Germany edge past Malaysia

Germany, Malaysia and Belgium qualified for the second round of the Rabobank Men's Junior World Cup hockey tournament in contrasting styles.

Germany defeated Malaysia 7-5 in a rousing encounter for their second win while Belgium edged past Chile 2-0 for their first in the preliminary league, Henry Cavenaile (5th) and Jerome Truyens (39th) being the scorers.

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The Malaysians, despite the defeat, advanced thanks to Argentina, who did them a favour by handing out a third loss to South Africa with a 1-0 verdict, Lucas Vila converting penalty-corner in the 15th minute for the match-winner.

Germany led 2-0 and 5-1, but a four-goal burst by penalty-corner specialist Zulfikil Mohd Rejab (27th, 42nd, 44th, 55th) and another by Ismail Abu (51st) saw Malaysia narrow the deficit to 5-6. However, Germany knocked in the seventh goal to come through.

The German goals came from Theo Stralkowski (9th, 20th), Moritz Fuerste (29th, 31st), Oliver Korn (38th), Tim Blasberg (48th) and Jonathan Froeschle (58th).

Later, Australia recorded their third win, overcoming Pakistan 3-2. The match was of academic interest since both teams had already qualified for the second round.

Pakistan, after scoring first through Aziz Tariq in the 29th minute from a counter-attack, were pushed on the defensive by Australia.

Stepping up the pace, the Aussies equalised in the very next minute when Ian Smith found the boards following a goalmouth scramble.

Early on resumption, Hennessey struck twice to give Australia a 3-1 lead. Pakistan pulled on back through Shakeel Abbasi, who let fly from the top of the circle in the 55th but the Aussies comfortably played out time.