IKF U21 EKC day 4

The highlight of the day was the third match between the Czech Republic and England and showed whether either team is strong enough to support their thoughts about a medal. The Czechs definitely showed a promising improvement following their earlier matches and England put their dismal performance of the previous day well out of their system. The match was level at half time at 6-6 with both teams feeling their way against each other. However, in the second half the match livened up and showed differing shooting styles – excellent from the English players and weak from Czechs – with the game ending in a 20-14 win for England, keeping them in fight for second place in the group and the Czechs at the bottom of the pool ranking with zero points. Thursday’s showdown between England and Germany will determine who will reach the semi-final.

The fourth day started with the game between Turkey and Catalonia. The Turks started with better concentration and at half time were 5-4 in the lead. However, the Catalans’ experience prevailed in the second half with the match ending 11-7 in their favour, deciding that Turkey will end on the last spot in the tournament ranking. The second match, Russia vs Portugal, continued with the day’s poor shooting so far, but the Portuguese slowly but firmly built up their lead from 6-4 at half time to 16-10 at the end.

The last two games looked like good training exercises for the top two ranked teams because Belgium overcame Poland easily 33-6 (h/t 14-4) and the Netherlands comfortably beat Hungary 37-13 (h/t 18-5).