Russia made its long-awaited return to the international arena with a blistering 33-11 victory over Argentina on the opening day and Brazil topped Malta in the feature match and Great Britain came from four down to force a shootout against Portugal only to lose.
Match Reports
Match 1. First Round League Phase.
CHINA 17 TURKIYE 6 (4-0, 2-4, 5-2, 6-0)
China came good with an excellent opening victory in a match where old adversaries Miki Oca (ESP) and Dimitrios Mavrotas (GRE) faced off as coaches for China and Turkiye respectively. China romped to a 5-0 lead by early in the second quarter — thanks to two action goals, virtual lobs from the top, by Xie Liyi —before Turkiye responded with a pair of penalty goals to Elvira Yermakova, one on extra and a shot from the wide left for 5-4 at 1:33. Nong Sanfeng replied to give China the two-goal advantage at halftime. The third period favoured China with Yan scoring her third and Shao Yixin putting away two, one on extra and the other with a turn at centre forward. Milana Molnar scored her second for Turkiye at 8-5 and Yermakova gained her third with a six-metre free throw that struck her too-close defender and then bounced high above the goalkeeper for 11-6 with two seconds left on the clock. Left-hander Shao notched her third from the top right; Yan scored her fourth, this time on counter; Xie, Ma Li and Wang progressed the score to 16-6. Turkiye called a timeout but the tank was empty and Zhang Yumian scored her second to close all scoring at 17-6 and leave her opponents scoreless in the fourth.
Match Heroes
Shen Yineng was named best in water for her 11 saves in the Chinese goal. Xie, Shao, Yan and Wang scored three apiece. Yermakova was best for Turkiye with three goals, as well.
Turning Point
China drawing away from 5-4 ahead to 11-5 a minute from the final break.
Stats Don’t Lie
China scored two from three on extra and defended five from eight; missed one of its two penalty-goal attempts to Turkiye’s two; made 12 steals to five and outshot Turkiye 33-21.
Match 3. First Round League Phase.
GREAT BRITAIN 10 PORTUGAL 13 on penalty shootout. FT: 10-10. Pens: 0-3 (2-3, 2-2, 1-3, 5-2)
Great Britain came back from four goals down in the final quarter to force a shootout but missed all three attempts, to hand the match to a deserved Portugal 13-10. Portugal brought its experienced players and produced some fine first-quarter play scoring early and then four minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Britain replied with a pair and saved a penalty shot from Jessica Goncalves. Goalkeeper Madeline Brown tipped it over the cage. Portugal took the corner and Goncalves made amends with a big shot from the top with 12 seconds left to head to the break 3-2 up. Madalena Lousa and Maria Machado both scored counter-attack goals for 5-2. Great Britain scored twice with a chance for a fifth goal thwarted on penalty, leaving Portugal 5-4 up at halftime. Beatriz Fernandes, who scored Portugal’s opener, drilled from the top and Machado had her penalty saved by Brown. However, she scored her second counter goal for 7-4 at 3:37. Britain was still struggling to get past the tight Portuguese defence, including goalkeeper Maria Santos who had 11 saves by this time. Toula Falvey, who missed the penalty attempt, scored on extra for a two-goal deficit. Fernandes scored her third, from deep left at 0:15 to give Portugal a three-goal lead at the final break.
Fernandes netted her fourth with a penalty goal to start the final quarter. Falvey and Lousa traded goals before Elsie Graves, Britain’s opening scorer, drilled one from right-hand-catch for 10-7 behind. A British timeout secured an Amelia Peters goal on extra from deep left for the narrowest margin in six minutes. On the next attack Cutler fired in her second penalty goal and the score was just 10-9 to Portugal with Britain on a 4-1 run. Britain then got goalkeeper Santos ejected but the eventual shot was rejected by the drop defence. Portugal gained an ejection, called a timeout to no avail. Each team had no joy on the next two attacks with Britain equalising at 0:56 when Kathy Rogers drove into the hole to score off a cross pass from Graves. Both teams had shots saved and the match went to the penalties. Britain missed all three and Portugal one with only seven shots required to decide the winner.
Match Heroes
Fernandes topped scored with four (and missed her team’s only shootout attempt) and Lousa netted three. Santos finished with 13 saves. For Britain, Falvey, Cutler and captain Rogers all scored twice and goalie Brown pulled in 11.
Turning Point
Portugal was the more skilled team and it was really Britain’s spunk that allowed it to go to the shootout when four behind.
Stats Don’t Lie
Portugal scored two from six on extra and Britain four from seven. Portugal had two of its penalty attempts stopped while stopping one of Britain’s three. Portugal made six steals to two and shot 34-33.
Match 4. First Round League Phase.
SOUTH AFRICA 8 KAZAKHSTAN 11 (0-1, 4-2, 1-4, 3-4)
Kazakhstan came away with a flattering three-goal victory after leading by only one goal midway through the final quarter. In a tight opener, Kazakhstan scored the only goal through a Viktoriya Kaplun bouncer from outside with South Africa missing a penalty attempt. Kazakhstan went one up, only for the Africans to grab a 3-2 lead and finish the first half at 4-3 thanks to a Hannah Banks outside goal. The Kazakhs won the third period after trailling 5-4, sending in three unanswered goals, two on penalty to Darya Pochinok and Olga Vorontsova. Pochinok started the fourth period on extra with a left-post strike with South African captain Shakira January from very deep right and Cassandra Day slipping in a rebound from close in to have the match at 8-7 favouring Kazakhstan. Vorontsova scored on extra and two counter finishes — the second by Vorontsova — pushed it out to 11-8 with Emily Carle backhanding from centre at 0:21 on extra for the 11-8 final margin.
Match Heroes
Vorontsova claimed three goals for Kazakhstan and goalkeeper Aneiya Altybassarova dragged down 13 saves in goal. The South African goalkeepers made nine saves between them as eight different players scored.
Turning Point
Kazakhstan turning a 5-4 deficit into an 8-5 advantage.
Stats Don’t Lie
Kazakhstan converted three from five on extra and stopped six from nine. Kazakhstan scored all three penalty attempts and South Africa missed its one chance. The steals went 6-6 and the shots, surprisingly 32-25 in South Africa’s favour.
Match 5. First Round League Phase.
ARGENTINA 11 RUSSIA 33 (4-8, 1-7, 4-7, 2-11)
Russia was waiting for this chance for many years and certainly post-Covid when it had not participated at international level. Regular captain Ekaterina Profofyeva (35) and centre forward Mariia Borisova are still in the mix while newcomer Olga Lupinogina, despite being 32, thundered into the arena with a magnificent 10 goals, half from counter. Russia was here to make a statement that it is hungry to be back in the top echelon and it showed with extra and counter stats and the will to score at every opportunity. Russia had the first edge and Argentina, to its credit, was in the match for long periods. When 5-1 down, Argentina fired in three straight goal and kept prodding away until 23-11 early in the fourth when the energy was drained and Russia hammered home the advantage with a further 10 goals. Argentina’s trusted international veterans were up to the task but the might of Russia proved too much, especially on counter where it held a decisive edge. Julieta Auliel and Anahi Bacigalupo were in the shooting frame for Argentina as were the wily Prokofyeva, Borisova, Bella Markoch and Daria Savchenko. But it was Lupinogina who set the tone for the rest of the week, sending a warning to the other nations.
Match Heroes
Lupinogina with a stunning 10 goals while Prokofyeva, Borisova, Markoch and Savchenko scored three apiece for Russia. Auliel and Bacigalupo netted three each for Argentina.
Turning Point
Russia going 5-1 and Argentina coming back to 5-4 down. Then it was all Russia.
Stats Don’t Lie
Russia converted five from six on extra and stopped four from seven; made both penalty shots while Argentina missed one of four. Russia smashed Argentina on steals at 10-2; shots at 45-26 and on counter, scoring 12 from 14 attempts.
Ranking
1. Russia 83.4
2. China B 79.8
3. Kazakhstan 79.6
4. Portugal 76.4
5. Croatia 76.2
6. Canada 76
7. Brazil 65
8. Malta 45.8
9. Germany 43.2
10. Turkiye 40.6
11. Great Britain 40.4
12. Slovakia 37
13. South Africa 33.6
14. Argentina 25
- Singapore 0
Day 2 Schedule
10:00, China v Argentina
11:30, Canada v Brazil
13:00, Great Britain v Singapore
15:00, South Africa v Croatia
16:30, Portugal v Kazakhstan
18:00, Russia v Germany
19:30, Malta v Slovakia