2003 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge

The second edition of the Women's Champions Challenge took place in Catania, on the island of Sicily. The event started on Saturday July 5 and ended on Sunday July 13. Participating nations at the women's six nations tournament were Germany, Japan, hosting nation Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States.

Each of the six teams play each other once in a round robin format to complete five preliminary round games. The top two teams at the end of the preliminary round matches play off in the final, with the winner earning a berth in the 2004 Champions Trophy in Rosario, Argentina. The 3rd and 4th placed teams play for the bronze medal, while the 5th and 6th placed teams meet in the 5th place play-off.

The tournament proved to be a springboard for a Germany as the tournament champions would continue on to win the Olympic gold medal in Athens the following year. Germany went undefeated in the tournament that would eventually produce three other Olympic teams including Spain, New Zealand and Olympic Qualifying Tournament champion Japan.

Although the Italians did not win a game in the tournament, the host-team's appearance helped Italy move up in the international standings and provided the country with its first major international appearance since the 1993 Women's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Philadelphia.

Team squads

fhw|Germany

(1.) Yvonne Frank (gk), (2.) Julia Zwehl (gk), (3.) Denise Klecker, (5.) Nadine Ernsting-Krienke, (6.) Anneke Bohmert, (7.) Natascha Keller, (8.) Melanie Cremer, (9.) Friederike Barth, (10.) Silke Müller, (11.) Cornelia Reiter, (12.) Caroline Casaretto, (13.) Marion Rodewald (captain), (16.) Fanny Rinne, (18.) Anke Kühn, (20.) Alexandra Kollmar, (21.) Badri Latif, (22.) Kerstin Hoyer, and (32.) Franziska Gude. Head Coach: Peter Lemmen.

fhw|Italy

(1.) Roberta Lilliu (gk), (2.) Stella Girotti, (3.) Enrica Tagliasacchi, (4.) Claudia Torretta, (5.) Victoria Corso, (6.) Lila Grasso, (7.) Giorgia Carradori, (8.) Sonia Scalia, (9.) Francesca Faustini, (10.) Laura Garcia, (11.) Alessandra Filippi, (12.) Anna Russo (gk), (14.) Tatiana Nicoletti, (15.) Silvia Previgliano, (16.) Maltilde Canavosio, (18.) Dolores Miranda, (21.) Roberta Marrocu, and (22.) Daniela Possali. Head Coach: Picco Roberto.

fhw|Japan

(1.) Rie Terazono (gk), (2.) Keiko Miura (captain), (3.) Akemi Kato, (4.) Yukari Yamamoto, (5.) Sachimi Iwao, (6.) Chie Kimura, (7.) Yuka Ogura, (8.) Sakae Morimoto, (10.) Naoko Saito, (11.) Kayo Soga, (12.) Nami Miyazaki (gk), (15.) Erika Esaki, (17.) Asuka Chiba, (18.) Tomomi Komori, (19.) Rika Komazawa, (21.) Rika Ishida, (22.) Yuko Kitano, and (23.) Emi Sakurai. Head Coach: Tsuda Toshiro.

fhw|New Zealand

(1.) Kayla Sharland, (2.) Nikki Grimwood, (3.) Paula Enoka, (4.) Jan Rowsell, (5.) Rachel Sutherland, (6.) Meredith Orr, (8.) Jaimee Provan, (12.) Karen McMillan, (13.) Jo Galletly, (14.) Suzie Pearce (captain), (16.) Helen Clarke (gk), (18.) Diana Weavers, (19.) Melody Rowe, (20.) Amanda Christie, (21.) Niniwa Roberts, (23.) Tara Drysdale, (26.) Anita Wawatai (gk), and (28.) Karen Syddall. Head Coach: Ian Rutledge.

fhw|Spain

(1.) María Jesús Rosa (gk), (2.) Silvia Manrique, (3.) Olalla Piñeiro, (5.) Mónica Rueda, (6.) Silvia Bonastre, (7.) María del Carmen Martín, (8.) Marta Prat, (9.) Silvia Muñoz, (10.) Lucía López, (11.) María del Mar Feito, (12.) Maider Tellería, (14.) Rocío Ybarra, (15.) Erdoitza Goikoetxea, (17.) Núria Camón, (18.) Ana Raquel Pérez, (19.) Isabel Barguño (gk), (20.) Raquel Huertas, and (21.) Esther Termens. Head Coach: Jack Holtman

fhw|United States

(1.) Tamika Smith, (2.) Kristen McCann, (4.) Margaret Storrar (gk), (5.) Tara Jelley, (6.) Robyn Kenney, (7.) Tracey Larson, (8.) Kelli Gannon, (9.) Tracey Fuchs, (11.) Katie Beach (captain), (12.) Dina Rizzo, (13.) Keli Smith, (15.) Jill Reeve, (17.) Carrie Lingo, (19.) Abbey Woolley, (21.) Natalie Dawson, (22.) Kate Barber, (25.) Amy Tran (gk), and Jessica Coleman. Head Coach: Beth Anders.

tandings

Play-offs

Fifth Place

hockeybox
date = July 13, 2003 16:00
team1 = fhw-rt|USA
team2 = fhw|ITA
score = 4–1 (1–0)
goals1 = Kate Barber 14' Kate Barber 32' (pc) Kelli Gannon 51' Kelli Gannon 68' (pc)
goals2 = Dolores Miranda 17'
umpires =

Bronze Medal

hockeybox
date = July 13, 2003 18:30
team1 = fhw-rt|JPN
team2 = fhw|NZL
score = 2–1 (1–0)
goals1 =
goals2 =
umpires =

Final

hockeybox
date = July 13, 2003 21:00
team1 = fhw-rt|GER
team2 = fhw|ESP
score = 3–1 (1–0)
goals1 = Denise Klecker 10' Nadine Ernsting-Krienke 62' Nadine Ernsting-Krienke 70'
goals2 = Nuria Camon 36'
umpires =

Final Ranking

#fhw|GER
#fhw|ESP
#fhw|JPN
#fhw|NZL
#fhw|USA
#fhw|ITA

Remarks

*Germany will participate in next year's Champions Trophy in Rosario, Argentina.

Awards

*TOPSCORERS:
**Tomomi Komori (Japan) – 5 goals
**Kate Barber (United States) – 5 goals
**Niniwa Roberts (New Zealand) – 5 goals
*PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
**Denise Klecker (Germany)
*GOALKEEPER OF THE TOURNAMENT
**Margaret Storrar (United States)

References

* [http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,1181-134639-135947-nav-list,00.html Match Reports on FIH-site]