LONDON, May 21 (Xinhua) — The Chinese girls’s hockey crew beat world quantity 4 England 4-3 in a shoot-out right here on Saturday, claiming their first victory at this season’s FIH Pro League.
The Chinese crew trailed 1-0 till the final second in common time however fought onerous to attract 1-1 after Gu Bingfeng scored the essential penalty nook.
During the shoot-out, Chinese goalkeeper Liu Ping made two sensational saves to assist the crew edge the hosts 4-3.
“We performed very well,” stated Alyson Annan, the newly-appointed head coach of the Chinese crew. “We deserved the three points as we have been fighting till the end. We tied the game 1-1 and did really well in the shoot-out.”
The 48-year-old Annan has solely been with the Chinese crew for eight days. After dropping two matches to world quantity two Argentina in Spain earlier this week, the previous coach of the Netherlands led the Chinese crew to their first win within the Pro League this season.
“I think this team has so much potential,” stated the 2000 Olympic champion from Australia. “They are going be a really good team. They work hard. They fight hard. Their technical skills are incredible next to the best teams in the world. I think we can do a lot.”
Annan led the Netherlands girls’s crew to a silver medal on the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and a gold on the Tokyo Olympics final yr.
Being requested why she determined to educate the Chinese crew, Annan stated, “China is a team with a lot of potential. I have coached a team [the Netherlands] for the last five years to the best. And now I’m coaching a team [China] could be the best and that’s a great challenge.”
The Chinese girls’s hockey achieved their finest consequence on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by profitable the silver medal. They missed the quarterfinals on the Tokyo Games final yr on account of a drawback in purpose distinction.
“We still need to learn a lot from the top teams. That’s why we should keep competing in this league. It can help us improve,” stated Guo Hong, crew chief of China. “We hope the two-month Pro League experience could gift us a better performance in the World Cup in July.”
China will meet England once more on Sunday earlier than taking part in towards Spain, Belgium, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany within the coming weeks.