Germany showed their dominance of indoor hockey with a pair of emphatic gold medal victories in the men's and women's finals at the World Games 2005 in Duisburg.
Both teams claimed their respective titles with resounding victories; the women winning 10-2 over Belarus and the men defeateding Switzerland 5-2.
Czech Republic took the bronze medal in both events as the event wrapped up its three-day competition.
Final - Women
Germany 10 defeated Belarus 2
Goals: GER ÔÇô Kerstin Holm PC 2m FG 40m, Anneke Boehmert FG 4m FG 8m FG 9m FG 20m FG 34m, Cornelia Reiter FG 14m, Franziska Gude FG 27m, Denise Klecker PC 31m; BLR ÔÇô Veranika Pekhtereva PC 6m, Volha Shyntar PC 29m
Germany claimed an expected gold medal in the women's indoor hockey competition at the World Games 2005 with a 10-2 victory over Belarus in the final in Duisburg.
After losing just their second ever indoor hockey match yesterday, Germany ensured that Belarus didn't get off to another bright start by lifting their tempo and not giving their opponents time or space on the ball.
Instead it was the Germans who raced to an early lead, with the threat of Anneke Boehmert causing problems for the Belarus defence and creating opportunities for the home team. Boehmert finished the first half with four goals as Germany established an unassailable 6-1 lead at the break.
Belarus's lone goal for the first half came from Volha Shyntar in the 29th minute as they met an opponent focused on reversing a shock defeat in the preliminary round.
Germany wasn't as clinical in the second half but still managed to deny Belarus after they battled to break through. However they added four more goals after half time which included Kerstin Holm's effort less than 10 seconds before full time.
Final ÔÇô Men
Germany 5 defeated Switzerland 2
Goals: GER ÔÇô Christoph Bechmann PC 13m PC 31m, Philipp Sunkel, PC 15m PC 27m FG 37m; SUI ÔÇô Uli Bergmann PC 23m, Thomas Gahwiler FG 40m
Germany once again confirmed their unbeatable indoor hockey dominance with a 5-2 win over Switzerland. Germany was never threatened throughout the match except for a period either side of half time.
Good goalkeeping from both teams ensured a tight opening to the match, with play mainly resting with Germany and Switzerland relying on counter attacks to break through the home team's defences.
Switzerland held the German juggernaut for the first 13 minutes before Christoph Bechmann and Philipp Sunkel scored penalty corner goals in quick succession to suddenly open a 2-0 lead.
Switzerland were unlucky not to score just before half time with a penalty corner drag flick, but the shot hit the left post and rebounded to safety.
However the visitors kept attacking after the break and were rewarded for some positive play with a goal to Uli Bergmann three minutes into the second half.
Another goal each to Bechmann and Sunkel secured the match for Germany and although the teams traded goals near full time, Germany was never seriously threatened.
Bronze Medal Playoff - Women
Czech Republic 3 defeated Lithuania 1
Goals: CZE ÔÇô Lenka Brtvova PC 2m FG 5m, Karolina Mikesova FG 15m; LTU ÔÇô Irma Matjusaityte PS 37m
Czech Republic scored three goals in the first seven minutes to secure the women's bronze medal with a 3-1 win over Lithuania at the World Games 2005 in Duisburg.
It was Czech Republic's first win of the tournament and reversed a loss to Lithuania in the preliminary rounds. Lenka Brtvova scored a double for Czech Republic while Karolina Mikesova added the other as they scored early in the first half and were then able to limit Lithuania to one goal after the break despite having to defend multiple penalty corners late in the match.
Lithuania couldn't repeat yesterday's effort where they jumped to an early two-goal lead, instead conceding all three goals in a seven-minute period at the start of the match, forcing them to chase their opponents for the entire match.
Their only goal came via a penalty stroke to Irma Matjusaityte three minutes before full time.
Bronze Medal Playoff - Men
Czech Republic 7 defeated Canada 1
Goals: CZE ÔÇô Martin Toms FG 7m, Lukas Lahoda FG 17m PC 19m, Steppan Bernatek PC 29m, Ondrej Vudmaska FG 29m, PC 30m, Tomas Herzog FG 30m; CAN ÔÇô Jonathan Roberts PC 22m
Czech Republic's men followed the example set by their women's team earlier in the day to win their country's second indoor hockey bronze medal at the World Games 2005 with a comfortable 7-1 victory over Canada.
Czech Republic took time to find their rhythm but once they did, they were able to systematically break down the Canadian defence and take a 3-0 lead into half time.
Martin Toms scored an easy goal for Czech Republic to take the lead in the seventh minute before Luka Lahoda scored two quick goals ÔÇô one a brilliant flick from an acute angle ÔÇô to open a comfortable margin.
After a brief surge by Canada at the beginning of the second half which netted their only goal, Czech Republic gained control and scored quickly to seal the match.
After Canada reduced their deficit to two goals through Jonathan Roberts in the 22nd minute, Czech Republic blitzed their opponents and scored four times in two minutes to end Canada's hopes.
