The 6th and final day of the Olympic Qualifier in Japan is the business end of the tournament, with the winner of the final match securing a place at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The tournament final will take place at 14:00 hrs local time, and will be fiercely contested between Germany and Japan. Malaysia will play Poland for third place at 11:30am, with Switzerland hoping for a second victory within 24 hours against Italy to take 5th place.
Germany are the current World Champions and are blessed with a squad that includes a number of world class individuals. Captain Timo WESS is arguably the best defender in the world currently, and in the talismanic Christopher ZELLER they have a striker who is almost unstoppable on his day. The team recently claimed the Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur, and have seemingly overcome the disappointment caused by the failure to secure Olympic Qualification at the Euro Nations Championships that took place in England last summer. Japan are ranked 11 in the world; the second highest ranked team in the tournament behind Germany. The team have a distinctive, high tempo style of hockey that has seen then achieve some excellent results in this tournament. Penalty corner expert Takahiko YAMABORI has been in great form this tournament, scoring five goals, but he was unable to find a way past a Germany defence that has yet to concede a goal. The support for the host nation from the spectators has been magnificent, and a full stadium is expected today. The supporters will be hoping to cheer their team all the way to the Olympic Games in August, but the clear favourites for this game are Germany.
Schedule – Day 6
Match 16: Switzerland v Italy – 5th/6th play-off - 09:00 (Local time)
Match 17: Malaysia v Poland – 3rd/4th play-off - 11:30
Match 18: Germany v Japan – 1st/2nd play-off - 14:00
Live commentaries will be written for all of today’s matches on this site, with photos, scores, match sheets and tables updated throughout the day.
