Hockey Women’s World Cup: England through to the quarter-finals

Aug 1, 2018

England will face the world’s No.1 side the Netherlands in the last eight

Alex Pantling/Getty Images

England’s Sophie Bray celebrates after scoring the opening goal against South Korea

England are through to the quarter-finals of the Hockey Women’s World Cup after beating South Korea 2-0 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London.

Sophie Bray and Lily Owsley were on target as England set up a last-eight clash tomorrow against the Netherlands, the world’s No.1 team.

After the win against South Korea, England coach Danny Kerry said he was proud of his team’s performance. Quoted by the BBC, Kerry said: “I really enjoyed the first half. We absolutely smashed it. In the second half, we lost some shape up front, but the first half was fantastic.

“We took away South Korea’s game. We didn’t allow them to set up big shapes. We forced them to play deep and then we turned them over and counter-attacked. That’s what I was most happy about.

“I knew the second half would be cagey as fatigue set in, but I'm a pretty proud coach. We have a few things up our sleeve for the Dutch.”

Bray added: “It was good for us to get the first goal. It meant South Korea had to come out and play more, which gave us more opportunities. Credit to our defenders - it was a solid performance to keep South Korea out.”

India are also through to the quarters after a 3-0 win against Italy. India will face Ireland on Thursday.

Today’s quarter-final clashes see Germany take on Spain in the first match followed by Australia vs. Argentina.

Hockey Women’s World Cup fixtures

The quarter-finals will take place today and tomorrow while the semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday 4 August. The bronze medal match and final are on Sunday 5 August.