Cream rising to the top of rankings with unlikely bunch

 Overview

Some unlikely teams are making it to the top of the rankings with BRA, NZL and MLT chasing frontrunner RUS after two days of competition. MNE took the scalp of ITA 12-10 and champion ESP fell 9-8 to GRE, a first-day loser to RUS.

The points system does not favour some but there are still two more days of the league round for teams to catapult into the top eight.

First Round League Phase Match Reports

Match 19. KAZKAHSTAN 16 SINGAPORE 15 in penalty shootout: FT: 12-12. Pens: 4-3. (4-4, 1-2, 5-2, 2-4)

KAZ made up for the first-day loss to EGY with a penalty-shootout win over a defiant SGP. KAZ slipped into the shootout with a last-gasp goal on extra and then did not miss a shot. Amazingly, the shooter to fail at the penalty line was Ryan Chua who amassed seven goals in regular time. KAZ briefly tasted the lead in the first quarter and then retook the advantage in the third and  made great strides for 9-6 and 10-7 before closing the period at 10-8. SGP returned to the fray, scoring the first two goals for 10-10 by 3:30. Goals were traded to 1:59 and Chua scored the go-ahead goal at 1:25 with a shot from outside. KAZ called a timeout to no effect and KAZ took another at 0:26, gained an exclusion and converted the extra play through Assanali Amangeldinov. Then the shootout prevailed with KAZ the winner and SGP tasting its first defeat after beating Poland on day one.

Match Heroes
Alizhan Audanbekov, captain Amangeldinov, Duman Sagyndyk and Sultan Kumarbek scored twice each for KAZ. Chua slammed in seven goals for SGP and goalkeeper Lucas Lim made seven saves.

Stats Don’t Lie
KAZ converted three from five on extra compared to SGP’s six from seven. KAZ sent in four from five on penalty, led the steals 12-8 and shot 27-19.

Match 28. EGYPT 21 URUGUAY 4 (7-0, 2-1, 6-1, 6-2)

EGY made it two from two with a super-solid effort against URU. The opening quarter made a statement and URU made strong efforts to score, gaining in each of the last three periods. However, it was a hard slog with EGY showing its full capabilities. The first Leon Varela strike, on penalty, came at 4:01 of the second period, meaning eight minutes before scoring. Varela scored the second at 3:40 in the third quarter with a shot from outside. The third came through Santino Decia on extra at 4:55 in the fourth with Jan Llorca striking at 1:06 for URU’s fourth goal and fifth for the tournament. Meanwhile, EGY was scoring at will and should go far in the tournament.

Match Heroes
Omar Ahmed Mokhtar scored five from seven and Haroun Moustafa four from five with seven others making the sheet. Varela scored twice from five attempts for URU while goalkeeper Mateo Campal dragged in seven saves.

Stats Don’t Lie
EGY converted five from eight on extra to URU’s one from one; converted four from five on penalty to one; countered three times to none; took the steals 13 to one and the overall shots at 32-10. URU was roasted on all counts.

Match 20. GERMANY 8 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 12 (1-2, 3-2, 2-4, 2-4)

USA picked up its second win and GER a first loss. Channing Wigo, son of four-time Olympian Wolf Wigo who captained USA, tossed in the first ball with Aden Shin scoring the second for 2-1 before the quarter-time buzzer. Goals were traded in the middle of the second quarter with Julian Konitzer stealing the ball to score for the first and then a second on counter for 3-3. Wigo netted on extra and Nico Buchelt also converted extra for 4-4 with six seconds left on the clock. Justus Oestreich converted a penalty foul to give GER the lead at the top of the third quarter with Shin replying soon after. Another swap occurred before Shin converted extra for 7-6 at 2:32. Owen Marks, who scored the sixth goal, converted extra for the eighth to give USA a two-goal advantage at the last break. Francesco Pintaric scored twice either side of an Oestreich penalty goal. Oestreich was in another trade but Shin scored his last at 1:28 for 12-8 — the final score.

Match Heroes
Captain Shin scored four from 11 attempts from a team that only took 26 shots. Goalkeeper Alistair Sterrett made a huge 10 saves for USA. Oestreich top-scored with four for GER and goalie Karlo Thiele took in seven balls.

Stats Don’t Lie
USA converted six from nine on extra and GER two from six. On penalties, USA scored one from two and GER two from three. On steals, USA went nine to six and on shots, 26-25.  

Match 29. SOUTH AFRICA 6 POLAND 8 (3-3, 2-2, 1-3, 0-0)

POL made up for its loss to SGP the day before with a hard-fought victory thanks for stout defence and the performance of goalkeeper Nataniel Wojcicki, who was named player of the match. The break came in the third quarter and it was where the match was won. RSA was leading the teams in the first quarter and POL took over in the second briefly before RSA nudged ahead and then went to the half at 5-5. Witold Babula on extra and Karol Rogaczewski from two metres took it to 7-5. Chris Davidson replied on extra and Bartlomiej Topolski blasted in a missile from a six-metre, free throw for 8-6 with 11 seconds remaining. RSA had seven shots to one in the final period with neither side scoring. Both coaches saw yellow at the 3:13 mark as tensions exploded.

Match Heroes
Kornel Szczerba, Babula and Topolski scored a brace each and goalkeeper Wojcicki gladly accepted the player-of-the-match award for his seven saves. Morgan Erasmus and captain Davidson scored twice each and goalie William Biddulph stopped seven shots in his half a match.

Stats Don’t Lie
POL netted two from six on extra and RSA two from three. RSA scored the only penalty goal, won the steal 6-2 but narrowly trailed on shots at 26-22.  

Match 23. HUNGARY 12 TURKIYE 6 (5-2, 5-1, 0-1, 2-2)

HUN made it a second successive victory with the fancied Turks not managing to get past the post first. The rot started early for TUR with HUN gaining the first five goals before handing off two by quarter time. A HUN triple sent the Magyars to 8-2 before Cagan Kir nudged in a penalty strike and Oliver Frater responded on the next attack for 9-3. A late action goal for HUN turned the match at 10-3. Efe Ilik converted extra at 3:01 and TUR was back in the match, winning the period with that one goal. However, HUN started the fourth with Ilik replying on extra at 4:30. It was not until1:42 that Kemalcan Onur scored for TUR. HUN took a timeout and scored at 1:26, the final nail in the coffin.

Match Heroes
Frater with four goals for HUN. Ilik nailed three for TUR and the real hero was goalkeeper Ayhan Aydemir with 11 heroic saves.

Stats Don’t Lie
HUN scored four from five on extra and TUR four from six. Each scored a penalty goal; HUN won the steals 11-nine and the shots 26-22 with a commanding percentage.

Match 30. UKRAINE 10 ISRAEL 11 (2-3, 3-2, 3-3, 2-3)

ISR turned the tables on UKR at 1:05 in the fourth period as Aviv Gidron scored from outside. Earlier captain Yali Winberg scored at centre forward for the equaliser after his opposite number, Vitalii Dyadyura scored on penalty to break a minute-long deadlock. ISR made the play in the first quarter; UKR scored the go-ahead goals in the second, with ISR coming back each time. ISR took over the reins in the third with UKR levelling at 1:07, going ahead at 0:37 and ISR equalising on penalty, 16 seconds form the last break. UKR started the final period with Winberg setting the scene for the final stanza.

Match Heroes
Winberg slotted three goals and eight other made the sheet for ISR. UKR's Dyadyura scored five from 10 attempts and goalkeeper Anton Shushunov took in nine balls.

Stats Don’t Lie
UKR converted four from 10 on extra and stopped four from five; made two from three penalty goals from four to ISR’s two from four; shared the steals at five and the shots at 25, although ISR had a 44 percentage and UKR 40. Close figures that demanded a tight match.

Match 22. BRAZIL 13 CHINA 7 (2-2, 6-1, 3-4, 2-0)

BRA picked up its second win and CHN now has two losses following the penalty-shootout loss to MLT on day one. Murilo Malardo started the scoring for BRA with CHN slipping in the next two from centre and a penalty strike from Luo Zijin. BRA levelled with an outside shot before the quarter-time break. Malardo scored the first two of the second quarter with Zhou Letian pulling one back. The next four goals fell to BRA for 8-3 at the turn. Goals were traded twice and then Luo and Li Bingze at centre minimised the deficit to three. Luc Feital gave BRA an extra edge with a goal on the buzzer for 11-7. In the final quarter, Malardo opened on extra and Raul Freitas closed on action, 11 seconds from time for the 13-7 victory.

Match Heroes
Malardo topped with four goals and Vinicius Meira made nine saves for BRA. Luo made a hat-trick for CHN.

Stats Don’t Lie
BRA converted three from six on extra to one from four; missed a penalty shot to two from China; won the steals 10-six and had a 52 per cent shooting average to China’s 25.9.

Match 31. PERU 3 ROMANIA 17 (1-6, 1-3, 1-3, 0-5)

ROU made it two from two with a comfortable rout of PER. The opening period said it all as PER valiantly tried to stay in the match but could not carry the day and flopped in the final period. ROU had four in the bank before Camilo Martinez scored PER’s first. ROU used six different scorers. David Vieru and Darie Badic, on counter, moved the score to 8-1. Goals were traded by halftime. It was two minutes into the third before Milan Flore scored for ROU and soon after Salvador Castillo converted from the penalty line for PER. Two more ROU shots, and another Badic counter, made it 12-3 at the final break. Flore and two Badic strikes shifted it to 15-3 at 2:57. Another ROU pair closed the match.

Match Heroes
Badic sent home five goals and Bogden-Andrei Nica three for ROU and the goalkeepers joined for eight saves. Castillo was the only double scorer for PER.

Stats Don’t Lie
ROU scored three from five on extra and stopped all five PER attempts. ROU missed one of two penalty attempts and PERU nailed one. ROU took the steals at nine-three and the shots at 29-18 with a 58.6 per cent success rate.

Progress Percentage Points

RUS 97.1
BRA 95.4
NZL 92.2
MLT 90.7
HUN 90.6
CRO 89.3
EGY 87.5
ROU 86.8
MNE 83.9
USA 83.2
ESP 82.1
SRB 80.8
ITA 76.5
GER 75.1
GEO 74.7
NED 74.6
TUR 72.7
AUS 72.1
SGP 70.8
POL 67.9
GRE 65.7
SLO 63.4
KAZ 63
ISR 55.2
CZE 54
ZIM 53.8
PER 53.7
CHN 53.4
RSA 52.9
CAN 52.8
UKR 47.8
PUR 44.8
MEX 41.2
MAS 40.7
POR 37.6

Day 3 Schedule

08:00: Kazakhstan v Uruguay
08:35: New Zealand v Peru
10:00: Germany v Czechia
10:05: Singapore v Mexico
11.30: Netherlands v Israel
11:35 United States of America v Zimbabwe
13:00: Brazil v Ukraine
13:05: Spain v Poland
14:30: Hungary v Malaysia
14:35: Turkiye v Portugal
16:00: Italy v Slovenia
16:05: Montenegro v Russia
17:30: Australia v Romania
17:35: Greece v Puerto Rico
19:00: Croatia v Malta
19:05: Serbia v Georgia
20:30: Canada v South Africa
20:35: China v Egypt