USA Korfball pioneer Ralph Davis passes away at 96

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Today, the International Korfball Federation has been informed of the passing of Ralph Davis, holder of the IKF Badge of Honour, at the age of 96, amid his next of kin. Ralph Davis was one of the pioneers of korfball in the United States in the late 1970s. Many consider him one of the two founding fathers of US Korfball, together with Jan Broekhoff.

Davis was a coach of the Portland State University Korfball Team and served as President of the US Korfball Federation. Apart from korfball, he was very active in sports throughout his entire life.  He was a Seaside and Gearhart ocean-front lifeguard, credited with 250 life-saving rescues, physical education instructor at Portland State University, and a coach in football, track and cross country athletics. Further, he was founder and director of the Seaside Marathon and its summer Beach Run. The latter he created in 1966 together with his late wife Betty, who also was a former life guard. She supported him over many years in korfball activities. He was active in the gym until very recently continuing to practice sports.

His true dream, however, was a further growth of korfball in the US, which may happen now that The World Games have been awarded to Birmingham (AL, USA) in 2021. At those games, we will surely remember Ralph Davis’s most famous quote, with which he signed off all his letters: “If it isn’t korfball, it isn’t”.

The global korfball community have lost a pioneer in korfball and a friend of many. We send our condolences to Vaunda, Bryan, Scott and their families.

 

IKF EKC 2016 match schedule and event rules

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The IKF hereby publishes the match schedule for the IKF European Korfball Championship (IKF EKC) being held from 22 – 30 October 2016 in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. All details IKF EKC: Click here for match schedule and event rules.

The IKF EKC 2016 event rules are published as well.

Matches will be played in 4 quarters of 10 or 7.5 minutes Real Playing Time (RPT)

There will be a break of one (1) minute between quarters one and two and again between quarters three and four. Half time after Q2 shall be 10 minutes.

Each team will be allowed one (1) time out which can be requested at any time when play is stopped.

Each team will be allowed a maximum of 8 (reversible) substitutions.

If scores are level after the end of normal time a “Golden Goal” period of extra time shall be played with a maximum length of 10 minutes RPT. If there is no winner after the “Golden Goal” period, then the match shall be determined by penalties with all eight players from the end of the “Golden Goal” period taking penalties.

We draw your attention to the fact that this is the first time in IKF senior competitions that teams play their matches in four equal quarters of 10 or 7.5 minutes real playing time with one minute breaks between Q1 and Q2 and between Q3 and Q4.

Ten (10) teams are participating in the event. The Netherlands is the defending European Korfball Champion following their win in the last IKF EKC held in 2014 in Portugal.

IKF Honours referee Henry van Meerten with the Pin of Merit

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At the recent IKF U23 WKC it was announced that Henry van Meerten, who had been an IKF referee for many years, would be retiring as an IKF International Referee.

On behalf of the IKF, Secretary General Graham Crafter presented Henry with the IKF Pin of Merit to mark his excellent service to the IKF over such a long period of time.

It was rather fitting that his last match was in the Czech Republic since it was in that country that he refereed his first international match in 2007. His last match was the bronze medal match between the Czech Republic and Germany. Lukas Filip from the Czech Korfball Association also presented Henry with a memento to mark the occasion.

Successful “1st Beach Korfball Tournament” in Belgrade (Serbia)

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9 July 2016 KORFBALL FEDERATION OF SERBIA organized the “1st Beach Korfball Tournament” in Belgrade, in Ada Ciganlija lake sports venues. 10 teams with more than 70 players took part during 8 hours of matches.

There were also 3 teams with new players from Belgrade University, an important and huge first step to achieve a new young generation of korfball players in Belgrade and from all university centers in Serbia, which is one of the prime goals of KFS in recent future.

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The Netherlands retains IKF U23 WKC 2016

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The Netherlands and Chinese Taipei gave a shooting class in the first half with the Dutch a little more accurate. At the end of Q1 the score was 9 -6, 15 goals in just 10 minutes play. At half time the Dutch lead had doubled with a 16 – 10 score line, 26 goals in just 20 minutes, only one goal less than the whole of the bronze medal match and more than the aggregate score in five of the event’s matches.

The speed of the game inevitably dropped in the second half as the work rate by both teams was not really sustainable. The Netherlands’ lead increased by one in each quarter with a final score of 24 -16.

Ya-Wen Lin increased her goal tally by six to finish top scorer in the whole event with 43 goals, four more than Blake Palfreyman (ENG), who was top male scorer.

u23wkc2016_topscorers

The bronze medal match was dominated by the defences and very nervous shooting. Only two goals were scored in the whole of Q1 and half time was reached with the teams level at 5 – 5. In Q3 the lead changed hands twice with Germans leading by two at 10 – 8 with ten minutes left. The lead became three immediately after the start of Q4 but then the Czechs hit back, levelling the match and then levelling twice more as the German team inched ahead. We reached the final ten seconds with the scores level when Alexandr Vyroubal scored with a medium to long distance shot to clinch the bronze for the hosts.

In the other match, played between China and Hungary for 5th place, things were level until after the end of Q1 at 4 -4. The Hungarians twice took the lead in Q2 before being pegged back but in the last five minutes before half time the Chinese clinched the match scoring five unanswered goals. Hungary got back to within two goals several times but could not get closer and China reached their highest ever position of 5th with a 17 – 15 victory.

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You can rewatch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards, interviews and much more:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

Day 8 Daily Report (Finals Part I) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Day 8 Daily Report (The Final: NED -TPE) – IKF U23WKC 2016

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 8 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL

Minor Places settled at the IKF U23 WKC 2016

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England gained 7th place after an 18 – 14 win over Hong Kong China. The main difference between the sides appeared to be the ability of the English team to gain rebounds due to their height advantage over their Asian opponents. However, several very clever free pass moves narrowed the five goal half time deficit to just one at the end of Q3. A sub-plot was the dual between Blake Palfreyman (ENG) and Wing Yan Cheung (HKG) to become the male player top scorer with just one day to go. In the end Blake made up his overnight deficit and just outscored his rival to finish one ahead with 39. (They were also marking each other during this match).  It would need the next leading male scorers to score more than 14 tomorrow to overhaul them.

In the battle of the newcomers for 9th place, the match see-sawed first one way and then the other, with neither side getting more than two ahead to form a decisive lead. They entered the final quarter level and even here the lead changed hands with first Turkey going two ahead and then the Caribbean team catching up and taking a two goal lead themselves. With three minutes left the scores were again level but the team in blue scored the decisive goal to beat Turkey 15 -14 to gain 9th place.

In the wooden spoon match Poland just edged out South Africa. After trailing by five at half time the South Africans won the next quarter to trail by three entering Q4 but the European team held on for a 14 – 11 win, consigning South Africa to earn the ‘wooden spoon’ and 12th place.

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 Day 7 Match Results (Friday, 15 July 2016) Finals
Day7_Results

IKF U23WKC 2016 Day 8 Match Schedule (Saturday, 16 July 2016) Finals
AT 14:00 (GMT+1)
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AT 16:00 (GMT+1)
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AT 18:00 (GMT+1)
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Day 7 Daily Report – IKF U23WKC 2016

Here you can find some highlights video from all days in IKF U23WKC 2016 provided by Český korfbal / Czech Korfball (LOC): https://youtu.be/XEQbuPonwPE

You can watch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards and all also in real time:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 7 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL

Semi-finals day at the IKF U23 WKC

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The two top ranked teams, The Netherlands and Chinese Taipei earned the right to play for the gold medal after victories against Germany and the Czech Republic respectively. The score in the Netherlands vs Germany match was 20 -2, a poor score for a semi-final and more in line with a group match than the semi-final of a championship. It was probably influenced by who was chosen to play. The Dutch made seven changes from the starting line up used in their demolition of South Africa the day before whilst Germany started only four of the players that started in the key match against England that effectively won their semi-final place. (H/T 10 -0)

In the other semi-final Chinese Taipei effectively won the match in the second quarter stretching a three goal lead into nine – H/T 14 – 5. With players on both sides gradually being substituted the second half was a little closer but the end result was a 28 – 15 win for Chinese Taipei.

In the other matches Hungary beat England 14 – 13. Whilst some thought this was a surprise it wasn’t really as shown by the Hungarian’s win over the Czech Republic earlier in the week. (Hungary also beat Great Britain in the 1st ever IKF U23 WKC in 1994, and that was more of a surprise as Hungary had only joined the IKF less than three years before). China beat Hong Kong China 30 – 22, mainly due to a burst of scoring in Q4 which extended a slim one goal lead into eight. So China will play Hungary for 5th place on Saturday.

In the other matches, the two newcomers Dominican Republic and Turkey set up a match for 9th place following the Dominican Republic’s 20 – 6 win over South Africa and Turkey’s 18 – 13 win over Poland.

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 Day 5 Match Results (Thursday, 14 July 2016)
Day6_results

IKF U23WKC 2016 Day 7 Match Schedule (Friday, 15 July 2016) Semi-finals
Day7_Shedule

Day 6 Daily Report (Part I) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Day 6 Daily Report (Part II) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Here you can find some highlights video from all days in IKF U23WKC 2016 provided by Český korfbal / Czech Korfball (LOC): https://youtu.be/zWsfsNWo-IA

You can watch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards and all also in real time:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 6 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL

All semi-finalists now known at the IKF U23 WKC 2016

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For the second day running the Dominican Republic participated in a match where only one goal separated the teams. This time, however, they were on the wrong side of the score line losing to Poland 12 – 11. This meant a three way tie for 4th to 6th places in pool A. The mutual goal differences in the matches between the three teams placed Hong Kong China 4th, Dominican Republic 5th and Poland 6th. Chinese Taipei took top spot in the pool beating England 26 -14, Germany took second place by beating Hong Kong China 20 – 9 with England in 3rd place.

In pool B the Czech Republic, after their heartache yesterday, needed to beat China by three goals to not only produce another three way tie but also to become the highest ranked and this they did. From a level 14 – 14 score line at the end of Q3 two bursts of goal scoring opened up a five goal lead that the Chinese could not peg back and the Czechs finally ran out 21 – 18 winners to finish 2nd in the group. China finished 3rd and Hungary 4th. Turkey finished 5th by virtue of their win against South Africa yesterday, losing today 16 – 21 to Hungary. The top team in the group, the holders the Netherlands won 50 goals to 8, an incredible aggregate score given that there was only 40 minutes of actual playing time.

The semi-final ties are, therefore, Chinese Taipei vs Czech Republic; Germany vs the Netherlands; England vs Hungary; Hong Kong China vs China; Dominican Republic vs South Africa and Poland vs Turkey.

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 Day 5 Match Results (Wednesday, 13 July 2016)
Day5_results

IKF U23WKC 2016 Day 6 Match Schedule (Thursday, 14 July 2016) Semi-finals
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Day 5 Daily Report (Part I) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Day 5 Daily Report (Part II) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Here you can find some highlights video from all days in IKF U23WKC 2016 provided by Český korfbal / Czech Korfball (LOC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcwRtMY-BM0

You can watch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards and all also in real time:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 5 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL

Hungarians break Czech hearts on Day 4 of IKF U23 WKC 2016

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After a level score at half time Hungary reached the end of Q3 with a lead of two goals 12 – 10. With the Czechs scoring once and the Hungarians not at all we reached the last ten seconds and Hungary called a time out. The Czechs had possession in defence and after the whistle played the ball into attack and with just 5 seconds left scored an equalising goal, leading to mass celebrations by players and supporters alike. The Hungarians took the throw off, got one shot away, collected the rebound and shot. Whilst the ball was on its way to the korf the buzzer for the end of the quarter sounded but the ball dropped through the korf (a true buzzer beater goal) and the Czechs joy of a few seconds earlier was replaced by anguish as the Hungarians wildly celebrated their win.

There were two other very close games during the day. In the final match Germany started the better team and opened up a three goal lead. At the end of the quarter they led by two at 4 – 2. In the second quarter they opened the lead to four only to be pegged back to two. (H/T 7 – 5). The second half almost mirror the early part of the game and the closest England got was within one goal. There was a difference of two still at the end of Q3 and also at the end with Germany winning 17 – 15, their better shooting accuracy throughout the match being decisive in the end.

The other close game was between newcomers the Dominican Republic and Hong Kong China. The America’s team had the better of the first half leading 9 – 4 at half time. The Hong Kong team gradually reeled them in, however, and we reached just two minutes to go with the scores level at 15 – 15. Then a long shot from the Dominican team clinched the match 16 – 15, their superior height over the tiny Hong Kong team probably contributing in no small way to their win.

The other matches went rather as expected – the Netherlands beating China 30 – 10, Chinese Taipei beating Poland 31 – 12 and the other newcomers Turkey beating South Africa 19 – 8.

With one round of pool matches left the tables read

Pool A

Chinese Taipiei 12; Germany 9; England 9, Dominican Republic 3; Hong Kong China 3 and Poland 0

Pool B

Netherlands 12; China 9; Hungary 6; Czech Republic 6; Turkey 3 and South Africa 0

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IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 Day 4 Match Results (Monday, 11 July 2016)
Day4_results

IKF U23WKC 2016 Day 5 Match Schedule (Tuesday, 12 July 2016)
Day5_Shedule

Day 4 Report (Part I) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Day 4 Report (Part II) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Here you can also find some highlights video from Day 4 in IKF U23WKC 2016 provided by Český korfbal / Czech Korfball (LOC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcwRtMY-BM0

You can watch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards and all also in real time:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 4 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL

IKF U23 WKC 2016 Day 3 Report (results, schedule, photos & videos)

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Once more there were no surprises in the final results although the half time scores in some games were not as decisive as the higher ranked teams would have liked. In pool B China beat South Africa 22 – 11, The Netherlands beat Hungary 31 – 9 and in the closest match of the day the Czech Republic beat Turkey 18 – 15 overall but lost the second half 10 – 7.

In pool A Chinese Taipei beat the Dominican Republic 25 – 8, Germany beat Poland 20 – 9 and England eventually overcame Hong Kong China 24 – 11 (H/T 11 – 8).

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 Day 3 Match Results (Monday, 11 July 2016)
Day3_results

IKF U23WKC 2016 Day 4 Match Schedule (Tuesday, 12 July 2016)
Day4_Shedule

Pool standings after three matches:

pools_after_day3

POOL A
Chinese Taipei and England have 9 points each, Germany 6 points, Hong Kong China 3 points; the Dominican Republic and Poland each have 0 points.

POOL B
The Netherlands and China have 9 points; Czech Republic 6 points; Hungary 3 points; Turkey and South Africa each have 0 points.

TOP SCORERS
The leading scorers are still Blake Palfreyman (ENG) with 17 goals and Ya-Wen Lin (TPE) with 16.

Day 3 Daily Report (Part I) – IKF U23WKC 2016

Here you can find some highlights video from Day 3 in IKF U23WKC 2016 provided by Český korfbal / Czech Korfball (LOC): https://youtu.be/lGoDzV4bO6A

You can watch all games in live HD streaming on www.worldkorfball.org, with all the statistics, play-by-play, top scorers and much more. Also on IKF social media profiles you can find the best photo albums of each game, the best players awards and all also in real time:
facebook.com/korfball.org – twitter.com/korfball

IKF ‪U23WKC‬ 2016 DAY 3 IMAGE GALLERY
Photos by Marco Spelten (@Actiefotografie): facebook.com/actiefotografieNL