Scots gear up to face Korea again after deflating loss to South Africa

HOCKEY

With FIH Champions Challenge medals off the agenda after the 2-1 quarter-final defeat by South Africa on Thursday, the Scotland coach Gordon Shepherd must galvinise his charges to the task of finishing fifth in the eight-team competition, writes Craig Madden. There is still plenty to play for – the Scots were always the underdogs in the tournament at 16th in the world rankings – and a final placing of fifth could well take them up the rankings.

“It was very disappointing for us all to lose to South Africa; losing such an early goal dented the team’s confidence and gave them a big lift,” he said. “The girls know they can’t live on one good win and they can’t stay disappointed about a defeat. There is always the next game to play and that’s now the important one. We will learn from the disappointment and move forward.”

The Scots face South Korea today in the first of the lower play-off matches. At No.8 in the rankings and favourites to win the event, the Koreans will be every bit as disappointed, and their coach Han Jin Soo may have an even bigger job of raising the spirits of his charges than Shepherd.

The pool tie between the sides ended 2-2, a result more to Shepherd’s liking than Han’s. The Scots led 2-1 midway through the second half – their captain Linda Clement scored twice – but they could hold hold on to their advantage.

A win against Korea would take Scotland into a contest with the winners of the Belgium v India tie for fifth place tomorrow; defeat today would consign them to the play-off for places seven and eight, although relegation might not be an issue. It seems that the International Hockey Federation may discontinue the Champions Challenge now that the new World League event is well under way.

That is bad news for Scotland as they have contested the last three Champions Challenge competitions, and are not eligible for the World League every second round as it is a qualifier for the Olympic Games, which needs the involvement of a Great Britain team.

BASKETBALL

Gillian Baird, the former Falkirk Fury centre, staked a strong claim to a place in Scotland’s women’s team for the European Small Nations Championship in Austria in July when she finished joint top scorer in the English Women’s First Division Play-Offs final at Loughborough, writes Sandy Sutherland. Baird scored 19 points, matching teammate and GB cap Gemma Jones, and took nine rebounds as Loughborough Riders beat favourites Sheffield Hatters 68-63.

CYCLING

Geraint Thomas, the two-time Olympic champion from Wales, has vowed to chase a golden double at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, writes Lorin McDougall. Thomas was already in line to ride in the road race but will also compete in the time trial, even though it takes place just four days after the final stage of the Tour de France. “Competing for Wales only comes around every four years, but I haven’t ridden for Wales since Melbourne 2006,