Australia's men top hockey rankings

Australia, beaten 2-1 by England in the playoffs, finished fourth in the World League Finals but will regain the No.1 ranking in men's hockey.

Australia's men will be re-crowned the world's number one hockey team despite missing out on the bronze medal in controversial circumstances at the World League Finals in New Delhi.

Australia's final position of fourth, coupled with Germany's seventh place finish, will see the Kookaburras leapfrog the Olympic champions in the rankings when the International Hockey Federation publishes the latest standings next week.

The Netherlands, having beaten Australia in the semi-finals on Friday, thrashed New Zealand 7-2 in Saturday's final.

Germany beat Argentina 2-1 to seal seventh place while Belgium came from behind to beat hosts India 2-1 to take fifth.

Australia missed out on the bronze medal in a 2-1 defeat to England when a last-minute Australian equaliser was overturned after initially being awarded.

With England leading the playoff 2-1 through goals by Tom Carson and Barry Middleton, the Kookaburras were awarded a penalty corner with just 28 seconds remaining.

Glenn Turner, who had earlier netted his 75th goal for Australia, looked to have sent the match to a shoot-out with his low drag flick but the goal, awarded at first, was subsequently overturned for obstruction on the advice of the video umpire.

"I don't understand how the (obstruction) rule operates," coach Ric Charlesworth said.

"England didn't have a referral. The umpire used his own referral because they complained.

"Every corner that's taken you could complain about something.

"They've created a precedent now that means every corner will be a referral because we can find one of those everywhere. It's really silly."

Talking about the tournament as a whole, Charlesworth said" "We've been too loose at the back. We've made too many mistakes, our own errors.

"We've got work to do in tidying that up.


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Source: AAP


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