World Games 2013 Day 2: Belgium strong in key match against Chinese Taipei

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!