Today’s pool games at the IKF WKC 2019 in Durban will take another step towards determining which teams will make the top 16, and how difficult it might be for them to progress from there to the highest rankings.

Looking at the schedule for Day Two, China v Suriname in Pool E is the clear stand out. Both teams have aspirations for a podium finish and both made a positive start yesterday. They meet this evening in the final game of the schedule in Hall One, at KwaZulu Natal University’s Westville Campus.

Ireland and Australia meet in the day’s first Pool B game at Westville, in what should also be an intriguing contest. Both lost yesterday, with Ireland no doubt taking courage from their performance against Chinese Taipei, while Australia will want to rebound from the disappointment of just failing to catch Poland.

Behind Chinese Taipei, Pool B could well be the closest and may be where the best placed fourth place team will emerge to contest the top 16. In what is probably the most challenging pool, Pool A, the Czech Republic controlled their game against Catalonia well and should be able to build on that when they play New Zealand today. Meanwhile the Catalans play the world champions today, so will be setting their own objectives and taking away some korfball lessons from what will clearly be a huge challenge.

In Pool C, Belgium looked impressive and will meet Hong Kong, who struggled against England. Tomorrow’s meeting between the two European teams should be worthwhile, and should show whether Belgium is really on the way back. Most of the other games appear to be clear cut and if the likes of Germany, Chinese Taipei, Portugal and England don’t build on their strong starts of yesterday, it will be a major surprise  (Day 1 press reviews ► www.korfball.sport/?p=21829).

In this post you will find updated recap with all Day 2 IKF press reviews, results, best images and videos from all games played during this day.

These are the games scheduled to be played on Friday, 2 August 2019 (Day 2):

*(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 2 reviews, results, rankings & videos:

Pool A

At the Globe venue, Hall Two of the IKF WKC 2019 in Durban, New Zealand came out against the Czech Republic full of intent. Both teams pressed hard in the opening ten minutes and at 4-2 after the first quarter the contest was well set up. However, as they did yesterday, Czech increased the pressure in the second quarter and took command with 11 unanswered goals before New Zealand won and converted a penalty in the final second of the half. Czech experience in the rebound and their deadly shooting accuracy under anything other than complete defensive pressure made the difference. Lenka Faltynkova and Petr Galicek scored four each to assure the decisive advantage. After half time, with the contest essentially over, Czech coach Ivo Kracík gave several bench players a run, which slowed the momentum somewhat, though not sufficient to give New Zealand a realistic chance. However, New Zealand can take encouragement from holding the world number seven to eight goals each in the second half, with Torsten Ball and Megan Shea both showing their worth to the team. Final score 23-11.

In the second Pool A game at the Globe today, The Netherlands faced Catalonia. TeamNL Korfbal coach Wim Scholtmeyer gave eight of his squad the full 40 minutes yesterday, so it was no surprise to see him start today’s game with yesterday’s bench players, and once again he didn’t trouble the jury by requesting any substitutions. With a totally different team in orange, it was still business as usual, and the Netherlands started with high tempo, great pressure and their usual exceptional shooting accuracy. Catalonia played The Netherlands in Barcelona a few weeks ago, so these players are well known to each other. In some games The Netherlands are able to put the contest beyond doubt in the first few minutes. This was one. In the second half there was plenty of show reel korfball from another planet, though David Puertas of Catalonia drew the biggest cheer, and high fives from his opponents, with a spectacular one handed running in shot delivered from about five metres. Barbara Brouwer bettered even that with a final second bomb scored from around 16 metres. Arguably the ball left her hands momentarily after the buzzer, but referee Pardeep Dahiya had the good grace to award the goal and when he blew his whistle it was 35-10

Pool A ranking after Day 2 results:
1st: NED (6 pts) – 2nd: CZE (6 pts) – 3rd: NZL (0 pts) – 4th: CAT (0 pts)

Pool B

Australia featured in a close game yesterday before losing to Poland, so today’s first game in Hall One, at KwaZulu Natal University’s Westville Campus saw them needing to beat Ireland to bring their campaign back on track. Both teams went for it in the first half and after Australia took an early lead, Ireland set some tactical challenges that Australia struggled to handle. At the half time whistle it was 10-11 to Ireland. Hannah Goodridge was taking plenty of responsibility for her team, while for Australia Emily Hutchesson stepped up. By the end of the third quarter, thanks largely to her superb shooting, Australia had eked out a three goal lead and from there it was their game to lose. Each team has a Dutch based player in Jeffrey Vliestra and Shay Conroy, with the latter tending to be the go to guy for Ireland, and coach Kees Veerhoven making canny use of the reversible substitution rules to keep him in attack. Although his shooting took Ireland back to within to one goal and the possibility of a golden goal arose, Australia was able to eat the clock. When Bethan Channing scored a crucial to put them two up with two minutes to play, they held their nerve to achieve the win they needed. Ireland can take some consolation in the likelihood that this will now be the pool that provides the best fourth placed team to make up the top 16. Final score 22-20

After the slow start to their first match, world second ranked Chinese Taipei started today at KwaZulu Natal University’s Westville Campus against Poland with an all-star line-up, featuring the great Ricky Wu as captain. Ya-wen Lin set the tone for the match with two goals for Chinese Taipei within one minute. Despite a goal from Kamil Musialinski, Chinese Taipei finished the quarter well in control through a four goal margin at 9-5. An appreciative crowd relished the exiting style of the Asian superstars flexing their korfball muscles and putting in place some well drilled moves to extend their lead to 18-8 at half time. Despite some Polish substitutions, Chinese Taipei grabbed the game by the throat and scored 10 unanswered goals to continue their dominance for the rest of the second half, and end the game with a comfortable win by 35-9

Pool B ranking after Day 2 results:
1st: TPE (6 pts) – 2nd: POL (3 pts) – 3rd: AUS (3 pts) – 4th: IRL (0 pts)

Pool C

Game three at the Globe today saw battle resume in Pool C. England and Slovakia fought hard from the start, both sacrificing subtlety for physicality in their efforts to gain ascendancy, and putting the powers of referee Luke Rosie fully to the test. Scoring was rare, though England put up two shortly before the end of the first quarter to lead at the whistle by 4-2. In the second quarter the scrappy, low scoring theme continued with Slovakia’s Peter Busik controlling his end effectively, and frustrating England’s endeavours to break open the contest. At half time it was 6-5. Two half time substitutions, with coach Rob Williams introducing Ayishah Chaudry and Shannon Jones, broke open the game and after the restart England finally found some fluency, and the goal, to assert the advantage they had not been able to achieve to that point. Leading, and effectively closing out the contest for a 19-6 three quarter time lead, easing back towards the end to finish at 24-10.

Belgium gave a hint yesterday that reports of their eclipse from global korfball’s top table might be premature, and that their relative decline of the past two tournaments may be giving them motivation to show what they are really capable of at a whole new level. Hong Kong China gave the world number three little chance to test that theory further, leaving several of their stars on the bench, presumably holding back to increase their chances against Slovakia tomorrow. Belgium celebrated at the start of the match with a presentation to Jari Hardies to mark his 50th international appearance for The Diamonds. He celebrated by top scoring, with six. While Belgium should face a sterner test tomorrow against England, by the end of this game they were ahead by 38-7.

Pool C ranking after Day 2 results:
1st: BEL (6 pts) – 2nd: ENG (6 pts) – 3rd: SVK (0 pts) – 4th: HKG (0 pts)

Pool D

Hungary had to bow to Suriname yesterday, so in this, their second match of the IKF WKC 2019, today at Westville Campus, Durban, they were in no mood to back down, showing their less experienced Asian opponents little respite. Hungary dominated through ruthless pressure in defence, stronger rebound execution and accurate shooting. Zsolt Majer top scored for Hungary, with seven, though all members of their squad, bar one, scored. Macau China had no answer. They took 14 minutes to score, through Weng Si Sio, by which time Hungary had accrued 15. When referee Carlos Faria brought the game to its conclusion the score was 36-2.

This game has shaped as one of the most intriguing of the IKF WKC 2019 since the draw was made. Right from the start it lived up to that promise, with a clash of continents, cultures and korfball styles. Suriname began hesitantly, then clicked into gear, employing their craft and experience to excellent effect, while China did not resile, fighting with firm focus, demonstrating the discipline they have learned under Dutch master coach Ben Crum. Randall van der Steen and Yongbin Yang made their presence particularly felt, and referee Miguel Wensma kept a strict hold on proceedings. A three goal lead to Suriname after 16 minutes was pared back to just one at half time: 9-10. In the third quarter the game remained just as close. Two shot clock violations in quick succession by Suriname suggested that they might be running out of ideas. However two goals late in the third quarter re-established their lead and some cool work by Gerald van Dijk brought Suriname’s lead back to three. Both teams missed penalties to ratchet up the tension. China captain Jimmy Zhao brought her team back into it with two sharp goals to even up the score with less than a minute remaining. With 35 seconds left Vikash Missier scored a penalty to put Suriname back into the lead, only to have Jingyi Yin score a heart breaking running in shot to even up the game again at 20-20. A move between Gerald van Dijk and Randall van der Steen when Suriname restarted with three seconds left came to nothing and we were into the tournament’s first agonising, glorious golden goal. China started and captain Jammy uncharacteristically wasted the opportunity without even putting up a shot. Suriname, however also put up a tame effort at the other end, and in their second attempt to finish the gam, China found the ice cool Donngjie Zhang in space at four metres and he made no mistake. Ecstasy for China, grief for Suriname: 21-20.

Pool D ranking after Day 2 results:
1st: CHN (5 pts) – 2nd: SUR (4 pts) – 3rd: HUN (3 pts) – 4th: MAC (0 pts)

Pool E

Portugal’s impressive start to the tournament yesterday continued in the same vein in the third game at Westville Campus. Pedro Correia and Isabel Almeida provide strong leadership to their team mates at each end and it will take a big effort from a well organised team to knock Portugal off their stride. Japan lacks the experience to be that team and again fell short, despite best endeavours, when faced with the power and accomplishment of one of European korfball’s most efficient and dynamic teams. Energy generator Yuko Anzai provided some consolation for Japan with a pair of goals. Tomorrow’s much anticipated clash with Germany should offer a better indication of Portugal’s ultimate prospects at the IKF WKC 2019. As for today, they can be content with a win by 33-8.

In the final game at the Globe today, Germany started this Pool E game against the host with characteristic intensity, picking up where they left off yesterday against Japan. Superior shooting and absolute control of the South African attack, marking their opponents as tightly as possible, meant the score was rising on one side of the ledger only. A good crowd of cheerful and high spirited supporters turned out to fill the seats in the stadium and made their appreciation for South African korfball known, singing, dancing and making noise, despite the scoreline. For the second consecutive day, however, South Africa’s lack of competitive korfball outside the IKF WKC cycle, counted against them and Germany continued to take advantage. Scoring by Germany was shared throughout the squad, and with seven substitutions at half time, every player is well prepared for a tougher contest tomorrow, against Portugal. Final score today: 6-29

Pool E ranking after Day 2 results:
1st: POR (6 pts) – 2nd: GER (6 pts) – 3rd: JPN (0 pts) – 4th: RSA (0 pts)

Referees & jurys daily apointments

Click here to see the appointments.

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 2 Image gallery

By Marco Spelten: actionphotography.nl – korfbalfoto.nl