Italy, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand into quarterfinals

Day 6 Schedule

Classification 9-12 Semifinals
Match 31. 09:00. Croatia v Israel
Match 32. 11:30. China v Canada

Classification 13-16 Round Robin
Match 33. 12:00. Mexico v South Africa
Match 34. 13:30. Thailand v Turkiye

Classification 1-8 Quarterfinals
Match 35. 16:00. Netherlands v United States of America
Match 36. 17:30. New Zealand v Spain
Match 37. 19:00. Australia v Greece
Match 38. 20:30. Italy v Hungary

MATCH REPORTS

Classification 1-12 Crossovers

Match 30, NEW ZEALAND 11 CHINA 8 (3-2, 1-2, 2-1, 5-3)

New Zealand became the eighth and final team to make the quarterfinals and now has a date with Spain on Friday.

New Zealand scored the go-ahead goals in the first quarter through Bailee Swindells, Emison Styris and Gabrielle Doyle and China drew at one through Zhang Jingwen and two via Shi Yitong. Shao Yixin equalised at the top of the second quarter and Doyle made it 4-3. Zhang Yumian, so prolific in the scoring department with 13 goals before tonight, went on counter for 4-4 just inside the three-minute mark for the halftime score.

Katie Marshall scored from the top left down the line to start the third period and, despite a huge crowd beating drums, the locals could not get China to score. Styris gave the Kiwis a two-goal advantage at 2:39 from the top left and at 1:23, China finally broke through with Shao scoring a lookaway shot from the bottom right for 6-5. Riaan Bryant opened the fourth quarter for the Kiwis from the top left and Shao punched back on extra. Styris drilled from the top on extra for 8-6 and then China levelled through Zhang Jingwen and Shao, the last an excellent lob. The Kiwis shot back instantly and had the match at 10-8 at 2:26 after Swindells went on counter after the extra and Bryant converted extra after the goalkeeper was thrown out of the pool. There was more Kiwi damage as Styris converted a penalty at 1:52 for an almost unassailable lead of 11-8. China called a timeout and Zhang Yumian’s shot was saved by Madison Searle. New Zealand wasted the time and gave China 49 seconds to bounce back. New Zealand stole the ball at 0:24 and controlled the ball until the final buzzer. New Zealand had repeated its effort of 2022 by making the quarterfinals.

Match Heroes
Styris was awarded best in pool for her four goals and goalkeeper Searle made 10 saves. Shao was best for China, also with four goals , and goalie Lin Qinfeng made 12 saves.

Turning Point
The opening goal as New Zealand was never headed although the score was equal at one, two, three, four and eight.

Stats Don’t Lie
New Zealand converted three from seven on extra and China four from eight. New Zealand scored the only penalty goal, made eight steals to two and shot 33 times to 26.

Bottom Line
New Zealand was eighth last time and now is in the top eight again while China has not made the top eight since its last appearance in 2016.

Match 29, AUSTRALIA 12 ISRAEL 10 (2-3, 5-2, 3-2, 2-3)

A defiant Israel could not find enough goals to beat Australia and make the quarterfinals. Once Australia took the outright lead at 6-5, it was never equalled, although Israel came within one three times. The victory was built on defence and incredible extra-man statistics.

Australia started the better and went one and two ahead only for Israel to play catch-up and then go ahead 3-2 a minute from the buzzer. Bless Daly had her penalty attempt stopped by the Israel goalie. Charley Stephens equalised at the top of the second quarter, but Israel proved stronger going ahead twice with Stephens equalising at four and Carmel Rahum, the strong centre forward, gaining her third goal off the left-post position on extra and 5-4. Both Stephens’ goals came off the left-catch position and Jemma Potts and Emma Pittman used the same tactic for 6-5 ahead. Daly followed up from the same side on extra for 7-5 at the halftime break.

Israel scored nearly a minute into the third period only for VAR to step in and decide that an earlier goal by Australia’s Chelsea Isaac (pictured above), initially waved away, was good and the clock reverted and Australia given an 8-5 lead. Teva Dorfman stood up and scored twice, one from a six-metre-foul shot and the other on extra for 8-7. Pittman and Tilly Hughes scored in the last five minutes for 10-7 at the final break.

Dorfman on penalty and Gili Borenstein on extra narrowed it to one at the start of the fourth quarter. Stephens fired in her third and captain Miya Tirosh replied on extra from the top. Saskia Dunn plugged one from the right-hand-catch position and it was 12-10 at 3:37. Israel went to a timeout at 3:15 for no joy and Australia called one at 0:52, also with no joy. A few Aussie errors gave Israel a sniff but it held strong for the victory.

Match Heroes
Stephens was named player of the match with her three goals for Australia in what was a team effort. Dorfman nailed four goals for Israel and Rahum three while goalkeeper Roni Kakuzin made 10 saves.

Turning Point
When Australia went 6-5, the impetus shifted and the belief in the Aussie team changed.

Stats Don’t Lie
Australia was remarkable at extra-man, scoring three from six and defending an incredible 11 of 17. Perhaps the fouling situation needs addressing for the Aussies? Both teams went one from two on penalty and Australia made four steals to two and shot 34 to 30 times.

Bottom Line
Australia has the experience and the depth, but Israel is charging up the rankings and its leading players will be pushing for U20 slots next year.

Match 28, NETHERLANDS 11 CROATIA 7 (4-1, 1-2, 4-2, 2-2)

Netherlands cruised into the quarterfinals and will face reigning champion United States of America. Croatia matches the Dutch in the second half, but the slow start proved devastating.

Netherlands took control early, making Croatia do more work. Kiara Heerink scored twice in the first quarter, on extra and with a centre-forward backhand. Pien Gorter had her penalty attempt rejected, but she collected the rebound to score. Tatum van der Elst closed the period at 4-1 on extra. Croatia’s goal came from Jelena Butic on penalty — her 13^th goal. Renske Overdam sent in a torpedo from eight metres to start the second quarter to give the Dutch a 5-1 advantage. A Croatian timeout ploy yielded no goal. At 4:04, Butic scored on counter for 5-2. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Ria Glas turned at centre forward to score for Croatia, winning the period 2-1 and trailling by two goals at 5-3.

A three-goal burst by the Dutch lifted it to 8-3 by halfway through the third period. Croatia was valiant from then on and Neli Jankovic scored three to give her a tournament lead of 17 goals. It became 9-5 at the final break and then became 10-6 and 11-6 before Jankovic closed the scoring with a penalty inside the last minute.

Match Heroes
Jankovic with her three goals and a pair to Glas for her 12^th of the week, Jelena Butic’s pair helped her to 14, making them the best for Croatia. Five players scored twice for the Dutch, but it was goalkeeper Caitlin van Leeuwin who was named best player with 11 saves.

Turning Point
Those three goals at the start of the third period, took the Dutch clear.

Stats Don’t Lie
Netherlands  went four from seven on extra and defended three from four. The Dutch scored one from three on penalty to Croatia’s two from two. On steals, Netherlands took seven to six and Croatia had three more shots.

Bottom Line
Netherlands’ balanced team carried it through and will prove important come the quarterfinal against USA. Croatia can be proud of its effort in going so close.

Match 27, ITALY 14 CANADA 8 (5-3, 4-1, 2-2, 3-2)

Italy made sure of its ranking and quarterfinal position and thoughts will now be on Hungary to see who goes through to the semifinals.

In the first quarter, goals were traded to three with Italy making the forward play. Bianca Rosta became the seventh scorer when she sent in consecutive goals with the second on counter to give Italy a 5-3 quarter-time advantage. Natalia Blazevic, who scored Canada’s first goal, sent in another at the top of the second quarter, the last for some time. Eleonora Bianco scored a pair, one on penalty, followed by Rosta and Cecilia Grasso — her second — to close the first-half scoring at 9-4.

It took nearly three minutes for Italy to add to its tally in the third with Rosta netting a fourth. Lara Polidori scored from centre forward and Italy was at 11-4. Brooklyn Plomp lobbed from top right to end the Canadian drought of nearly 11 minutes. Sydney Krushen scored from top right as well to give Canada some faint hope at 11-6 behind by the final break.

Rosta scored her fifth goal on counter when the Canadian goalie came out and fouled her at the eight-metre mark. Rosta took the six-metre shot for her ninth goal in total. Makayla Ulmer-Lutudromu brought up Canada’s seventh goal and her second from the left-hand-catch position into the top right. Giulia Bozzo fired one in from centre and Bacelle grabbed a second from the deep left. Ulmer-Lutudromu had the last say with her goal from wide right just inside the final minute.

Match Heroes
Rosta with her five-goal haul was best in pool and Olimpia Sesena with her 10 saves in goal for Italy was also commendable. Alexandra Stoddart was the best for Canada with 10 saves in goal while Ulmer-Lutudromu nabbed three goals to bring up 10 in Chengdu.

Turning Point
Busting away from 3-3 and shooting out to 11-4 by midway through the third quarter.

Stats Don’t Lie
Italy converted only three from 11 to Canada’s one from seven. Italy scored one of its two penalty attempts and made six steals to five. Italy shot 35 times to 30.

Bottom Line
Italy was fourth last time and is looking to make the podium this year.

Classification 13-16 Round Robin

Match 26, TURKIYE 13 SOUTH AFRICA 15 in penalty shootout. FT: 11-11. Pens: 2-4 (4-3, 1-2, 3-2, 3-4)

The closeness of this match is proving that the bottom group will provide plenty more action in the next two days. Turkiye deserved to win, only being behind for 12 seconds in the second quarter, but all credit to South Africa for fighting back and enforcing the shootout, then going one better by winning 4-2 for a 15-13 victory.

Turkiye gave a pointer to how it was going to play with the first two goals. However, South Africa fancies itself in this series and rattled in the next three goals, twice on extra attack. However, within 40 seconds, Turkiye had two goals that reversed the lead at 4-3. Hanzade Dabbag scored from deep right for her second of the quarter and fourth of the tournament. Amy Smith, Amy van Breda and Tori Voke scored for the Africans. Mia Loizides and Inge Southey joined the South African scorers to wrest the lead at 5-4 well into the second quarter. Arik Bilge, who blasted in a two-metre goal to start the scoring, made another for 5-5. Turkiye could have taken the lead by the long break, but Derin Pehlivanoglu’s penalty attempt was shut down.

Bilge grabbed her third on extra to begin the second half when she earned the ejection and accepted the cross pass to shoot right in front of goal. Betul Haltas turned at centre forward for her first goal of the week and Turkiye had a two-goal margin. Southey joined the centre-forward goal party for 7-6 and Haltas enjoyed the last goal so much she sent in another from the deep right. Both teams took a timeout and it was South Africa who succeeded with van Breda scoring from wide left for 8-7 with two minutes remaining, the last goal of the period, as it happened.

The final period was set to be a beauty and it started well for South Africa with Anastasia Hambakis converting a penalty for her first strike of the week. Bilge brought up her 13^th goal with another superb turn at two metres. Dabbag was red-carded for a violent action and South Africa failed to make the most of the opportunity. Bilge converted a penalty foul and Southey responded soon after from deep right. Bilge was dishing out more destruction with another blast from two metres, even though she was pushed out to five metres, to give her six for the match for 11-9 at 5:17. Loizides converted a penalty foul at 1:19 and van Breda rifled in a shot on extra from wide right with eight seconds remaining, which was enough to get to the shootout.
South Africa missed its first penalty attempt and Turkiye responded with two before having its third and fourth shots saved. South Africa went to the end of the rotation with four strikes to win the shootout 4-2 and the match 15-13.

Match Heroes
Ogechi McMurray, who played the fourth quarter in goal for South Africa, then faced Turkiye in the shootout and made two fantastic saves that helped win the match. For this, she was named player of the match. Fellow goalie Kate Swainston made 10 saves in her three quarters. Captain van Breda and Southey claimed three goals apiece. The shooting star was Turkiye’s Bilge with six goals and one in the shootout. Duru Ilter made nine saves in the goal.

Turning Point
The first two goals to set Turkiye on the path and lead for almost all the match and then South Africa’s pair in the last 80 seconds.

Stats Don’t Lie
South Africa built the win on extra-man attack, converting six from 12 and denying Turkiye four times from five attempts. The Africans scored two from three on penalty and Turkiye one from two. Turkiye headed the steals six to five and took two more shots at goal.

Bottom Line
This will be a brilliant series as the first two matches showed. Good luck to both teams and thanks for the spectacle.

Match 25, THAILAND 20 MEXICO 15 (4-4, 5-2, 5-5, 6-4)

Thailand may have won the encounter but it was almost irrelevant as these teams provided sparkle and verve, scoring at will and showing energy few teams could match. The speed of the game was brilliant and the shots taken were without thought of outcome — just have the shot!

Mexico called the shots in the first quarter, leading 3-1 and 4-3 before Thailand levelled just before the buzzer. The second quarter heavily favoured Thailand with a 9-6 advantage at the turn.

This was wiped out by Mexico — or more precisely Mercedes Feliciano — within three minutes and the battle was on. Raksina Rueangsappaisan also scored three in the period and dragged her team to 11-9 and then 13-10 with her fourth in five minutes. Thanita Kongchouy made sure of the three-goal margin by the final break.

Kongchouy scored again in the fourth as Thailand stretched the margin to four at 16-12 and then goals were traded with Mercedes Feliciano firing two more. Thailand went three straight in two minutes for 20-14, leaving Victoria Feliciano to score the 35^th goal from centre forward with a minute to spare. Breathless.

Match Heroes
Mexican goalkeeper Alma Luna made a magnificent 14 saves to take out the top award. Mercedes Feliciano was on fire with five goals, taking her to nine and Sofia Gaytan doubled her Chengdu tally to six with three goals today. For Thailand, Rueangsappaisan notched up six goals — her first in Chengdu — and Turon (12) and Kongchouy (8) netted four apiece.

Turning Point
Three goals in the third period that gave Thailand an 8-5 advantage, which Mexico nullified at nine. The three-goal lead at the last break was what might have made the difference.

Stats Don’t Lie
Thailand converted seven from 14 on extra and denied Mexico six times out of seven on extra. On penalties, Thailand scored two from three and Mexico all three. Thailand made 14 steals to five and shot a tournament-high 43 shots to 31.

Bottom Line
Both teams worked hard and could expect to win. With so many goals and enthusiasm, this series will not wane in the coming days but be seen as a mini tournament in its own right.

Progress Points

Classification 13-16 Round Robin
Thailand 3, South Africa 2, Turkiye 1, Mexico 0.