BHUBANESWAR, DEC 14 : Christopher Wesley and Florian Fuchs, who scored one goal each, engineered Germany’s well-deserved 2-0 verdict against Pakistan in final of the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy at the jam-packed Kalinga Stadium here today. A sell-out crowd witnessed the Germans claim their 10th Champions Trophy gold medal, their first since 2007.
Germany controlled the majority of the first quarter and could easily have been ahead in the opening five minutes, with Christopher Rühr failing by a fraction to touch home a fierce cross into the circle before Florian Fuchs crashed a backhand shot wide of the right post after an impressive solo run.
The reigning Olympic champions continued to turn the screw in the second period and eventually were rewarded when Wesley touched home the opener from close range in the 18th minute. It really should have been Germany’s second goal, coming hot on the heels of a clear goal scoring opportunity being wasted by Mathias Müller with Tobi Hauke also missing a glorious chance ahead of the half time break.
Pakistan were forced to defend deep for long stages of the third quarter, but fought their way back into the game and began to assert some serious pressure on the German circle. However, the Germany’s defensive line – marshalled by imperious captain Moritz Fürste – held firm to take a slender advantage into the final 15 minutes of the match.
The Greenshirts had a fantastic opportunity to equalise when Shafqat Rasool showed fine skills to create an opening, but his cross somehow failed to be picked up by his two team-mates in front of goal before Rühr almost scored a magical solo goal for the Europeans ahead of full time.
Final Standings: 1. Germany, 2. Pakistan, 3. Australia, 4. India, 5. Netherlands, 6. Argentina, 7. England, 8. Belgium.
Individual Awards
Player Award – Moritz Fuerste (GER)
Young Player Award – Akashdeep Singh (IND)
Goalkeeper Award – PR Sreejesh (IND)