Day Six: Only two remain

The whole week has been leading to this point: we have two teams still in the running in each division. Let’s get right to what went on during yet another barmy day in Birmingham.

Open

The USA and France will meet in tomorrow’s showpiece. The USA faced Italy, the European champions, while Canada faced France. The lineup was a repeat of the last time these teams all met, at JJUC in 2022, and the results of the semi-finals were broadly the same as well.

The USA broke Italy on their first offensive possession to go two up and continually pressured the Italians into completing lots of passes to gain any ground whatsoever. The break features nine possessions as both teams struggled to get to grips with the wind. At 3-1, the Italians managed to generate a turn from the American O line and worked it down the field. An offhand dump hit the turf and America were able to punch in the hold. From there, the US O line didn’t give the disc up again. Italy pushed hard, threw themselves at the disc in the air, changed things up and tried different zones. Nothing seemed to work as they needed it to though. Their offence was extremely good and the leading throws ahead of handlers were beautiful when they worked, but the USA have too many talented, athletic, long defenders and they were able to get turns and breaks throughout. The final 15-8 was harsh on a game Italian team, but the USA are that good. Alberto Laffi carried a huge load for Italy while Giorgio Bavia and Niccolò Mazzola were great downfield, and for the USA Axel Olson and Cedar Hines were standouts in an overall incredible O line.

Ethan Lieman tries to bring down a break against Italy Open. Photo by Likkan Chung.

France and Canada was much tighter. France started on offence and were broken immediately, but took that break back at the first time of asking to leave the game at 2-1. A break to take half meant that France extended the lead they had enjoyed for th much of the half, Quentin Peschard catching the goal after crossing to D for the big point.

Another break at 11-9 put the French up by three points, and moments later they took a fourth break of the game to go up 14-10 and put themselves on the brink of another final. The Canadians fired back and scored two points to start the comeback, but a final huck from Pare to the exceptional Peschard sealed the win and the repeat final for France.

The French and the Americans did meet in the final game of the power pool. There, two American breaks in the first half left the score at a competitive 11-8, but two late breaks meant that the final score of 15-9 might have given the impression that the teams weren’t close. Key French handler Olivier Gibert had three turns, while the US O line turned only three times combined all game. This final will be tighter, but the French are facing a mighty task.

Enzo Stanguennec skies a pile for France Open. Photo by Tom Kiddle.

Canada and Italy met in a feisty bronze-medal game, with Canada ultimately taking the hardware home 14-11. They broke early and were up by as much as five until a late Italian rally made the game closer. A dirty hold was enough to secure the dirty gold, Carter Bayer finding Isaac Breton to avoid a repeat for Canada of 2022 when they lost out in this match to Italy.

Switzerland finished a highly creditable fifth with a 15-13 win over Japan, while Great Britain defeated Belgium 15-12 to secure seventh. New Zealand went unbeaten to finish ninth in the lower power pool, the crucial final game against Colombia something of a damp squib as the Kiwis triumphed 15-6. That left Germany in 10th, Colombia in 11th and Australia in 12th after the Aussies lost on Universe Point to Germany. Singapore beat Ireland to seal 13th and China finished 15th without a win.

Women’s

Just as in the Open division, the semis were a repeat of 2022: the USA against Canada and Italy against France. These games had both been blowouts in power pools but one was a much closer affair at this stage.

The USA have come through the tournament undefeated, despite a huge scare against the French, and went into the semi against Canada as huge favourites. The game earlier in the tournament had seen Canada play open lines so wasn’t a huge indicator of how this could go, but The US hit the ground running and never stopped. Four first half breaks left the score at 8-3, with the American O line perfect in execution. Canada were playing hard and giving it everything but the stifling US defence took away all the underneath throws and made the deep shots tough in a stiff breeze. Canada was able to trade for a while in the second half and turned the US O line a couple of times, but the first thing to break was the Canadian offence as the USA took three more breaks to secure a convincing 15-7 win. Canada did not play badly, and several players were excellent - Lilianne Shannon was great downfield and Maélys Lechasseur kept the disc moving well. The USA were just outstanding. Rachel Chang and Caroleen DeWolf were brilliant, and defenders like Pilar Abele made it impossible to reset the disc comfortably.

Violet Yap goes up for the score against Canada Women’s. Photo by Carl Mardell.

France against Italy was not at all close in the power pools - 15-2 to the French. When the French broke twice to start the game and then again to go up 5-2, the fear was we were going to see another one. The Italians are much stronger mentally than that, though. Three points in a row pulled them level on the scoreboard but still a break back, and even despite four France points in a row put them ahead 9-5 and another break stretched that to 11-6, the Italians would not go away. Two late breaks kept the game going but in the end, France’s talent told and they secured a battling 13-10 victory. Captain Swann Lacoste-Lefevre was excellent with six assists, while Lucrezia Grossi was great for the defeated Italians.

There’s not much to say about the final - this game was probably game of the tournament in the power pool. Everyone is going to be hoping for more of the same.

So Women’s was, just like Open, a repeat of JJUC. Just like in Open, the bronze medal game went the other way this time around. The teams traded lots of breaks in the first half, with Italy eventually taking two late in the half to go into the break 8-5 up. They stretched that to 13-8 before Canada were able to eat into the lead, but Italy held their nerve to take home the bronzes with a 15-11 win. There were plenty of amazing, athletic plays in the game but the final play of the game is well worth mentioning - Diane Qin was hit in the face by the follow through of the Italian huck to seal the game and called foul, but retracted the foul after discussion, essentially handing the victory to her opponents after agreeing that the foul didn’t affect the outcome of the play. Such an intense and important game can cloud minds and judgement, but Qin responded with exceptional spirit in a crucial moment.

Sofia Albani lays out for the Superwoman block. Photo by Carl Mardell.

Japan and New Zealand played out a hugely entertaining fifth-place game, with the Kiwis trading up all through the second half after two Japanese breaks brought the score to 8-8. New Zealand called a timeout after a Japanese hold pushed the game to Universe Point, and they held to finish a wonderful rise from the lower power pools. Great Britain defeated Germany 15-9 thanks to an 8-2 first half to seal seventh, while Singapore roared back from a 6-9 deficit against Australia to win 10-9 and seal ninth. Ireland finished 11th without that elusive win.

Mixed

The North American powers were strong favourites in their semis, and both showed why with the depth of their talent. One team looked much sharper than the other, though.

Canada played Singapore, with the Singaporean style of fast movement all driven from the backfield facing an incredibly stout defence that made movement extremely difficult. The teams played earlier in the tournament so knew each other well, and Canada came out firing. A 6-1 lead put them in an enviable position, and Singapore was unable to get a break back until one to make it 11-7. Canada’s response? A four-point run to seal the game. Singapore gave it everything but Canada was too good and too deep, with 17 players on the scoring stat sheet and two of those who didn’t score notching blocks.

Iden Tan makes the catch against Canada Mixed. Photo by Tom Kiddle.

On the other side, a slightly sloppy American team struggled to put away Hungary, who hung with their opponents admirably for long stretches. A Callahan for the Hungarians brought the score to 10-7 to the USA, and two late Hungarian breaks made the score even tighter, but eventually the USA ran out 15-12 winners to seal a spot in the final.

The USA has been favourites throughout the tournament, and re-enforced that with a 15-13 win over Canada in power pools that ended with three consecutive points to overturn a 13-12 deficit. The teams look to be well matched and we should be treated to quite a final.

Hungary played Singapore in a fraught bronze medal game. Hungary eventually won 8-7 after a three-hour marathon that featured two spirit timeouts and some long discussions.

Jiamei Lin gets a block against Singapore Mixed. Photo by Carl Mardell.

France defeated Colombia 15-12 for fifth, while Italy finished seventh thanks to a 15-13 win over Austria. Poland completed their sweep through the lower bracket with a 12-10 win over Mexico and China finished 11th with a 15-13 triumph over Latvia. Another 15-13 gave Switzerland the win over the Netherlands for 13th, and Panama finished on a win over Hong Kong, China with a 14-3 scoreline.

There’s only one day of the tournament left, and only three games before we’re done in Birmingham. It’s been an amazing week and every team has something to be proud of during that time. The final day should be a great one.

Link photo by Carl Mardell.