Japan v Canada Johor Cup Bronze Preview: Rematch of the 8-1, Saturday 2:05pm PKT
Before Saturday’s final, there’s a bronze-medal game with a backstory. Japan v Canada, 2:05 pm PKT, and these two have met already this week. It finished 8-1 to Japan.
That was the tournament opener on 17 October, and it was as one-sided as it sounds. Seia Yamada scored twice (22′, 30′), and Sasaki, Mori and Shinohara all got on the scoresheet. Canada’s captain Kale Simonson got their goal in the 51st minute. Field Hockey Canada’s own verdict was blunt: “Canada vs Japan 8-1 Loss.”
A week is a long time in hockey, though. Japan arrive at this game 24 hours after the cruellest exit of the tournament. They needed a win against Pakistan on Friday, led twice, drew 2-2, and missed the final on goals-for, 18-16. Yamada and Kazuki Nakai scored on Friday, and S. Sasaki’s hat-trick buried China 4-1 earlier in the week. The quality is obvious. The question is the mood.
Canada’s week has been rough. That 8-1, a 6-2 loss to Pakistan, Friday’s heavy defeat to Malaysia, and one bright spot: a 3-2 win over China on 20 October, their only victory. Bronze would be comfortably their best result of the tournament, and they’d take it in a heartbeat.
Our take
On form, Japan win this by two or three. They’re better in every department, and the 8-1 wasn’t a fluke. But bronze-medal games after a gut-punch are strange things. Japan have had one night to get over missing a final they could touch. If Canada score first, this gets very interesting, very fast. For our money: Japan’s class tells in the end, unless the 2-2 hangover is real.
The final follows at 5:05 pm PKT: Malaysia v Pakistan.
