Russia silence TT in hockey opener

TT , ranked 33rd in the world, benefited from the partisan crowd and started the better of the two teams. They were rewarded with an early goal in the 3rd minute, Marcus James’ calm finish sending the crowd of close to 600 into a frenzy with thoughts of a possible upset becoming verbal. The Russians, however, began to control the passage of play but TT team were more penetrative and closed the first quarter clinging on to their advantage.

In the second quarter, the Russians attacked more purposely but the TT defence was determined to keep the lead with the resilient centre-back pairing of Kwandwayne Browne and captain Darren Cowie repelling the visitors.

TT were awarded a penalty corner but had the shot blocked and Russian Anton Kornilov collected the ball at the half line and was the initiator and finisher of a counter-attack to make it 1-1 with a solo effort in the 28th minute.

Th Russians, ranked 22n in the world, switched goalkeepers and played a more physical second half and it paid off as they got the go-ahead goal from Denis Shchipachev in the 37th minute after successive penalty corners. TT had numerous penalty corners and opportunities to tie the match but were denied by fantastic saves from goalkeeper Andrei Ivanov.

Searching for parity, TT pushed their players forward and got caught on the counter-attack again with the Russians slick passing setting up Marat Khairullin to seal the victory in the 58th minute with a smart finish to the far post.

Minister of Sport Darryl Smith was in attendance to open the tournament and greeted the competing teams. Smith had indicated previously, that it is important to highlight the sport at the primary school level so that new players can be exposed to it at an early age. He wished the players all the best and stated they are the stars.

He urged them to take the opportunity to perform well and shine. He also thanked all the sponsors for coming on board and those who played a part to bring the event to fruition.

Saturday’s results: Pool A: Canada 4 (Keegan Pereira 10th, Gabriel Ho- Garcia 19th, Scott Tupper 44th, Gordon Johnston) vs USA 2 (William Holt 46th, Ruben Van Dam 55th).

Pool A: Chile 2 (Diego Ordonez 10th, Ricardo Achondo 46th) vs Barbados 1 (Akeem Rudder 42nd).

Pool B: Japan (Kenta Tanaka 3rd, 15th, 34th) vs Switzerland 0.

Pool B: Russia 3 (Anton Kornilov 28th, Denis Shchipachev 37th, Marat Khairullin 58th).

Tuesday’s fixtures: Switzerland vs Russia- 1:15pm USA vs Chile- 3:30pm Canada vs Barbados- 5:45pm Japan vs Trinidad and Tobago 8pm