Madurai, Nov 30: World No. 4 Spain placed themselves on course for a quarterfinal spot, beating Belgium 2-0 to register their second consecutive win in a Pool D match of the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup here on Sunday.
Spain scored through Juan Prado’s (20th minute) field strike and a penalty corner conversion by Bruno Avila in the 32nd minute to emerge winners.
Spain had earlier thrashed Egypt 8-0 in their tournament opener here on Friday.
With this win, Spain top Pool D with six points from two wins ahead of world No. 7 Belgium, who have three points from two matches.
Spain will next play Namibia here on Tuesday, while Belgium will be up against Egypt the same day.
In another match of Pool D, Namibia beat Egypt 4-2.
Liam Bruys (23rd), James de Jager (26th), Josh van der Merwe (32nd) scored three field goals for Namibia, while John-Paul Britz converted a penalty corner in the 60th minute.
Egypt’s goals were scored by Abdelrahman Kasem (28th) and Mohab Hegab (53rd).
In the other matches here on Sunday, world No. 5 Netherlands defeated Malaysia 6-1 to top Pool E with two wins out of as many games while England thrashed Austria 13-0 to occupy the second spot.
Sam Lane (5th, 7th, 33rd, 34th, 41st minutes) scored five goals for New Zealand while James Hockson scored the other one.
Malaysia’s lone goal getter was Faizal Saari from a penalty stroke in the 43rd minute.
In the match between England and Austria, Kaden Draysey (24th, 25th, 29th, 53rd) and Henry Markham (32nd, 38th, 47th) scored a hat-trick each, while George Fletcher (21st, 27th), Michael Royden (36th), Olly Bennet (40th), Alex Chihota (49th) and Max Anderson (54th) found the net one each for the winners. (PTI)
