournament info and statistics can be found on our event microsites at the links below.
Event Page Men
Event Page Women
Individual Award Winners
Women
Top Scorer: Denise Admiraal (NED) – 13 goals
Player of the Tournament: Katharina Otte (GER)
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Yvonne Frank (GER)
Talent of the Tournament: Anne Schröder (GER)
Men
Top Scorer: Alexander Otte (GER) – 19 goals
Player of the Tournament: Benjamin Stanzl (AUT)
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Laurens Goedegebuure (NED)
Talent of the Tournament: Timm Herzbruch (GER)
Source material: FIH.CH
Photograph: Double Dutch celebrations (Frank Uijlenbroek (c))