MOG: Aussies beat South Africa for hockey final
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| South Africa |
August 22, 2004 
BusinessDay
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By Kuldip Lal
ATHENS - The Netherlands and Australia stormed into the semi-finals of the Olympic men's field hockey here on Saturday even as former champions India bowed out in a huff.
The Dutch, seeking their third consecutive gold medal, defeated Argentina 4-2 and Australia overcame a fighting South Africa 3-2 to ensure the top two places in group B.
The Netherlands (12 points) and Australia (nine) play each other on Monday to decide the group winners.
India, beaten 1-2 by New Zealand, stormed off the pitch to protest at the umpires' decision to award the fourth successive penalty corner after the final hooter which Hayden Shaw converted into a winner.
The protest was rejected by the International Hockey Federation.
The Indians, who lost three of their four matches, argued the game was over once the third penalty corner had been taken and umpire Ray O'Connor of Ireland had signalled the end.
But the umpire at the other end, Xavier Adell of Spain, overruled his colleague and ordered a fourth hit because the ball had come off Indian defender Dilip Tirkey's foot after the third attempt.
India's German coach Gerhard Rach said the Indian Hockey Federation, who paid 500 euros for lodging the protest, should not have undertaken the exercise.
"Of course we were cheated by the umpires but there was no point in protesting," Rach told AFP.
'Protests are never upheld."
"By making a protest, we have only donated 500 euros to the International Hockey Federation. That is big money which could have been used to develop the game in India."
New Zealand coach Kevin Towns said he too would not have protested - but for entirely different reasons.
"The New Zealand hockey association does not have that kind of money to give away," Towns said.
India, who won the last of their eight gold medals at the western-boycotted Moscow Games in 1980, finished seventh at the Sydney Games four years ago.
They fumbled easy chances, learning no lessons from Saturday's first match in which Asian Games champions South Korea thrashed Egypt 11-0 to record the biggest victory of the competition so far.
Lee Jung-Seon led the rout with five goals, while Song Seung-Tae hit three in the space of four minutes towards the end.
The Koreans, with seven points from four matches, will need another round of good finishing against world champions Germany on Monday to qualify for the semi-finals.
Then South Africa, who went down narrowly to the Dutch on Thursday, put up another brave display against the Australians by holding them 2-2 till half-time.
But the Hockeyroos, the best team never to have won an Olympic title, fought off the challenge to win through a second-half goal from Michael Brennan.
The Dutch, who won golds at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and at Sydney in 2000, proved too strong for Argentina and built up a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Argentina, reduced to nine men towards the end, narrowed the margin through Mario Almada and Jorge Lombi even as Teun De Nooijer sealed the emphatic win for the Dutch.
In group A matches later on Saturday, Pakistan take on Spain and Germany meet Britain.
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