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| Event type

Hockey, Men

Date11 – 23 August 2008
StatusOlympic
LocationBeijing Aolinpike Gongyuan Qugunqiu Chang, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants196 from 12 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advance teams to classification round matches.

Before the Olympic hockey tournament even began, one hockey nation was already in shock. India, which had always competed since their debut in 1928, was eliminated by Great-Britain in one of the qualifying tournaments. Although the last medal of the 8-time Olympic champion had been back in 1980, their failure to qualify was considered an upset on the subcontinent.

India’s absence did not affect the list of favourites, which consisted of the traditional powerhouses Australia, Germany, Netherlands and Spain. Germany had won the last two World Cups, as well as the 2007 Champions Trophy. However, they had trouble qualifying at the European Championships. At that event, Belgium, which had not competed since 1976, took the bronze ahead of Germany, forcing the World Champions to one of the three Qualifying Tournaments. Of the other favorites, the Dutch team had won the 2007 Europeans, beating Spain, while defending Olympic champion Australia had lost the past two World Cup finals to the Germans.

The round robin stage went pretty much as expected, with the four favourites going through to the semi-finals. Both contests were close affairs. Germany only defeated the Netherlands after a penalty shootout, while Spain came back from 0-2 behind to dismiss Australia 3-2. The final was not as exciting, both teams playing defensively. A single penalty corner, scored by Christopher Zeller, gave Germany the decisive lead after 16 minutes. Germany’s title added a new chapter in the family history of the Kellers. Striker Florian Keller joined his grandfather, father, brother and sister as Olympic medallists.

PosNrTeamNOCWTLPtsGoals
1GermanyGER5201714–7Gold
2SpainESP5021512–8Silver
3AustraliaAUS4211432–12Bronze
4NetherlandsNED4121319–13
5Great BritainGBR3211115–9
6Republic of KoreaKOR213715–16
7New ZealandNZL3121014–11
8PakistanPAK204613–17
9BelgiumBEL213712–13
10CanadaCAN114410–20
11People's Republic of ChinaCHN114411–19
12South AfricaRSA00607–29

Preliminary Round (11 – 19 August 2008)

Group A (11 – 19 August 2008)

Round-robin pool.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1ESP401129–5Q
2GER3201112–6Q
3KOR212713–11
4NZL212710–9
5BEL11349–13
6CHN01417–16

Match #1 11 Aug 8:30GER 4 – 1CHN
Match #2 11 Aug 18:00NZL 3 – 1KOR
Match #3 11 Aug 20:30ESP 4 – 2BEL
Match #4 13 Aug 10:30KOR 5 – 2CHN
Match #5 13 Aug 18:30BEL 1 – 1GER
Match #6 13 Aug 20:30ESP 1 – 0NZL
Match #7 15 Aug 8:30ESP 2 – 1CHN
Match #8 15 Aug 18:00NZL 4 – 2BEL
Match #9 15 Aug 20:30GER 3 – 3KOR
Match #10 17 Aug 10:30KOR 3 – 1BEL
Match #11 17 Aug 18:30CHN 2 – 2NZL
Match #12 17 Aug 21:00GER 1 – 0ESP
Match #13 19 Aug 10:30GER 3 – 1NZL
Match #14 19 Aug 18:30ESP 2 – 1KOR
Match #15 19 Aug 21:00BEL 3 – 1CHN

Group B (11 – 19 August 2008)

Round-robin pool.

PosNOCWTLPtsGoals
1NED4101316–6Q
2AUS3201124–7Q
3GBR221810–7
4PAK203611–13
5CAN113410–17
6RSA00504–25

Match #1 11 Aug 10:30GBR 4 – 2PAK
Match #2 11 Aug 18:30AUS 6 – 1CAN
Match #3 11 Aug 21:00NED 5 – 0RSA
Match #4 13 Aug 8:30AUS 10 – 0RSA
Match #5 13 Aug 18:00PAK 3 – 1CAN
Match #6 13 Aug 21:00NED 1 – 0GBR
Match #7 15 Aug 10:30NED 4 – 2CAN
Match #8 15 Aug 18:30AUS 3 – 1PAK
Match #9 15 Aug 21:00GBR 2 – 0RSA
Match #10 17 Aug 8:30CAN 1 – 1GBR
Match #11 17 Aug 18:00PAK 3 – 1RSA
Match #12 17 Aug 20:30AUS 2 – 2NED
Match #13 19 Aug 8:30NED 4 – 2PAK
Match #14 19 Aug 18:00CAN 5 – 3RSA
Match #15 19 Aug 20:30AUS 3 – 3GBR

Semi-Finals (21 August 2008)

Winners of each match advanced to final round.

Match #1 21 Aug 18:00GER 1 – 1
ASDET, 4-3 PS
NED
Match #2 21 Aug 20:30ESP 3 – 2AUS

Final Round (21 – 23 August 2008)

Medal round.

Match 1/2 23 Aug 20:30GER 1 – 0ESP
Match 3/4 23 Aug 18:00AUS 6 – 2NED
Match 5/6 23 Aug 11:00GBR 5 – 2KOR
Match 7/8 21 Aug 11:00NZL 4 – 2PAK
Match 9/10 21 Aug 8:30BEL 3 – 0CAN
Match 11/12 23 Aug 8:30CHN 4 – 3
ASDET
RSA

Rankings

Goals
Field Goals
Penalty Corner Goals
Penalty Stroke Goals
Green Cards
Yellow Cards
Red Cards