The Netherlands have won the women’s Indoor Hockey World Cup in dramatic style, defeating host nation Germany in a shoot-out in front of a passion-filled sell-out crowd in Leipzig. A late goal from Claire Verhage cancelled out a lead that Germany held for the majority of a pulsating match, with Netherlands keeper Adinda Alberts making three saves to seal a second world title for the Dutch.

It is the second time in successive days that the national teams of the Netherlands have conspired to thwart the title ambitions of the home favourites, with the men’s team being eliminated by the Dutch in Saturday’s semi-finals.

The Leipzig Arena was packed to the rafters full of cheering fans who were treated to an absorbing, closely fought battle between the two top indoor nations in the world. Germany captain Katharina Otte opened the in the 8th minute with a penalty stroke before the Netherlands were awarded two strokes of their own, both of which were missed.

It seemed that it was simply not going to be their day, but that all changed two minutes from the end of the match when Claire Verhage slammed home a penalty corner, meaning that the Gold medal would be settled by a shoot-out.

The goalkeepers rather than the attackers were the stars of the shoot-out, with Laurien Luerink scoring the only successful effort of the six to give the Netherlands a remarkable win against the 2011 champions.

Regarding her team’s shoot-out success, Netherlands goalkeeper Adina Alberts said: “We practiced shoot-outs and watched how the men did it against Germany yesterday. We tried to copy it and it worked for us.”

“Our performance was just not good enough”, said Germany’s talented youngster Anne Schröder, who has been one of the stars of the tournament.  “We should have scored at least from our penalty corners. None of our team has ever played in front of such a huge crowd before.”

The victory gives the Netherlands their second Indoor World Cup title, adding to the one they collected at the 2007 event in Vienna, Austria.
The Netherlands have won the women’s Indoor Hockey World Cup in dramatic style, defeating host nation Germany in a shoot-out in front of a passion-filled sell-out crowd in Leipzig. A late goal from Claire Verhage cancelled out a lead that Germany held for the majority of a pulsating match, with Netherlands keeper Adinda Alberts making three saves to seal a second world title for the Dutch.

It is the second time in successive days that the national teams of the Netherlands have conspired to thwart the title ambitions of the home favourites, with the men’s team being eliminated by the Dutch in Saturday’s semi-finals.

The Arena Leipzig was packed to the rafters full of cheering fans who were treated to an absorbing, closely fought battle between the two top indoor nations in the world. Germany captain Katharina Otte opened the in the 8th minute with a penalty stroke before the Netherlands were awarded two strokes of their own, both of which were missed.

It seemed that it was simply not going to be their day, but that all changed two minutes from the end of the match when Claire Verhage slammed home a penalty corner, meaning that the Gold medal would be settled by a shoot-out. The goalkeepers rather than the attackers were the stars of the shoot-out, with Laurien Leurink scoring the only successful effort of the six to give the Netherlands a remarkable win against the 2011 champions.

Regarding her team’s shoot-out success, Netherlands goalkeeper Adina Alberts said: “We practiced shoot-outs and watched how the men did it against Germany yesterday. We tried to copy it and it worked for us.”

“Our performance was just not good enough”, said Germany’s talented youngster Anne Schröder, who has been one of the stars of the tournament.  “We should have scored at least from our penalty corners. None of our team has ever played in front of such a huge crowd before.” 
The victory gives the Netherlands their second Indoor World Cup title, adding to the one they collected at the 2007 event in Vienna, Austria.

Individual awards
Player of the Tournament: Katharina Otte (GER)
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Yvonne Frank (GER)
Junior Player of the Tournament: Anne Schröder (GER)
Top Scorer: Denise Admiraal (NED), 13 goals

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