Spain, Netherlands, Hungary and Greece secure world U16 women's semifinal berths

 Overview

In the hunt for semifinal berths, Hungary United States of America 13-9, Spain repulsed Australia 9-6, Netherlands put paid to Russia’s hopes 10-7 and Greece hammered New Zealand 11-5 in the quarterfinals. Spain and Hungary played for gold two years ago and the possibility is there for a rematch.

In the battle for ninth position, Italy China, Turkiye and Serbia won their quarterfinals.

Playing for final classifications 17-24, Croatia, Germany, South Africa and Peru were triumphant in their quarterfinals.

Quarterfinal Match Reports

Classification 1-8

Match 57. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 HUNGARY 13 (0-3, 3-3, 2-2, 4-5)

Hungary is looking for a one-better finish that 2024 and today’s clash with the Brenda Villa-led North Americans made Hungary’s intentions known early with that withering start. Three up at the quarter became 4-0 with a Zsofia Kokany penalty score for her second. She took Hungary to 5-1 as USA captain Paige Segesman dragged her team into the match with two goals for 6-3 by the buzzer. The margin remained the same at halftime with Segesman claiming consecutive centre-forward goals. The score moved to 7-3 and 8-5, thanks to another Kokany strike, by the final break. The score doubled (10-5) before USA pulled it back to two at 1:32 only for Mandula Mihok to fire in the last two for 13-9.

Match Heroes
Mihok with five; Kokany scoring four and goalkeeper Anasztazia Bagossy making seven saves were the stars for Hungary. USA’s Segesman netted four.

Stats Don’t Lie
Hungary won with just 20 shots to 26 for an incredible 65 per cent while the other stats were shared equally.

Match 58. AUSTRALIA 6 SPAIN 9 (2-3, 1-3, 3-1, 0-2)

Spain bounced back from its 8-5 loss to Greece the previous day and could face off in the gold-medal final, should results go that way. Today, 2024 bronze medallist Australia was the opponent and Spain did not disappoint with a 6-3 halftime lead that was threatened in the third but double downed in the final six minutes for victory. Australia closed the second-quarter margin to one but Maria Abarca and Ivet Sulla scored on counter for the crucial three-goal differential. The Aussies came back twice to two and then Sophie Zampech converted extra in the dying seconds for 7-6 behind. Sulla shot a penalty goal early in the final period and another Spanish counter goal on the next attack put paid to all scoring.

Match Heroes
Spain’s Sulla netted three goals. Amelia Edmonds clawed down eight saves for New Zealand with Amelie Zuza the only double scorer.

Stats Don’t Lie
Spain scored two from seven and the Kiwis three from nine on extra; took the steals at nine-three and the shots 23-17.

Match 59. RUSSIA 7 NETHERLANDS 10 (1-2, 2-1, 2-4, 2-3)

Netherlands slowly built up through the match and showed tournament newcomer Russia what it takes to make the semifinals. Netherlands started the scoring and Russia had to come back twice to level and in the second quarter took the lead through an Arina Boiarova outside shot. Laura Renkers scored either side of halftime to regain the Dutch lead. Russia tied twice more before the Dutch went to the last quarter with a two-goal advantage. It became 8-5 and 9-6 with Renkers adding to her tally with an outside shot for 10-6. Taisia Apokina repeated the shot for 10-7 just inside the final two minutes but there was only one shot each taken to no effect.

Match Heroes
Renkers with four goals and captain Ghitte van Evert scored three for the Dutch. Apokina finished with three goals for Russia.

Stats Don’t Lie
Netherlands won this match on extra plays, netting three from five and stopping six from seven. That and the high scoring percentage — 47-25 —were the differences between the teams.

Match 60. GREECE 11 NEW ZEALAND 5 (3-1, 4-1, 1-1, 3-2)

Greece was fifth last time out and bowed to Hungary two years ago in the final. This victory sets up a gold-medal rematch in Thursday’s semifinals. Greece went 3-0 up before letting New Zealand into the frame. This became 7-1 at 1:31 of the second period with Kiwi captain Henrietta Yarrell-Stevenson closing the half at 7-2. Ifigeneia Manousaki, who earlier scored on counter, made it 8-2 and Yarrell-Stevenson scored on the next attack. There was a four-goal trade in less than a minute midway through the fourth and five seconds from time, Greece stretched the difference to six.

Match Heroes
Manousaki topped the Greek scoring with three and Yarrell-Stevenson scored the same for the Kiwis.

Stats Don’t Lie
New Zealand didn’t get the fouls it wanted, with Greece scoring two from six on extra and defending one of one and scoring once from the penalty line. The steals went eight-five in Greece’s favour, building a picture of where the match was lost. Both teams took 20 shots.

Classification 9-16

Match 53. ISRAEL 5 ITALY 12 (0-2, 1-1, 2-4, 2-5)

Italy overpowered Israel with superior firepower. Italy had a penalty attempt stopped before scoring two outside shots for the quarter-time score. The tight second period reaped an extra-player goal for Israel and a penalty score for Italy. Gaia Gattuso took Israel to 5-1 with a field goal and one on counter. Yaheli Rokach, Israel’s star shooter this week, drilled from the top for 5-2. Thea Costa and Rokach traded and Benedetta Gulizia converted counter for 7-3 close to the final break. Four goals in two minutes took it to 9-5 with Gattuso going on counter twice for 11-5. Italy finished with a penalty goal for 12-5.

Match Heroes
Gattuso with her magnificent six-goal haul and Gulizia with three for Italy. Rokach netted three from three for Israel.

Stats Don’t Lie
Israel was restricted to 11 shots while Italy was rampant with 24. That volume proved the difference.

Match 54. CHINA 11 UKRAINE 7 (2-3, 3-0, 2-3, 4-1)

This was a powerful match with two such determined teams. Both had won twice and this promised to be close. There was only one in it in the first quarter with leading lights for each in the picture. Zhu Yinqi and Yelizaveta Tereshchenko made their marks early with the latter on extra and penalty for a Ukraine advantage. Zhu equalised in the second quarter and China stretched the margin to 5-3 at halftime. Zhu and Viktoriia Rudnyk twice had the score at 6-5 with two minutes remaining. Zhu and Rudnyk swapped goals again for 7-6 by the final break. It went 8-7 at 1:41, however, China threw a triple with the last to Zhu on penalty. Ukraine came close but could not weather the last-quarter storm.

Match Heroes
Captain Zhu‘s five goals leaves her as one of the competition’s top scorers, and goalkeeper Li Siyao made eight saves. Ukraine’s captain Rudnik ended with four goals and Anna Chentsova smothered nine shots in goal.

Stats Don’t Lie
China made three from five on extra and Ukraine and equally admirable four from seven. Both teams had trouble landing shots from outside. They made eight steals each but China shot 27 to 20 for 40 per cent efficiency.

Match 55. TURKIYE 19 CZECHIA 6 (5-1, 6-3, 3-1, 5-1)

Turkiye now has three wins and remember that it only lost by a goal to champion Spain on day three. Czechia beat New Zealand, Peru and Zimbabwe, so this loss would hurt. Turkiye went 4-0 up and 5-1 by the break with the final trade between Lucie Bakalova and Eda Moroglu. Bakalova started the second period from the top with Melis Basimer making it 6-2 from centre. Another swap and Moroglu converted extra for 8-3. It moved to 10-3 before Bakalova and Moroglu scored close together to close out the half. Basimer twice and Moroglu pushed it out to 14-4 with Lucie Koubova responding on extra. Basimer twice and Moroglu began the fourth-quarter onslaught for 17-5. A 2-1 trade brought up the final result.

Match Heroes
Moroglu and Basimer scored five from five each; Damla Duygu made three from three in the first seven goals for Turkiye. Czechia’s Bakalova scored three from seven attempts.

Stats Don’t Lie
Turkiye was perfect with three extra-player goals and shut down four from seven. The Turks made seven to five on steals and the shots were 23-22. A total of 15 shots on action to three was a huge margin.

Match 56. SERBIA 18 CANADA 16 in penalty shootout. FT: 13-13. Pens: 5-3. (2-3, 4-3, 5-4, 2-3)

This was just the fourth shootout of the tournament and the second for Canada and sadly for the North American team it was a second loss after the 15-14 defeat to Hungary the day before. Canada had the quarter lead after two ties. It was tied at three and six in the second quarter after Canada held a two-goal advantage. Serbia threw the first three of the third period with Masa Cuk scoring twice — on penalty and counter — for 9-6. Canada came back to 10-9 and 11-10 heading into the final six minutes. Clara Milleker Shyiak muscled in a centre-forward score for the 11-11 equaliser at 4:20. Dylan Martens shot from outside for a Canadian advantage at 12-11. Dasha Khramtsova fired in her third for 13-11 at 2:21. Milica Pavic scored from the top at 1:16. Jennika Linthicum was denied her fourth goal as she hit the post on penalty at 0:59. Pavic was the hero of the match when she sat up with a six-metre, free-throw goal on the final buzzer to go to penalties. Linthicum hit the post on the eighth shot and Luna Stanisic converted for the stunning 18-16 victory.

Match Heroes
Cuk blasted six goals — three in the first half and three in the third quarter — and Pavic made three. Dunja Lovcevic made seven saves in goal for Croatia. Canada’s best were Khramtsova and Linthicum with three apiece.

Stats Don’t Lie
Serbia converted two from four on extra to Canada’s three from six and shot three from four on penalty to Canada’s two missed attempts. Serbia shot 30 to 24 and won the steals 7-3.

Classification 17-24

Match 49. CROATIA 8 ROMANIA 7 (2-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2)

Croatia collected  its first victory in Zagreb, a day after a promising 11-9 loss to quarterfinalist Australia, who now is battling for fifth position, many ranks up the ladder. The closest Romania came to victory before today was Tuesday’s shootout loss to Ukraine. Croatia led and Romania played catch-up to 2-2 when Vivien Ridzyk equalised from the top and took her team ahead with a six-metre, free throw score midway through the second period. Iva Garic equalised from two metres. A minute into the second half, Nicole Georgescu converted a penalty for Romania. Croatia replied twice and Ridzyk, with a six-metre shot had the match level at five before the buzzer. Ridzyk regained the lead for Romania only for Garic to respond. After Romanian head coach Ionut Cismaru saw red and was sent from the pool deck, Alessia Ciocan scored a penalty goal for 7-6 favouring Romania. Garic replied 15 seconds later at 2:59. Romania took two timeouts for no result and gave up a penalty foul at 0:21, allowing Karla Popovic to convert and win the match.

Match Heroes
Garic and Popovic with three each for Croatia. Ridzyk buried four from eight and goalkeeper Teodora Grigore starred with eight saves in goal for Romania.

Stats Don’t Lie
Both struggled on extra with Croatia netting two from seven and Romania none from Jelena four. Croatia missed two from four on penalty and Romania made sure of two. Romania could shoot only 16 times for 43 per cent but Croatia’s 27 shots at a lower 29 per cent was king. Croatia also stole 11 to five.

Match 50. GERMANY 8 BRAZIL 7 (3-2, 1-2, 1-2, 3-1)

Germany came in with one victory and Brazil is winless. There was nothing in it as the match was level at one, two, three and four in the first half with Emmi Kussner netting the first four German goals. Helena Lara and Maria Santos made it 6-4 as Brazil took the edge. Lina Lucas pulled one back for Germany a minute from the final break. Germany scored the next two for 7-6 by 1:32. Alicia Indlekofer scored from two metres at 0:42 with Lara responding at 0:32 for 8-7. Brazil had the last shot ahead of the buzzer but it was saved and it remained winless.

Match Heroes
Kussner with four goals; Elisabeta-Gabriela Roman with six saves and Rika Liebtanz with seven, led Germany to victory. Lara hit the cage four times for Brazil.

Stats Don’t Lie
Germany only needed 19 shots for victory while Brazil took 26. Brazil made 11 saves to six in the only stats that made a difference.

Match 51. SOUTH AFRICA 10 MEXICO 6 (3-0, 3-3, 2-1, 2-2)

These teams played each other on Tuesday and found themselves in the same situation today, albeit in a classification quarterfinal. South Africa won 12-4 then and today Mexico worked out where the chinks were to narrow the loss to four. The Africans led 3-0, went to 4-1 before Mexico came back to 4-3 thanks to a Leslie Alvarez penalty strike — her second goal. Mikayla Morrison scored on penalty and counter for 6-3 at halftime. Her second penalty conversion came midway through the third period and with two minutes left her third penalty crossed the line for 8-3. Brazil replied for 8-4 at the last break. Goals were swapped in the first minute and Sabrina Rendon made it 9-6 on extra at 4:01. Despite a timeout each, the final goal came at with 10 seconds left on the clock on extra to Mia Gibson.

Match Heroes
Morrison scored four goals and the goalkeepers worked hard — Caylin MacKenzie pulling in seven saves and Alison Frolich five for South Africa. Alvarez was the only double scorer for Mexico.

Stats Don’t Lie
Mexico gave a good account of itself on extra, scoring three from five and stopping two of South Africa’s three. The difference was in penalty shots, South Africa converting four from five to Mexico’s one. The steals went the way of South Africa 10 to six.

Match 52. PERU 7 ZIMBABWE 5 (3-0, 1-0, 3-4, 0-1)

Peru loves the taste of victory, making it a second day in a row it has finished on top and improved its ranking to the 17-20 group. On Tuesday ,it was a penalty shootout victory over Germany and today a two-goal margin over Zimbabwe who came in with a best result a two-goal loss to Germany. Peru went 4-0 ahead with the first three to captain Kiara Barrantes and kept Zimbabwe scoreless until a minute into the second half when Lola Accorsi sent in a penalty shot. She netted another for 5-2 and a third at 6-3. A trade in the last minute, included a buzzer-beater to Zimbabwe’s Hannah Davies at two metres for 7-4. Davies struck on extra at 3:55 in the fourth. Peru shot five times and Zimbabwe three in those last four minutes for no increase in score.

Match Heroes
Barrantes with four goals and Luana Cuellar with a fantastic 11 saves in the Peruvian goal. Accorsi grabbed three for Zimbabwe and the goalkeepers combined for nine goals.

Stats Don’t Lie
Peru converted three from nine on extra to one from three. Zimbabwe scored three penalty goals and Peru missed one of two. The steals went 12 to nine and the shots 22-24. 

Day 6 Semifinals Schedule

10:00, Classification 13-16, Ukraine v Czechia
10:05, Classification 21-24, Brazil v Mexico
11:30, Classification 13-16, Israel v Canada
11:35, Classification 21-24, Romania v Zimbabwe
13:00, Classification 9-12, China v Turkiye
14:30, Classification 9-12, Italy v Serbia
16:00, Classification 5-8, Australia v Russia
16:05, Classification 5-8, United States of America v New Zealand
17:30, Classification 17-20, Germany v South Africa
17:35, Classification 1-4, Spain v Netherlands
19:00, Classification 17-20, Croatia v Peru
20:30, Classification 1-4, Hungary v Greece