Plucky France face China as crossover games begin
From Monday, the 19-day long World Cup is entering the knockout stage. The second and third placed teams in each of the four pools will play in the crossover stage, sending four teams to the quarter-finals, where they will face the number one placed team from each of the four pools.
Debutant China have surprised everyone by holding England and Ireland for a draw. A loss to defending world champions Australia doesn’t harm their chances in moving ahead. Now, they will be facing France, who stunned reigning Olympic champion Argentina, in the crossover on Monday. Though China’s campaign suffered a big jolt after losing 11-0 to Australia, the draw in the first two matches of the league stage helped.
“No team had seen them (China) playing in the last two years at the international arena. So it was tough to predict their game,” said French player Pieter van Straaten.
Skipper Victor Charlet said the win against Rio Olympic champions Argentina has given the team a big boost.
In another crossover match on Monday, England play New Zealand. Though both teams didn’t face each other in the 2018 Gold Coast Games, New Zealand had defeated England in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
CWG silver medallist New Zealand have one win and one draw, similar to England’s performance in the league stage. Going by the World Cup records, England has won all the three matches against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Canadian James Kirkpatrick on Sunday received a reprimand from the FIH technical delegate for breaking a signage during Saturday’s Pool C game against India.