Day Three Morning Recap
After a brief cool interlude yesterday, we are back into summertime today. Conditions are warm but with a light breeze to keep people honest. Mixed power pools began this morning, while the Open and Women’s divisions continue to work out what’s what in the pool stage.
Mixed
Most of the games weren’t close, reflecting the difference between the teams that finished in first and second or third and fourth in their respective initial pools. Colombia beat Austria 15-8, racing out to a 9-3 lead and cruising from there. They look like a threat for semis in this form. Canada dispatched the Netherlands 15-6 to continue their strong start as well. The USA was pushed by Poland, taking half 8-6 after both teams put together three-point runs. The second half was a familiar story, though: the USA scored four in a row and took a 15-8 win. The upset of the round came in the Singapore vs Italy matchup on the streamed field, where Italy entered as top overall seed after the pool. The teams traded holds against zones for a long time, the lack of match D dragging the points out much longer than in pretty much every other game. Singapore broke for a 6-4 lead and then again to take 8-5. Italy broke out of half to bring the game back to 8-7, but Singapore hit back with two of their own and saw the game out with a hold for an 11-8 win.
In the lower power pools, France defeated Hong Kong, China 15-1, Hungary won 13-9 over Panama and Mexico topped Latvia 14-10. The biggest surprise here was the first win for China as they beat Switzerland in another slow, zone-dominated game 12-10. The Swiss had the disc to take the game to universe but couldn’t connect for the goal and China closed out a huge result to put themselves in good shape for the pre-quarters.
Open
There were some very tight, interesting games in open in this round. The closest was another thriller involving New Zealand, this time against Belgium. The Kiwis broke twice to take a 0-2 lead and Belgium could only pull one back at the end of the first half, going in 7-8 down. Belgium broke immediately to stop the New Zealand mini-break out of half and level it up, then got another to go up for the first time at 10-8. New Zealand pulled it back to go up 12-11 but Belgium scored three in a row to take a thriller 15-13 thanks to intense pressure in the last few points. Germany and Canada were also within one at half, going into the interval with one break each and Canada leading. Both teams were loud and flying around the field, with big plays happening seemingly every point. They traded to start the second half but Canada found another gear and punched in three breaks in a row to extend the lead to 14-9, a point away from victory. Germany refused to go quietly, though, and reeled off three points before Canada closed out the 15-12 win. Colombia and Singapore were tightly match as well, with Colombia winning after a second half run of six points cancelled out Singapore’s strong first half. Singapore threatened a thrilling comeback with a break to make it 13-12, but Colombia closed out a 14-12 victory.
Elsewhere, Great Britain took on last year’s European runners up France. The French are looking very strong and took a 15-10 win, the only break of their offence coming in the penultimate point. Italy scored a big win over China, 15-5, Japan dominated Ireland 15-2 and Switzerland notched a 15-8 win over Australia.
Women’s
The USA continues to look like a juggernaut. Great Britain scored a nice hold late in the game but it was the only one they could manage against an enormously talented American group. One of the USA’s rivals later in the tournament is likely to be Italy, who beat Germany 15-7 in the first game slot. Italy were up 12-3 before the Germans were able to take a late break.
In the second slot, another challenger showed their class. France, the reigning European champions, defeated Singapore 15-0. Japan won 15-1 over Ireland, while Canada and New Zealand played out the most entertaining game in the division so far today. Canada broke three times in the first stanza to take half 8-5 but New Zealand scored three in a row to start the second and level things up. Canada took that personally; four points later they led 12-8 and they closed out a 15-10 win in short order. Canada’s long game looks extremely good when it’s firing and they are more than willing to leave their feet to get highlight reel blocks.
This division will conclude this afternoon. USA will play Italy to see who wins that pool, but both are guaranteed a power pool spot alongside GB who are done for the day. It’s a similar story in the other pool where Canada play France for top spot in a game that will be appointment viewing. New Zealand against Japan is a winner-takes-all match for the power pool, as we predicted last night. It promises to be a thrilling finish to the day after a fairly quiet morning in Women’s.
Link photo by Graham Shellswell.
