Japan

Japan made a strong start to the Women’s Olympic Hockey qualifying tournament on Friday, beating bottom-ranked Russia 6-1.

Sakae Morimoto scored on either side of halftime as Japan exploited Russian defensive turnovers and scored six goals from 14 shots from the field. “We expected to win today but not by such a large margin,” Japanese coach Kazunori Kobayashi said. “The physical condition of our players is very high and that gave us confidence.”

Russian errors allowed Japan to build a 3-0 halftime lead and to control the pace of the game, possession and field position. Japan also scored goals in the 48th, 52nd and 53rd minutes. In other matches Friday, Ireland beat Ukraine 1-0, Spain beat South Korea 1-0 and New Zealand scored twice in the second half to hold top-seeded Britain to a 2-2 draw.

Spain scored a lone goal through Lucia Lopez in the 25th minute and produced a tight defensive performance to beat South Korea in a battle of Pool B’s top-ranked teams. South Korea dominated statistically with more shots on goal than Spain but couldn’t penetrate a tight-knit defense. Poor passing and finishing cost the South Koreans who had 14 shots on goal without success.

Spanish goalkeeper Maria Jesus Rosa had an outstanding game and protected her team’s brittle defense with two diving saves in the final minutes. “I thought we played well in the first half but the second half was not so good,” said Spanish coach Pablo Usoz. “This game was critical for us not just because it was the first game of the tournament but also because Korea will be our toughest pool opponent.”

Ireland began its Pool A program with its shutout over the Ukraine, scoring the game’s only goal in the 21st minute from Jenny Burke. “We have never beaten Ukraine before,” said Irish coach Riet Kuper. “I have coached Ireland five times against them so this was a good win. “I think the match could have gone both ways although I was very pleased with our defense and our double teaming in tackles.” Ireland’s next match is against New Zealand.

Britain opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a Mel Clewlow strike from a penalty corner and added a second goal two minutes later through Helen Grant. New Zealand rebounded after halftime with goals to Niniwa Roberts and Suzy Muirhead, both from penalty corners. “Disappointed with this game is too light a word. I’m very annoyed,” said British coach Tricia Heberle. “This was a very poor performance from us. We should have led by more at halftime and then to reduce our work rate in the second half and to allow them too much space was not good enough.” The top five teams from the tournament qualify for the Athens Olympics. —AP

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