Germany maintain unbeaten run

Germany posted their third successive victory in the men's Champions Trophy hockey tournament when routed Olympic silver medallists Korea 3-0 on the third day of the competition in Rotterdam on Tuesday.

In other matches of the day, Australia scored their second successive victory, getting the better of former champions Pakistan 3-1 while the Netherlands squeezed past England 3-2.

Germany, who beat Australia 2-1 in their opening match and England 2-0 in their second outing, need just a point from their remaining two matches -- against Pakistan, on Wednesday, and Olympic and defending champions the Netherlands, on Saturday, to make it to the final of the six-team event.

Germany hasn't won a major title since the 1997 Champions Trophy in Australia. It clinched Olympic gold in 1992 in Barcelona, but lost that position to the Netherlands in Atlanta in 1996.

At the 2000 Olympics they placed fifth, which led to the replacement of national coach Paul Lissek by Bernhard Peters.

Since then, Germany has won almost every match, including the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in August, in Kuala Lumpur.

One of its key players is Florian Kunz, who was voted player of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur. In the Champions Trophy, the 29-year old German captain is leading the topscorer table with five goals from three matches.

Florian Kunz put the Germans ahead in the 12th minute and then scored again in the 47th minute before Oliver Domke could complete the tally in the 63rdf minute.

After losing to Germany in their first match of the competition on Saturday, the Australians have come back admirably to stay in the race for honours. On Sunday they beat the Netherlands 3-2.

Tuesday's victory was well-merited. After a goalless first-half, Jeremy Hiskins scored twice for Australia in the 41st and 55th minutes.

Sohail Abbas reduced the margin for Pakistan in the 67th minute but Adam Commens scored a third goal for Australia a minute later to put the issue beyond doubt.

For Pakistan, it was their first defeat after a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands and a 2-0 victory over Korea.

In the last match of the day, the Netherlands were three goals up in the first-half but survived a strong fightback from the English before coming out trumps.

Teun de Nooijer put the Dutch ahead in the 17th minute before Marten Eikelboom and Jeroen Delmee could add goals in the 20th and 24th minutes respectively.

In the second session, England came back strongly but could only score twice through Danny Hall, in the 44th minute, and Mark Pearn, 54th minute.

Complete Coverage: 23rd Men's Champions Trophy 2001