17th June 2016, Brussels: The final of the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 will be played between Australia and India following a dramatic day of action at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London.
Remarkably, India got exactly what they wished for, as prior to the GB v Belgium game a win for either team would have seen them leapfrog over India and face Australia in the final. However GB fought back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with the Red Lions thanks to late strikes from David Ames and Barry Middleton, and a 7 point finish for India was enough to see off all the European contenders.
The Final Pool Standings looked like this:
| Rank | Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 13 |
| 2 | India | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 7 |
| 3 | Germany | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 4 | Great Britain | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Belgium | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 5 |
| 6 | Korea | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 17 | -11 | 3 |
That result meant that Great Britain now face Olympic champions Germany in today’s bronze medal match. The Germans sealed their place in that match by powering to a 7-0 victory over Korea, with Constantin Staib and Oskar Deecke both scoring twice.
The men’s Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 will conclude on today (17 June) with Belgium taking on Korea in the 5-6 classification match at 1500 (UTC/GMT +1) before Germany and Great Britain go head-to-head for bronze at 1800. The showpiece final begins at 20:15, with India hoping to upset both the form book and the FIH Hero World Rankings when the face an Australia team looking to claim a record 14th Champions Trophy title.
Tickets for the Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 events are still available and can be purchased by clicking here.
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Photograph: GB’s George Pinner in action v Germany (FIH/Getty Images)