Donners' hat-trick gives Dutch women a flying start
By BEN MEMULETIWON, Athens
Saturday, August 14, 2004

Captain Mijntje Donners struck a hat-trick to lead the Netherlands to an emphatic 6-2 win over South Africa in the opening match of the Olympic women's field hockey here on Saturday.

Donners, the 2003 International Hockey Federation player of the year, dominated the group B match after opening her account with a penalty corner in the sixth minute.
The 30-year-old added one more goal in the first half, which ended with the Dutch 5-1 up, and then scored soon after the interval with a scoop from the right of the circle. }

Ageeth Boomgaardt, Fatima Moreira and Maartje Scheepstra were the other scorers for the Dutch, who are strong gold medal contenders after winning the bronze at the Sydney Games four years ago.
Jenny Wilson scored once in each half for South Africa, playing in only their second Olympic competition after finishing 10th at Sydney.

"It is nice to get a four-goal difference in the first match, but we should not have allowed them to get the second goal," said Donners, a veteran of 229 internationals.
"The first match is always difficult and we were a bit tentative in the beginning. But I will take this result."
Defending champions Australia, Germany and South Korea are the other teams in group B with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals.

The match, scheduled to start at 8.30 am (0530 GMT), began 10 minutes late because the vehicle carrying the umpires arrived just 15 minutes before the start.
"They should have been here at least 45 minutes before time," said the competition's media manager Nick Irvine. "I am told the driver overslept after last night's opening ceremony."