The Netherlands Retain World Games Crown

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The Netherlands retained their World Games crown but did not find it as easy as they may have hoped. The Belgians would not surrender without a fight and it was only in the closing stages of the first half that the Dutch really put their mark on the match, finally leading at half time 13 -7.
This Belgian side showed in the second half why it is considered to be one of the better sides of recent years as they tried to fight back. In fact they drew the second half twelve goals each finally losing 25 – 19.
Shortly before the end two Dutch players – Barry Schep and Rick Voorneveld – were honoured as they were substituted as both were retiring from international korfball after long and distinguished careers.
The bronze medal game between Portugal and Chinese Taipei proved to be a very tense affair in the end. At first it did not look that way as the Chinese opened up a six goal lead after 15 minutes but Portugal hit back and within six minutes of the second half had clawed their way back to level. Taipei went ahead again by two but the Portuguese halved this lead before we entered the most tense stage of the match, especially for the Chinese Taipei coach who was forced to watch the match from the tribune after her yellow card the day before). Both teams missed chances and failed to score for over five minutes. Eventually the Chinese scored the important goal that meant the teams changed ends and from then on they were not threatened, finishing up winning the bronze medal with an 18-14 victory (h/t 10-7).
The match for 5th place was played between Great Britain and Russia. In the first half the Russians three times took the lead before Great Britain opened a four goal gap, narrowed to two by half time (9-7). Within five minutes of the second half the scores were level but the British team carried on playing their methodical korfball, gradually opening up and, unlike in their opening game against the Czechs, keeping it to eventually take 5th place with a 19-14 score line.
The game for 7th place was a surprising high scoring game and also very exciting. After the Czechs opening a two goal lead Germany hit back and opened up leads of their own, only for the Czechs to get back to level. Germany just edged ahead by half time (13-12). In the second half the Germans tried to open a decisive gap but by the 42nd minute the Czechs not only got level but went ahead themselves. The game became level again and with first one team and then the other leading at times we got to the last two minutes with the scores level. The final 60 seconds the Czechs scored the vital goal and when a German player made a very heavy foul, giving away a penalty, the victory for the Czech Republic was assured despite one more goal from Germany (26-27 in favour of the Czech Republic).
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WG Semi-Finals Day

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Great Britain – Germany 16–15 (10-11)

If ever there was a close game then this was it! Both teams put in much effort to save their reputation of progressing nations. Once again the sports venue was very crowded. It proved that korfball is appreciated in Cali.

In the second half Great Britain managed to extend their half time lead to 3 but it was soon countered and with 6 minutes left Germany held a two goal lead. Britain then scored three in a row only for Germany to equalise with 2 minutes to go. A nearly sold out Coliseo witnessed the most thrilling final stage of the game with a goal for Great Briatin seconds before the final whistle.

Czech Republic – Russia 21–28 (12-15)

Another thriller was displayed before the eyes of the President of the World Games Association, Ron Froehlich. That was until 10 minutes in the second half when Russia took a 12-18 lead. The Czech Republic struggled to stay in the game but successful Russian long range shots took away all hope. Dmitri Kazachkov will especially remember this day having scored ten times.

Belgium – Portugal 29–9 (16-6)

First semi final: – The Belgians were eager to win with a big score and Portugal was focusing on the bronze for the next day. There is little Portugal could do to keep their opponents from a making a high score. Enthusiasm was not enough in this case.

Early in the second half Belgium made some substitutions but the shooting stayed accurate. Overall not really enough excitement for the crowd.

The Netherlands – Chinese Taipei 40–14 (18-4)

The second semi final brought no surprise. Dutch supremacy against a lot of goodwill and effort of Chinese Taipei! As a result the match was far from a thriller. Everyone went home with the hope of more balanced games on the final day.
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World Games Day 3

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Chinese Taipei – Russia 24-20 (15-9)

After the deception of the day before Chinese Taipei started without much conviction allowing Russia to take the lead. But with clear instructions from the coach the team soon set things right to obtain a comfortable position at the break.

It was a similar game after the break with Taipei assuring the goal difference and Russian eagerly trying to close the gap. At the end everybody was happy with the score of a rather predictable result.

The Netherlands – Czech Republic 42-19 (15-10)

Sometimes when teams play The Netherlands they show too much respect but the Czechs started the game trying to keep the gap as close as possible and they pretty well succeeded in this mission. That was, of course, until the Dutch machine became fully operational.

In the second half, with a big crowd to entertain, the Dutch team showed that korfball players are highly skilled athletes. In a thrilling atmosphere the lack of struggle for victory was highly compensated by the technical moves of the competitors. Excellent entertainment and a record aggregate score (61 goals) in a World Games korfball match surpassing the 58 scored in yesterday’s Dutch match.

Great Britain – Portugal 17–20 (8-8)

Much emotion in this game. Both teams knew they had to win to preserve their chances for the semis. Portugal put all its efforts in quick but nervous physical play. It was countered by slower actions as a result of the more tactical plan of Great Britain.

Misunderstandings, bad passing, bad shots and exceeding the shot clock time were typical occurrences for the start of the second half. Portugal then managed to create a small lead for which there was no answer in a first stage. England somewhat unlucky missed a few good chances that could have kept them hope. Portugal missed a penalty that could have been decisive and this gave confidence to the opponents. An atypical situation, a shot without any chance on a rebound, went in for the Portugal to win this exciting match.

Belgium – Germany 33-7 (20-4)

Germany did not field their best team so Belgium did not have a hard time to set things in the right direction from the start. The second half continued in a similar vein.

This was an attractive match for Belgian supporters and addicts of statistics.
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World Games 2013 Day 2: Belgium strong in key match against Chinese Taipei

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Great Britain – The Netherlands 19-39 (9-21)

The English coach had a tough time to get his team in shape for the games against the World Champion after yesterday. On the other hand a match without any expectations is an opportunity to start aiming for a better performance.
The Dutch team did its best to entertain the public with spectacular moves and pretty well succeeded in catching the attention.

Chinese Taipei – Belgium 21-26 (10-11)

The game that was announced as the clash of the day showed everything spectators can wish to experience in the first half. Tight defending, struggle for the rebounds from both sides and a magnificent buzzer shot to end after the first 25 minutes.

When the Belgians secured their defence Taipei had trouble finding the right solution. Belgian attackers had the best momentum creating a goal difference that was unlikely to be threatened.

Portugal – Czech Republic 21–18 (12-10)

A quick start from Portugal and immediate answers from the Czechs! Are we in for a high score? However, the tempo dropped and both teams suffered from bad shooting.
There were again a lot of spectators on day 2 to watch a nice game. The teams stayed close together till just before the end when Portugal managed to create a safe gap.

Russia – Germany 15-19 (5-14)

A nervous game resulting in a score that went up slowly because both teams were aware that the loser is definitely out of the search for glory! A comfortable lead however allowed Germany to control the game after the break.
As the Russians still believed in a miracle and the Germans forgot to build good attacks and acted too nervously, everything remained possible. At the end it seemed that the Russians woke up too late!
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World Games Day 1: Netherlands and Belgium win big

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Belgium – Russia 30-15 (14-9)

The opening game brought no surprise. Slow starting from both teams resulted in 14-9 at half time.
Accurate shooting from the Belgians took away all hope for the Russians to bother their opponents.

Chinese Taipei – Germany 22-15 (10-8)

The absolutely magnificent new sport hall was sold out. Taipei made a tremendous start opening a six goal lead sentencing Germany to a difficult struggle to catch up.
With the Germans missing too many scoring chances Taipei controlled the game till the end.

The Netherlands – Portugal 38-18 (22-10)

Much animation when the president of Colombia is escorted to watch the beginning of this match. The crowd enjoys some beautiful actions. This is necessary the score difference is too important

Great Britain – Czech Republic 17-18 (11-6)

This proved to be the most exciting game of the day and the Czechs could not believe how they managed to win. Britain was the better team for most of the match and still led by five goals with 14 minutes left. Suddenly their scoring dried up and the Czechs scored three times in the last minute to snatch an incredible victory.
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Colombian President Santos visits korfball competition

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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos visited today the korfball competition at the World Games in Cali. Santos, who was unable to attend the Opening Ceremony of the World Games, picked korfball as the event to attend in a short visit to Cali. Media attention was extensive, with dozens of national TV and Radio stations covering the visit. President Santos assisted Colombian national team player Camilo in doing a running-in shot in the middle of the court, and he greeted the players of the Netherlands and Portugal before their match. He stayed for a short additional period to watch the beginning of the match before proceeding to a press conference.

Panamerican Championship to be held in Brazil

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The International Korfball Federation has announced that the First Panamerican Championship will be held from January 31-February 2, 2014 in Americana, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The event will be organized in collaboration with the FCERJ and FCESP, the korfball state associations of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The event will be the first official championship in korfball ever organized in Latin America. Invitations have been sent to all members on the continent. Since the event will serve as a qualification event for the 2015 World Championship in Belgium, it is expected that the leading korfball nations of the continent will take part, including the United States of America, Brazil, and Argentina. If Colombia manages to establish its national organization soon, it also plans to take part in this important event.

Korfball moves forward with rule changes

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The Council of the International Korfball Federation has announced a series of rule changes as part of the continual improvement to further develop the world’s only mixed team sport. The changed rules come into effect on 1 September 2013.

The most striking change is to allow competition rules to prescribe that players may re-enter the game after having been substituted. The rule change should allow teams to better protect their athletes against injuries in intensive tournaments. The rule change has been designed such that there is no interruption in the game, and furthermore such that the all-round skills character of the game is maintained: players will have to play in both attack and defence at least once before they can be taken out.

In the coming days, the Council will be also announcing new rules for beach korfball, which allows the game to be played on a smaller court similar in size to a beach volleyball court.

The Council is also working to launch a fourth discipline of the game. Besides (indoor) korfball (8vs8), there is currently outdoor korfball (played on grass or artificial turf) (8vs8) and beach korfball (3vs3 or 4vs4). The council is preparing the launch of a small game, probably 4vs4, later this year.

This text was issued today in an IKF Press Release.

Changes in the Rules of Korfball to take effect from 1 Sept 2013

Explanation of the Changes in Playing Rules to come into effect on1 September 2013

The World Games korfball program online

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The World Games korfball program is online.

Of course you may follow the korfball event during the World Games in Cali, Colombia through the IKF online scoring software system directly attached to the jury table in the korfball venue in Cali.

Follow the link: Korfball in the World Games 2013 in Cali

As well there is a free of charge app available to follow this and all other international korfball events on your smartphone: World Korfball for Android.

USA Year of Youth Match

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IMG_20130615_101004_589On Saturday, June 15, 2013, the USA held a youth in korfball event in California. We had middle school, high school and a couple college students come out to the even. We began with an introduction to korfball followed by some training. We ended the event with a White vs Blue korfball match. The match was very exciting to watch. At the half, the blue team was up 4-2. This deficit did not deter the white team a bit as they battled back and took over the second half. At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 9-9. Both teams went back and forth in golden goal, however, J. Vaiz was able to score the final goal leading the Blue team to it’s first California Youth in Korfball victory.IMG_20130615_101105_863