Day Three: Afternoon fireworks on field 1

The Women’s division has joined Mixed in concluding the initial pool stage and power pools will start tomorrow. Mixed is halfway through power pools, but Open has one more day to go before the teams go straight to the bracket. The final two rounds of this afternoon saw what look to be the best Women’s teams battle it out in two thrillers, while the Open division also featured a couple of exciting games (one of which inevitably featured the people’s team, New Zealand).

Women’s

There’s only one place to start and that’s with the Women’s division and the two streamed games late in the day. The USA played Italy, followed immediately by France facing Canada. The North American teams are longstanding superpowers in the ultimate world, while France defeated Italy in the European final last season and they look to be the two best teams on the continent again this year. All four teams had looked excellent up to this point and seem to be in excellent position to make the semifinals later this week. The stage was set for two stellar games, and they did not disappoint.

Caroleen DeWolf extends for a block against Italy Women. Photo by Graham Shellswell.

The States started strongly and took two breaks to go up 6-3, maintaining the lead into half for an 8-5 advantage. The Americans worked through the Italian zone with precision and speed, with Chloe Hakimi in particular showing why she has achieved so much in her short career with some visionary passing. The Italians stayed focused and kept pushing, though, and broke through with a break to bring the score to 9-8. The success seemed to push the Italians on and, with a loud sideline, they broke again to bring the game to 10-10. The seemingly invincible Americans were, all of a sudden, in a real game and Italy were flying. From there, though, we saw what champions are made of. America managed a tough hold and went on a run, propelled by spectacular pulling, scoring the next four points on D to take the game 15-10. Opal Burruss’s Callahan to bring the score to 13-10 seemed to sap the energy from Italy and transfer it directly to their opponents. This game will give them huge confidence, though, heading into the business end of the event.

France celebrate a goal against Canada. Photo by Likkan Chung.

France had been sweeping teams aside and were fancied to make things tough on Canada ahead of the game. The start did not go their way, though. Canada went 0-5 up in short order, forcing France to use a timeout during the run to try and address the issues. Whatever they discussed worked eventually, as a hold led to two breaks for a 3-5 deficit. The teams traded out for a 5-8 score at half, France receiving to start the second. Again, France’s team talk worked absolute wonders. Canada scored a single point in the second half, a hold to bring the score to 10-9 after five consecutive points for the French, a mirror of the start of the first half. Zoe Forget was involved in four of the five points to start the second and seemed to be unstoppable downfield. A third five-point run of the game sealed a hugely impressive 15-9 win for the French. Forget and teammates Carolina Mabekondiasson, Swann Lacoste-Lefèvre and Camille Blanc were huge parts of the comeback, but the French team as a whole looked close to unstoppable once they got going. A potential tilt between the French and Americans in the power pools is tantalising, while Canada and Italy are sure to feature in the later stages of the tournament as well. The level all four teams played at today was incredible in the under-20 age bracket, and enormously exciting for the future.

ZsaZsa Gelfand gets a hand on a high throw. Photo by Likkan Chung.

Elsewhere, Germany took a comfortable 15-6 win over Australia that will boost the confidence of the Germans but still leave them short of the power pools. Singapore sealed a 15-0 win over Ireland to kickstart their tournament, and Japan sealed their spot in the power pools with a 15-8 win over New Zealand in a winner-takes-all game. The Japanese took any drama out of the game with a strong run into and out of half, taking the game from 5-5 to 13-7 with excellent disc retention and a strong zone that made the Kiwis take on some tough shots. They were able to come down with some great catches by using their height advantage, but the throws they were forced to take on were difficult even for their strong throwers and the Japanese pressure eventually told. It leaves the USA, Canada, France, Italy, Great Britain and Japan in the power pool - results from the initial pool stage are carried through so each team will play three games, and the top four after those games will progress to semis.

Open

We had three close games in the morning, and two more this afternoon. Germany played Belgium and New Zealand played Canada, with all four teams involved in two extremely entertaining games today. This section of pool play has found several teams that are closely matched and it’s been the spectators who have won most in that scenario.

Starting with the Germans and Belgians, it looked early like the game would be a dud. Germany took a 5-1 lead and looked to be cruising after a tough loss to a good Canada team earlier in the day. While Belgium responded with a break, Germany took it back immediately and took half 8-4. Belgium regrouped, though, and chipped away at the lead with a three-point run early in the second half to take the score to 10-9. The teams exchanged breaks and then holds, leaving the game finely balanced at 13-12 to Germany. The Germans were able to hold and then break for the win, 15-12, leaving them in prime position for the quarters.

Germany toe in a catch against Belgium. Photo by Graham Shellswell.

In the same pool, Canada eventually defeated New Zealand in a tight game dominated by offence. Canada scored two breaks early on to go ahead 4-2, but weren’t able to make inroads on the Kiwi offence from there. Unfortunately for New Zealand, Canada held every one of their own O points, meaning the teams traded a pretty remarkable final 21 points of the game. New Zealand have now lost three games by three points or fewer, seemingly incapable of playing anything other than a wildly entertaining game, and the win left Canada undefeated going into the final day of pools and atop Pool B alongside Italy, who enjoyed a more serene day with two comfortable wins - 15-5 over China and 15-2 over Ireland.

This pool is far from settled going into the final day. Germany and Japan have three wins each, while Belgium and New Zealand have two. Tomorrow there are some crucial matchups: New Zealand will play Germany while Belgium play Japan, meaning it is possible that all four teams will finish the stage with three wins in a tight tie break situation. Italy will face Canada for the top spot while lower down winless teams China and Ireland will also face each other to see who will leave pools still searching for their first win.

Canada take down a high catch against Germany. Photo by Tom Kiddle.

Pool A isn’t quite as open, with France and USA both unbeaten heading into the final day. France defeated Great Britain 15-10 in an impressive, mature performance earlier in the day and then dispatched Colombia 15-5 before cheering on their Women’s team. GB responded to the loss with a 15-8 win over Singapore and the USA beat Switzerland 15-6.

The Americans face Colombia in the morning before meeting France to see who wins the pool. The Colombians also play Great Britain in a game that could be very impactful - GB play Australia first thing so could go in with three wins but currently sit at two alongside the South Americans and Switzerland. The Swiss play Singapore in a game they should win, so will likely end on three. If Colombia can’t take down the juggernaut American team, they will need to beat GB to try and progress through in a three-way tie.

Martin Osorno goes up for a catch against Singapore. Photo by Carl Mardell.

Mixed

Power Pool F has gone to plan. The USA and Canada have two wins each, with 15-3 wins over the Netherlands and Poland respectively this afternoon demonstrating their superiority. They meet tomorrow morning knowing that the game is purely for seeding as both have qualified directly for quarters. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the teams leave something in reserve for later in the bracket, not showing their full hands at this stage. The Dutch and Polish will also meet for seeding, fighting to avoid the winner of Hungary and a strong-looking French team, two teams that could cause them issues in the pre-quarters.

Loris Martini lays out for a block. Photo by Likkan Chung.

Power Pool E, though, has very much not gone to plan. Top seed Italy lost both games today, 11-8 to Singapore this morning and 15-9 to the Austrians this afternoon. Singapore also beat Colombia, 12-5, to take the top spot going into tomorrow. Austria will play Singapore and Italy face Colombia with a number of outcomes still possible. Based on the results so far it is incredibly difficult to predict, which should hopefully mean some fascinating games for spectators.

The lower power pools have also seen some battles and upsets, with China beating Switzerland 12-10 and Mexico 11-8 to leave themselves in a very strong position for a pre-quarter. The Chinese ended strongly against the Swiss and started strongly against Mexico, showing that their zone can challenge teams and their disc movement cut through defences. Switzerland and Mexico have both defeated Latvia, 15-12 and 14-10 respectively, which means the smart betting would be that China tops the pool unbeaten and Switzerland and Mexico have a straight playoff for the final pre-quarter place. This division has been capricious so far, though, so who knows what will happen on an absolutely crucial day four!

Singapore celebrate a goal against Italy. Photo by Carl Mardell.

Link photo by Graham Shellswell.