The first big derby at the women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament ended with no winner.
The Netherlands and Italy shared the points in Group B (7:7), so it’s most likely that the goal-difference will decide the first place in this group. After two rounds, the Dutch are better by this criterion. France recorded its first win by beating Slovakia 17:9.
In Group A, Greece and Hungary easily beat their respective rivals: Greece – Israel 20:1, Hungary – Kazakhstan 23:6.
Women’s Olympic Games Qualification Tournament, Trieste, Day 2
Group A
Netherlands – Italy 7:7 (2:1, 1:2, 3:3, 1:1)
Netherlands: Van de Kraats 2, Genee 1, Van der Sloot 1, Rogge 1, Keuning 1, Koolhas 1.
Italy: Tabani 2, Marletta 2, Giustini 1, Palmieri 1, Chiappini 1.
France – Slovakia 17:9 (5:2, 1:5, 6:1, 5:1)
France: Guillet 5, Vernoux 4, Deschampt 2, Radosavljevic 2,Millot 1, Bouloukbachi 1, Dhalluin 1, Heurtaux 1.
Slovakia:Peckova 3, Katlovska 2, Halocka 2, Sedlakova 1, Stankovianska 1.
The Netherlands and Italy fought a hard battle in a low-scoring game. The difference between the teams was never more than a goal. Italy earned an opening 1:0 lead, but the Netherlands entered the second quarter with a slim 2:1 advantage. In the middle two periods, the Dutch controlled the result. They were earning a 1-goal lead, but Italy responded with an equalizer after each Dutch’s goal. The Netherlands managed to create more goal opportunities than the rival, but Guilia Gorlero, the home team’s goalkeeper, did a good job. She finished the match with 11 saves.
After the third period, Joanne Koenders replaced Debby Wilemsz in front of the Netherlands’ goal (Williemsz posted eight saves). But, that move by head coach Arno Havenga didn’t give a desirable result. In the middle of the quarter, Italy’s Claudia Marletta scored from an extra player shot, and Italy went in front (7:6) for the first time after the opening 1:0. After a few missed chances on both sides of the pool, Maartje Keuning converted an extra-player for 7:7, with 1:02 remaining on the clock. There were no goals in the last minute.
Tomorrow, the Netherlands will play against France, while Italy will meet Slovakia.
France beat Slovakia convincingly, but the match was exciting for more than two quarters. After 44 seconds of play, Slovakia scored an opening goal. However, the French had a 5:1 advantage in the 6th minute. But, Slovakia responded with 4:0 series and equalized – 5:5 midway through the second quarter. Shortly after Slovakia’s fifth goal, France regained a lead 6:5. But then came a new series of goals by the Slovaks and they earned a two-goal advantage (8:6) early in the third quarter. However, they ran out of gas. France scored 11 goals in a row within 11:13 minutes and built a 17:8 advantage before Slovakia closed the match with its ninth goal.
1 Netherlands 2 – 4 (+20)
2 Italy 2 – 4 (+13)
3 France 2 – 3
4 Slovakia 2 – 0
Group B
Hungary – Kazakhstan 23:6 (7:2, 6:3, 5:1, 5:0)
Hungary: Keszthelyi 9, Gurisatti 4, Leimeter 3, Szilagyi 2, Parkes 2, Valyi 1, Garda 1, Gyongyossy 1,
Kazakhstan: Roga 2, Murataliyeva 2, Turova 1, Yeremina 1.
Greece – Israel 20:1 (7:0, 3:0, 5:1, 5:0)
Greece: E.Plevritou 7, Tsoukala 4, Xenaki 4, Eleftheriadou 2, Myriokefalitaki 2, M.Plevritou 1.
Israel: Hochberg 1.
The Greek’s percentage of shot efficiency was less than 50% today – 47,6 (20/42), but despite that fact, they achieved a win with a big margin. Israel its only goal scored 19 seconds before the last break for 1:15. Six of Greece’s players made the scoresheet today. Eleftheria Plevritou was infallible, with seven goals from as many shots.
Hungary scored more than 20 goals for the second time in a row. Yesterday, the Hungarians trashed Israel (27:2). Today, they had no problems collecting the points in the match against Kazakhstan. In the 6th minute, the bronze-medalists from the 2020 European Championships built a 6-goal lead for the first time (7:1). The Asians managed to reduce the gap to four during the second period (4:8 and 5:9). But, already in the middle of the third quarter, the distance between the teams was ten goals (15:5). Rita Keszthelyi scored nine goals.
1 Hungary 2 – 6 (+42)
2 Greece 2 – 6 (+27)
3 Kazakhstan 2 – 0 (-25)
4 Israel 2 – 0 (-44)
Day 3
January 21: Hungary – Greece (14:00), France – Netherlands (16:00), Italy – Slovakia (18:00), Israel – Kazakhstan (20:00).
