Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club players Pippa Bull and Charlie Leonard win gold and bronze medals for England at Masters World Cup

Pippa Bull helped England over-60s successfully defend their Masters World Cup title by winning every game in New Zealand.

And her Bishop’s Stortford club-mate Charlie Leonard was also part of the over-45s team that clinched bronze in Auckland.

Bull’s side had a 100% record in the pool stage as they comfortably advanced to the knockout rounds.

They began with a 2-0 success against Australia IMC (International Masters Cup) before seeing off the USA 6-0.

A 5-1 victory over South Africa came next before they concluded the group section with a 3-0 win over hosts New Zealand.

They faced South Africa again in the quarter-finals and ran out 3-1 winners before defeating the Netherlands 2-0 in the last four.

Bull’s team locked horns with Scotland in the final and the contest appeared to be heading to a shootout with nothing to separate them going into the closing moments.

But England claimed gold in the tense encounter as they converted a last-gasp penalty stroke.

In the over-45s competition, Leonard and her colleagues came second in their pool as they bounced back from a 2-1 defeat to Australia with 2-1 and 5-0 victories over Germany and Alliance IMC respectively.

They overcame Chile 3-0 in the quarter-finals before suffering a 1-0 loss at the hands of Argentina to miss out on a place in the final.

But they picked themselves up and dominated the third/fourth play-off match to secure a 4-0 win over New Zealand.