Australia proved third time lucky by defeating defending champions Germany 2-1 to clinch the 12th Hockey World Cup title at New Delhi's Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The win ended the painful sequence of finishing runners-up twice in a row to Germany in last two World Cup finals. The Germans were denied a hat-trick by the spirited Australians who also thrashed South Africa 12-nil to record the biggest victory in this year's edition. The title was their first after 24 years, and their second ever. Aussie coach Richard Charlesworth, player of the World Cup 1986 tournament, hailed his side's performance that came from behind to clinch the title after losing the first match to England. Hockey giants Australia, England, Germany and Holland played their best hockey during the mega event that saw three matches played daily with one rest day from February 28th to March 13th. Australia defeated Holland 2-1 for a place in the final, whereas Germany tamed the English team 4-1 in the semi finals.
The third position went to three-time former champions, the Netherlands who defeated England in the third position play-off while Spain came fifth after they defeated South Korea. Argentina beat hosts India to clinch the seventh position while New Zealand ousted South Africa to make it to the ninth place.
Four-time champions Pakistan fared the worst in the competition, despite the presence of veterans Rehan Butt, Salman Akbar, Shakil Abbasi and Sohail Abbas in their ranks. They not only began the tournament with a loss to arch-rivals India, but also lost to teams like eventual winners Australia, semi-finalists England and the lowly ranked South Africa. To add insult to injury, the green shirts lost their 11th position playoff to Canada to finish last.
The most number of goals scored during the competition were 27 by Australia. Luke Doerner, also from Down Under, scored eight goals for his team, all on penalty corners and shared the prize for most goals with Dutch player Taeke Taekema, who also scored eight times.
The Netherlands goalkeeper Guus Vogels, who retired after captaining his side in the 3rd position play-off and ended up with a bronze medal, was adjudged Goalkeeper and Player of the Tournament. The Australian striker Luke Doerner was declared Man of the Match in the final for his decisive goal whereas the Kiwis took home the Fair Play trophy.
Pakistan may have returned home empty-handed but they remain the winner of most World Cup tournaments with four wins in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. Holland comes second with three titles in 1973, 1990 and 1998, while Australia (1986, 2010) and Germany (2002, 2006) are tied at two titles each. India's only win in a World Cup final came way back in 1975.
