Today, Day Three of the IKF WKC 2019 in Durban, all the preliminary pools will be fully decided and each team’s path towards final rankings will be charted. Standing out in the schedule is the Pool E game that will see European silver medallist Germany take on Portugal, who finished just one place lower on the podium at the IKF EKC last year. That game will be in Hall Two, the Globe, at 15.30 local time. Other games worth noting are Catalonia versus New Zealand, Hong Kong versus Slovakia and South Africa versus Japan, to decide third and fourth placings in Pools A, C and E respectively. Due to the close games in Pool B, a team from there is likely to proceed to the top 16 as the best fourth place finisher, unless Poland beats Ireland by a wide margin. Although it is unlikely to match the final outstanding game in Hall One, KwaZulu Natal University’s Westville Campus yesterday, in the equivalent slot on today’s schedule, Belgium’s meeting with England should also be worth following and is likely to give us a strong indication on the prospects for both teams through the rest of the tournament.
In this post you will find a daily updated recap with all IKF press reviews, results, best images and videos from all games played during this Day 3.
These are the games scheduled to be played on Thursday, 3 August 2019 (Day 3):
| Time |
Hall 1 |
Hall 2 |
| 12:00 |
CAT-NZL |
TPE-AUS |
| 13:45 |
NED-CZE |
POL-IRL |
| 15:30 |
SUR-MAC |
GER-POR |
| 17:15 |
CHN-HUN |
RSA-JPN |
| 19:00 |
BEL-ENG |
HKG-SVK |
*(Venues) Hall 1: ‘University’ – Hall 2: ‘The Globe’
Hall 1: KZN Westville Campus Indoor Sports Centre – Hall 2: ‘The Globe’ at Suncoast Boulevard Marine Parade
From 1 to 10 August 2019 the IKF World Korfball Championship 2019 is taking place in the city of Durban, South Africa. Twenty national squads are competing to be the new World Champion in this 11th edition of the most important international korfball tournament.
All the games are live streamed through IKF YouTube channel and on IKF data website www.worldkorfball.sport together with all the results, statistics, top scorers and updated ranking pools.
– Day 1 press reviews ► www.korfball.sport/?p=21829
– Day 2 press reviews ► www.korfball.sport/?p=21897
Day 3 reviews, results, rankings & videos:
Pool A
| Time |
Hall |
Pool |
Teams |
Result |
Video/Stats |
| 12:00 |
1 |
A |
CAT-NZL |
15-13 |
📺 / 📊 |
| 13:45 |
1 |
A |
NED-CZE |
23-7 |
📺 / 📊 |
In the first game of Day Three at KwaZulu Natal University’s Westville Campus, with the opportunity to progress from Pool A into the top 16 on the line, both teams started nervously, taking poor shooting options, throwing up air balls and having obvious passes picked off. Goals were difficult to come by as both teams’ defensive ends tended to dominate. Catalonia squeezed out a three goal lead at halftime, making better use of their chances, and a penalty miss just before half time by New Zealand showed just how bad the nerves were. By the end of the third quarter there was still all to play for with the score standing at 11-9. Although two quick goals for Catalonia to start the final 10 minutes ought to have made the difference, New Zealand was not ready to lie down. Coach Manon Wiegerink brought on Simon Cooper and Sam Bennetts, with the latter making an instant impact, scoring within seconds of his introduction, though in the end it was not enough and Catalonia was able to run down the clock. New Zealand is now likely consigned to playing for 17th place, though their body language at the end showed that they believe they could have done better. Such a strong performance against one of the European heavyweights of korfball, however is something they will be able to reflect on positively in due course. Top scorer for New Zealand was Nicole Lloyd with six, while for Catalonia captain Javier Sanchez scored four. Final score 15-13.
In the next game, which was to decide the winner of Pool A, The Netherlands found the Czech Republic more difficult to overcome than the teams they dismissed on the two previous days. However, despite the fact that the world champions did not achieve the same levels of champagne korfball as they have so far in Durban, the game was never really in doubt. At the end of the first quarter Mick Snel fired up a potential buzzer beater, letting fly almost from Namibia and landing it, only to have referee Miguel Wensma disallow it for leaving the Dutch superstar’s hands momentarily too late. Coach Wim Scholtmeyer rotated his entire bench into the game at half time, which may have disrupted the rhythm of the game slightly, though he and his players strive for perfection, and will not be fully satisfied with this, even though the Czech team deserves credit for making their opponent work harder than they have so far this week. Final score 23-7.
Pool A ranking after Day 3 results:
1st: NED (9 pts) – 2nd: CZE (6 pts) – 3rd: CAT (3 pts) – 4th: NZL (0 pts)
Pool B
| Time |
Hall |
Pool |
Teams |
Result |
Video/Stats |
| 12:00 |
2 |
B |
TPE-AUS |
30-14 |
📺 / 📊 |
| 13:45 |
2 |
B |
POL-IRE |
14-13 |
📺 / 📊 |
In the first Pool B game at the Globe today, Chinese Taipei faced Australia in Pool B, renewing the longest running international korfball rivalry outside Europe. Chinese Taipei showed their style and class from early on with two seemingly effortless goals by Ya-Wen Lin in the first two minutes. While Australia fought hard to try and create challenges, they struggled under the defensive pressure of Chinese Taipei. For the Asian champion, class was evident in every department, delighting the large crowd that had come to support them with some magical movement and passing. Australia however never loses their fighting spirit, and that was not going to occur today either, particularly as they were also buoyed by vocal support from the local South African crowd. When they are in this form and dominating, Chinese Taipei usually makes a raft of substitutions around half time and today’s game was no exception, which means that players end up sharing the goals, rather than anyone dominating the statistics. Although some outrageous shooting by Australia meant that they won the final quarter, the day belonged to Chinese Taipei, who showed why they are serious medal contenders. Final score 30-14.
Ireland, without a win in the tournament so far, needed not to be thrashed in this game to be sure of finishing as the best fourth place team. They fancied going better than that, and led Poland for most of the game, albeit not by a wide margin. At half time the scores were level 7-7. For Ireland Shay Conroy was making most impact. After the break Ireland again started the half better than Poland, re-establishing a three goal lead, which looked to be enough, particularly after Conroy turned his defender to score a sneaky and apparently vital goal with nine minutes remaining. As the minutes ticked by however, Ireland found their lead eroding, and their inability to manage the clock again caught them out. First Poland captain Kyzystof Rubinkowski brought the margin back to a single goal, then, shortly after coming into the game for the first time, substitute Adam Doroszuk evened it up with 28 seconds remaining. When Ireland couldn’t then convert what would effectively be a golden goal, Poland took the ball down the other end for Rafael Diadik to convert the most dramatic of buzzer beaters, from the back of the court, to secure a game that his team had not led for the entire 40 minutes to that point. Still, it was almost certainly enough for Ireland to progress to the top 16 as the best fourth place team. Final score 14-13
Pool B ranking after Day 3 results:
1st: TPE (9 pts) – 2nd: POL (6 pts) – 3rd: AUS (3 pts) – 4th: IRL (0 pts)
Pool C
| Time |
Hall |
Pool |
Teams |
Result |
Video/Stats |
| 19:00 |
1 |
C |
BEL-ENG |
27-13 |
📺 / 📊 |
| 19:00 |
2 |
C |
HKG-SVK |
16-18 |
📺 / 📊 |
Hong Kong took on Slovakia in the final game at the Globe, with the winner heading for the top 16 and the loser consigned to the ghetto of places 17 to 20. Slovakia made a positive start and went out to a three goal lead halfway through the first quarter, captain Peter Busik again running the show for his team. Hong Kong came back though, with Kwok Kuen Ham leading the charge. By half time the score was 7-9. Slovakia managed to hold the lead through the second half, though never made it sufficiently comfortable to put Hong Kong out of the game until the final minute. Peter Busik scored five while Peter Fabik and Zuzana Busikova four each. After originally falling short of qualification for this tournament, and having not participated at an IKF WKC since 2003, making the top 16 is an excellent achievement for Slovakia, and marks this tournament as a success for them already, possibly with further accomplishments to come. Hong Kong, meanwhile, coming into this tournament ranked 11, will be disappointed not to have won a game in their pool and will be anxious to make the most of their games for the lower places. Final score 16-18.
After England really struggled for much of the game yesterday against Slovakia, and bearing in mind Belgium’s apparent renaissance at this tournament, this game started more slowly than expected, and was all tied up after eight minutes. However in the final two minutes of the first quarter England flinched and Belgium scored five while conceding only one. Belgium continued that theme in the second quarter, while England generally struggled to match their opponents’ intensity and accuracy. By half time the Diamonds had eased out to a 14–5 lead. England had the better of the third quarter, though Belgium was mostly content to hold them at bay, confident that the advantage was big enough and that England didn’t have the power to eat the lead. In the final quarter, Belgium recalibrated and picked up the pace again to finish comfortably ahead. Jordan de Vogelaere and Brent Struyf top scored with five each, while Davesh Patel’s four made him England’s top scorer. Final score 22-12.
Pool C ranking after Day 3 results:
1st: BEL (9 pts) – 2nd: ENG (6 pts) – 3rd: SVK (3 pts) – 4th: HKG (0 pts)
Pool D
| Time |
Hall |
Pool |
Teams |
Result |
Video/Stats |
| 17:15 |
1 |
D |
CHN-HUN |
29-24 |
📺 / 📊 |
| 18:15 |
1 |
D |
SUR-MAC |
33-4 |
📺 / 📊 |
After the fireworks of yesterday’s final game, when they yielded to China by golden goal, in the third game today at the Westville Campus, Suriname played their bench against Macau China. Despite missing several easy chances, they still eased away to a comfortable lead by 20-0 at half time. Men’s Heng Wong earned a big cheer when he scored his team’s first goal after 23 minutes, subsequently adding two more. Goals were shared around by Suriname with recent DOS’46 signing Vladimir Slot top scoring with eight. Final score 33-4
After their amazing victory last evening over Suriname, China was a little flat at the start of this Pool D game against Hungary at the Westville campus. Hungary, on the other hand was well up for a contest, confident and fizzing with energy at the prospect of taking on the world number four. Making the most of controlled aggression in the rebound, they raced to an 8-2 lead after eight minutes, and although China came back strongly in the second quarter, Hungary still had the advantage at half time by 14–15. China’s female players, Jammy Zhao and Xin Li found their shooting groove in the third quarter and managed to tie the game up, clawing back a lead that Hungary had re-established. Dongjie Zhang and Yongbin Yang scored a sharp goal each to take their team three clear with ten minutes left, then more clinical finishing to go five ahead with five remaining and essentially put the game beyond the valiant Hungary, who couldn’t maintain their initial high energy. Remaining undefeated and justifying their superior ranking for the second time in two challenging days, China sealed the top place in the pool, confirming Hungary will take third place. Final score 29-24.
Pool D ranking after Day 3 results:
1st: CHN (8 pts) – 2nd: SUR (7 pts) – 3rd: HUN (3 pts) – 4th: MAC (0 pts)
Pool E
| Time |
Hall |
Pool |
Teams |
Result |
Video/Stats |
| 15:30 |
2 |
E |
GER-POR |
10-14 |
📺 / 📊 |
| 17:15 |
2 |
E |
RSA-JPN |
10-19 |
📺 / 📊 |
European Korfball Championship 2018 silver and bronze medalists Germany and Portugal faced off in a battle for the top place in Pool E in the third game at the Globe on the beach in Durban today. Even though the scoring was not rapid for either team, Portugal managed to score three unanswered goals at the end of the first half to assume the lead. Germany exerted strong pressure at the start of the second half, though took four minutes to pull a goal back. Almost continual attack from Germany in the third quarter, with the ball hardly ever in the hands of Portugal, saw no advantage accruing for the Germans who, despite Dominic During and Timon Orth totally dominating the rebound in their end, could not find their shooting accuracy, while Portugal, with far fewer chances, was much more clinical. And so it continued in the final quarter. Portugal established a four goal lead with five minutes remaining through an excellent long range bomb, under shot clock pressure, from Tiago Luz, which essentially locked Germany out of the game. Final score 14-10.
With an enthusiastic crowd in the Globe to support the host, South Africa offered their most positive performance in this tournament so far, matching Japan through the early stages, with RF van Niekerk, in particular, making good use of his experience. As the game proceeded, however the superior fitness of Japan became evident, and South Africa was unable to counter the speed and accuracy of Yu Furuki and Yuko Anzai. In this the third IKF WKC that Japan has attended, today was their historic first ever win, sending them through to the top 16 when the tournament resumes after tomorrow’s rest day, while South Africa will battle for the minor places. Final score 10-19.
Pool E ranking after Day 3 results:
1st: POR (9 pts) – 2nd: GER (6 pts) – 3rd: JPN (3 pts) – 4th: RSA (0 pts)
Referees & jurys daily apointments
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More information about the tournament
Official websites of the tournament ► www.korfball.sport ► www.ikfwkc2019.com
Live streaming games, results and statistics on ► www.worldkorfball.sport
IKF WKC History event booklet ► Read .pdf document
This tournament is also a qualifying event for The World Games 2021 that will take place in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, from 15 to 25 July 2021. More info ► www.theworldgames2021.com
Discover more from all participants reading #TheTeamFiles Interviews ► korfball.sport/wkc2019
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Day 3 Image gallery
By Marco Spelten: actionphotography.nl – korfbalfoto.nl
