FIH Hockey Pro League action continued on Saturday, with hosts China pulling off a spectacular comeback to secure victory over England’s women in Yunfu.
Over in Valencia, Spain’s women played to a 1-1 draw with Germany before sneaking the extra point with a shootout win. But things didn’t go quite so well for the Spanish men, who went down to England.
(Men’s) Spain 1 – 3 England
England put in a disciplined shift to clinch a 3-1 win over hosts Spain in Valencia.
Both teams enjoy fast starts, and the opening minutes were energetic before play settled down. Sam Hooper struck an early blow for England when his deadly accurate 5th-minute drag flick found the corner of goal past Luis Calzado’s fully extended right foot. Marc Miralles then equalised for Spain with a huge drag flick in the 18th minute after the penalty corner was earned from a flowing 80m counterattack. But Nicholas Bandurak fired England 2-1 ahead before half time, the ball lofting to him at the top of the circle off a defender’s stick, where he executed a lightning-quick strike on the turn.
Opportunities came few and far between in the third quarter, with the best chances falling to Spain quite late in the period. The Spaniards seemed to be growing in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t find an extra gear to really threaten the circle. England, meanwhile, missed a clear chance in the 49th minute, winning a goalmouth scramble only for the shot to bounce away harmlessly off the post. But Sam Ward sealed the result five minutes later with the faintest of deflections off Thomas Sorsby’s drive at goal.
The player of the match was awarded to England’s James Albery, who said: “We controlled the game really well, I was really happy. The first half was maybe a bit slow, but ultimately we managed to sort of negate their threats which was good, and then in the second half we managed to create a few more opportunities.”
(Women’s) Spain 1 – 1 Germany (SO: 4 – 2)
Spain’s women never looked comfortable, but they fought to the final whistle to clinch a 1-1 draw with Germany for a share of the points and then stepped up to win the shootout for a bonus point.
A goalless first quarter saw Germany pressing high and dominating possession, while Spain looked exciting on the counterattack. The first clear-cut chance fell to the Germans after 20 minutes, but the deflection from open play popped agonisingly wide of the post. The pressure was building, though, and Lynn Krings opened the scoring in the 24thminute, completing an excellent deflection in heavily congested space around the pads. A piece of extraordinarily poor decision-making from Spain in the dying seconds of the half gifted the Germans a clean shot and a penalty corner, but the defence held out and it remained 1-0 to Germany.
Spain enjoyed far more possession in the third quarter, but again, some poor decision-making and an inability to connect the final pass at crucial moments kept them under pressure. They kept working hard, though, and were finally rewarded from a penalty corner in the 50th minute, Laura Bosch sweeping in the rebound off the initial save. The closing minutes were thrilling, with play ranging from end to end as fatigue set in and both teams turned over possession cheaply. Spain had one clear chance to snatch a win with just 20 seconds remaining, but the pass drifted across the penalty spot mere inches ahead of the diving Berta Agulló. The match then went to a shootout, in which Spain came out on top.
Marta Segu of Spain received the player of the match award and said: “It’s so nice to have a draw because Germany is a really good team, but at the end we could score and in a shootout we know that we have a really good keeper and also we have good players who can do a really good shootout.”
(Women’s) China 3 – 2 England
Hosts China scored three late goals in an incredible fight back from two goals down to beat England 3-2, delighting their home fans with their first win of the competition
A goalless first half wasn’t short of action as first China and then England enjoyed long periods of control. China had some early success with their aggressive press, disrupting England’s exits and creating some dangerous circle entries in the opening quarter. The English turned things around in the second period, though, with Tessa Howard in particular giving the Chinese plenty of headaches. The best chance fell to England with seconds left on the clock when Howard carried strongly to the centre spot and threaded a long pass up the pitch for Becky Manton behind the defence, but she wasn’t able to get a clean shot away.
Howard eventually fired England ahead in the 34th minute, winning a loose ball and driving into the circle for an excellent reverse strike. The goal had the effect of raising the intensity from both teams, and the rest of the third quarter was played at a frenetic pace. England started to gain the ascendancy and Howard doubled their lead in the 44th minute, pouncing on scrappy ball in the circle and hammering in from close range for her brace. The English looked to be cruising to victory as the clock ran down in the final quarter, but things changed very suddenly in the 53rd minute. First Ma Ning found the target with a big drag flick from China’s first penalty corner of the match. Guoting Hao then found the equaliser seconds later, steering the ball in after Li Hong’s pass into the circle deflected to her off an English defender. The winning goal came in the 57th minute, Fan Yunxia bunting past the prone goalkeeper after England failed to cut out a 70m diagonal ball to China’s right wing, so securing a thrilling comeback victory.
China’s Li Hong was named as the player of the match and said: “At the beginning we were a little bit slow, but we trusted ourselves that we had the ability to win this match. So we fought to the last minute.”
Current Hero Top Scorers:
Women – Yibbi Jansen (NED) (6 goals)
Men – Alexander Hendrickx (BEL), Tom Boon (BEL), Tomas Domene (ARG), Tijmen Reyenga (NED), Thierry Brinkman (NED) (4 goals)
To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Pro League, click here.
FIH Hockey Pro League – 7 February 2026
Estadio Betero, Valencia (ESP)
Men
Result: Match 15 (M)
Spain 1 - 3 England
Player of the match: James Albery (ENG)
Umpires: Sarah Wilson (SCO), Victoria Pazos (PAR), Alex Miles (CAN-video)
Women
Result: Match 17 (W)
Spain 1 - 1 Germany (SO: 4 - 2)
Player of the match: Marta Segu (ESP)
Umpires: Ahmed Elsayed (EGY), Wanri Venter (RSA), Allison Mikelson (USA-video)
Yunfu Education Park Hockey Field (CHN)
Women
Result: Match 18 (W)
China 3 - 2 England
Player of the match: Li Hong (CHN)
Umpires: Kelly Hudson (NZL), Hideki Kinoshita (JPN), Deepak Joshi (IND-video)
