Germany quell tough resistance in Indoor World Cup Hockey

Vienna, Feb 15 (UNI) Defending champions Germany recovered from an early scare against Trinidad and Tobago and fought off a tough challenge by Czech Republic to walk away with full honours on the first day of men's competition of the Samsung Indoor World Cup hockey tournament here.

Trinidad and Tobago took a surprise lead early in a pool A match but the Germans bounced back to thrash them 9-2.

Germany's second match against Czech Republic was even tougher, with the winning goal in the 3-2 scoreline coming when Czech Republic were reduced to only three players after receiving yellow cards against their opponents' five.

In other men's action, hosts Austria won their matches against Italy (6-3) and South Africa (11-1). Spain also won both their matches -- a 6-0 win over South Africa and an 8-4 victory against Canada.

In women's competition, favourites Germany and the Netherlands cruised to two victories each. Germany blew both Australia (12-0) and Italy (13-1) while the Netherlands nailed Austria (6-2) and South Africa (4-2).

Ukraine were one of the surprises on the first day. The Eastern European women started with an amazing victory against Czech Republic (7-2) followed by a win over Scotland (10-4).

In both the men's and women's Samsung Indoor World Cup, twelve teams compete in two pools of six for places in the semi-finals, scheduled for Saturday. The finals will take place on Sunday.

UNI