The leading teams in the groups jostled for position in day-two action in readiness for Sunday’s group deciders. Spain, Greece, United States of America and Hungary won their top-tier matches and in three of the lower four groups, New Zealand, Canada and Kazakhstan all had decisive victories.
It’s all about who gets the best rankings heading into the crossovers and there was plenty of excellent play as teams tried to show their dominance.
In the leading two groups there was plenty to play for and in Group A, Spain came back from 7-4 behind to beat Netherlands 12-10, its second successive loss. Greece was untroubled against Brazil, winning 19-5 to grasp top place, level on points with fellow double winner Spain.
In Group B, United States of America turned a 7-5 halftime lead into a 12-9 victory over Italy for two wins. Hungary, who lost to Italy in a shootout on Friday, used that one point to good advantage to leapfrog Italy into second place by downing Israel 18-8.
In Group C, New Zealand won on debut against host Portugal — 15-8 after leading 9-5 at halftime.
In Group D, Canada won first up, defeating Chile 26-3.
In Group F, Kazakhstan gained its first win with an easy 18-4 rout of India.
The Group E teams — Japan and Croatia — had a rest day and will clash again tomorrow as there are only two teams.
Match Reports
Group A
NETHERLANDS 10 SPAIN 12
Netherlands took the first-quarter lead at 3-1 and even though Spain levelled at 3-3, Netherlands converted two extra-man goals for 5-4. Spanish Olympian Elena Ruiz turned her opponent for a second goal to narrow the margin to 5-4 before the halftime buzzer.
The Dutch were still on a roll and began the second half with two goals from each of the deep positions. Ruiz scored her third from the penalty line and this incentivised her team-mates as Nona Perez and Queralt Bertran levelled at 7-7 before halftime. Bertran’s goal came off a goalkeeper throw to her two-metre position.
Although Ruiz had her penalty attempt hit the bar at the top of the third period, she lunged at the ball, flipped it over the head of the goalkeeper and then pushed the ball into goal for the 8-7 go-ahead score. Bertran and Perez added two more and suddenly the match was well in Spain’s favour at 10-7. Goals were traded to 12-10 with the final Dutch goal coming from Sanne Keijzer at 0:43 — the 10th Dutch scorer.
Match Heroes:
Ruiz was the pick of the bunch with her superior skills and experience and four goals that earned the player-of-the-match award.
Turning Point:
Ruiz’s penalty goal at 7-5 that that sent Spain on a six-goal surge, keeping the Dutch scoreless for six minutes.
Bottom Line:
Spain is the reigning champion and looked the part. The Dutch were not without merit and will now need to thread the maze to the quarterfinals.
GREECE 19 BRAZIL 5
Greece started tentatively and only led 2-0 at the first break, increasing that to 9-2 by halftime and 16-4 after three periods. Greece was sharp on attack while Brazil defended hard, scoring its only two goals of the first half from the top and on extra-man attack. The other three came off two extra plays and a centre-forward backhand by Jeniffer Cavalvante.
Match Heroes:
Christina Siouti, Sofia Tornarou and Dionysia Koureta all scored three goals for Greece and Luana Bonetti two for Brazil. Two of Koureta’s three centre-forward goals were from backhands.
Turning Point:
Greece swimming away from 3-1 to 8-1 in the second quarter.
Bottom Line:
Greece has the skills to beat Spain and retain top spot while Brazil will find the next stages challenging.
Group B
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 12 ITALY 9
With senior international Jenna Flynn in fine fettle, USA was never going to lose against Italy, as good as that team is. Italy kept in touch at one, two, three and four before USA slowly pulled away to victory. It was built on a 3-2 quarter lead, 7-5 at halftime and 10-7 at the third break. Italy came back to one at 6-5, but 9-7 and 10-8 were the next closest while Lavinia Papi scored from centre forward with 16 seconds left on the clock for the three-goal loss.
Match Heroes:
Flynn, unsurprisingly, with five goals and the top award. Her first two goals were penalty conversions and a third from nine metres. The five goals go with her six on the opening day. Rachel Gazzaniga scored three extra-man goals in her four — three of which closed the USA scoring. Morena Leone scored Italy’s first three goals.
Turning Point:
Emily Ausmus and Flynn scoring to go from 4-4 to 6-4 midway through the second quarter.
Bottom Line:
USA is looking strongly like a contender, but first needs to get past Hungary on Sunday. Italy is far from out of the reckoning.
ISRAEL 8 HUNGARY 18
Hungary was facing a team including a handful of senior internationals who recently competed in Fukuoka, Japan. The opening stanza showed that it was not overly impressed and led 4-0 and 5-1 by the quarter break. This became 9-1 and eventually 11-3 by the turn. That third goal by Israel spurred the team to another two early in the third quarter to narrow the margin to six. However, Hungary had the match at 15-5 by the last break and closed with a 3-3 period, meaning Israel only lost the second half 7-5, giving it confidence for the rest of the week.
Match Heroes:
Tekla Aubeli, was a revelation, scoring four of her five goals from two metres, including four of the team’s first six goals. Her fourth goal was sublime, kicking the ball closer and then backhanding the goal all at lightning speed. Her fifth was a near-post pass on extra for 14-5. Senior international Kata Hajdu and Nora Sumegi both scored four. Israelis Alma Yaacobi and Noa Sasover scored two apiece.
Turning Point:
The 4-0 opening phase.
Bottom Line:
Hungary will have had the clash with USA firmly in the back of its mind as it refined plays and skills. Israel is gaining in confidence and should be pleased with putting seven goals past USA and now eight against Hungary.
Group C
NEW ZEALAND 15 PORTUGAL 8
New Zealand opened its campaign on a strong note with a 5-0 first quarter. Portuguese fans were encouraged with Portugal’s bounce back in the second quarter, which was squared at four. Madalena Lousa wowed the home crowd with goals either side of an Aggie Weston New Zealand goal for 10-7 at 2:08 in the third period. Her second shot was well wide of the cage on the perimeter.
Aggie Weston and Gabrielle Doyle took the Kiwi lead to 12-7 at the final break. Doyle extended that lead early in the fourth and then Eve Weston converted a penalty goal and drilled one from the top after Lousa converted extra.
Match Heroes:
Darcy Spark, who had three goals by 7-2, really did supply the spark for victory and was named best in pool. Sisters Eve and Aggie Weston scored three each including three penalty goals between them. Lousa was Portugal’s best with three goals.
Turning Point:
The opening quarter of 5-0.
Bottom Line:
New Zealand was crisp from the outset and should do well in the coming stages. For Portugal, it was a first loss following Friday’s night’s historic win over South Africa.
Group D
CANADA 26 CHILE 3
Canada strode into the competition with a huge win, hoping it will set the team up for the all-important third-day clash with France. Surprisingly, with such a big score, it was Chile who scored first through Isabel del Villar with a seven-metre lob. Canada scored the next seven, closing the quarter at 6-1 and going 7-1 ahead through senior international Serena Browne. Valentina Diaz converted extra-man attack for Chile before Canada surged to 15-2 at the turn and 20-2 at the final break. Del Villar gained her second for Chile at 24-3 on extra as Canada shot to 26-3.
Match Heroes:
Emma Lawson was on fire with six goals, including three in a row in the second quarter. Ella Cowan notched four as eight other team-mates made the sheet.
Turning Point:
That 7-1 lead was too hard to overturn let alone match.
Bottom Line:
Canada now has to impress its supporters with a win over France — no easy task. Chile’s three goals were one better than Friday’s two and two better in the goal deficit than the France encounter.
Group F
INDIA 4 KAZAKHSTAN 18
Kazakhstan was unimpressive against Australia on day one and the resurgence against India was proof of some deep soul-searching. Kazakhstan was dominant all over the pool against the smaller Indians and two missed penalty attempts by India did not help its cause. Kazakhstan was at 16-1 before letting its guard down and allowing Varsha Suresh to slip in a goal. There was joy ay the end of the third period as Pradetha Rao made amends for her earlier wide penalty attempt, scoring for 19-2 to close the third period. Suresh drove in for her second goal at 24-3 and Yana Agrawal converted extra-man attack for 27-4 at 1:19.
Match Heroes:
Madina Rakhmanova scored two of the first three goals and added two more to lead the scoring with five team-mates garnering three goals each. Suresh’s pair was India’s best.
Turning Point:
Kazakhstan’s defence that did not allow India into a successful strike until nearly 20 minutes into the match.
Bottom Line:
Kazakhstan will use this victory as a staging point for the crossovers and India will use this first match as a pointer to Sunday’s face-off with Australia.
Progress Points
Group A: Greece 6, Spain 6, Netherlands 0, Brazil 0.
Group B: United States of America 6, Hungary 4, Italy 2, Israel 0.
Group C: New Zealand 3, Portugal 3, South Africa 0.
Group D: France 3, Canada 3, Chile 0.
Group E: Japan 3, Croatia 0.
Group F: Australia 3, Kazakhstan 3, India.
Sunday Schedule
Match 17, 09:00, Japan v Croatia
Match 18, 10:30, Australia v India
Match 19, 12:00, South Africa v New Zealand
Match 20, 13:30, France v Canada
Match 21, 15:30, Spain v Greece
Match 22, 17:00, Italy v Israel
Match 23, 18:30, Netherlands v Brazil
Match 24, 20:00, United States of America v Hungary