The two Tasman sides – Australia and New Zealand – earned potentially significant cross-over victories on Day 4 in Coimbra, with both teams hailing from ‘down under’ only one step away from the quarter-finals.
A six-goal performance from Darcy Spark guided New Zealand to a 12-9 victory over Canada, while the junior Stingers defeated Croatia 11-8.
Both games followed a similar pattern, whereby the eventual winners were pegged back to just a single-goal lead. However, both teams scored three goals in succession in the last quarter to secure, theoretically, slightly easier cross-over games.
New Zealand’s win over the Maples sets up a finely poised cross-over duel with Brazil, while Australia will need to navigate past a quality-filled Israeli side.
Despite today’s defeats, Canada and Croatia can still reach the final eight, although they will face stiff opposition. The Canadians have a tough task to defeat a well-drilled Dutch side, while Croatia will need a miracle to take down the Junior Setterosa in an Adriatic derby.
In the lower section of the competition, it was a day of little competition, with Japan, France, and Portugal all scoring 25+ goals against their respective opponents: India, South Africa, and Chile. Maho Kobayashi (7), Camelia Bouloukbachi (6), and Louisa Madalena (10) all accrued sizeable tallies.
Crossovers
15:30 – Canada vs Netherlands
17:00 – Croatia vs Italy
18:30 – New Zealand vs Brazil
20:00. – Australia vs Israel
Play-outs
10:30 – India vs Chole
12:00 – Kazakhstan vs France
13:30 – Japan vs Portugal
Day 4, U20 World Championships Coimbra Portugal
Crossovers
Canada 9 – 12 New Zealand (2-3, 2-4, 2-1, 3-4)
Canada: S. Lapierre, E. Cowan 1, E. Lawson 4, A. Ferguson, A. Burlock 2, L. Levin, M. Hack, L. Ahmad, G. Patenaude, S. Browne 1, R. Peiravane 1, K. Featherstone, C. Monteil
New Zealand: T. Ahovelo, I. Jackson, E. Weston 2, L. Bachelor, D. Spark 6, B. Fonoti, S. Bentley, S. Goldsworthy, A. Weston 2, S. Gardinier, G. Doyle 1, H. Dunn.
Croatia 8 – 11 Australia (3-2, 1-2, 2-2, 2-5)
Croatia: L. Medvesek, A. Stipanov, N. Eterovic, J. Butic 2, M. Butic 1, R. Glas 2, N. Medic, N. Alamat, A. Desnic, I. Rozic 3, R. Pesic, D. Kangler, L. Korac
Australia: E. Gath, S. Henderson, K. Blew, T. Dawkins 3, T.Taoso, M. Nasser 2, T. Logan, M. Ogg, S. Hardingham, N. Thomas 3, J. Higgs, S. Green 3, L. Smith
Play-Out
Japan 28 – 2 India (12-0, 9-0, 3-1, 4-1)
Japan: S. Ajikawa, M. Inoue, S. Kobayashi, S. Fukuda 5, K. Sugimoto, M. Nishiyama 3, S. Katada 4, H. Yamamoto 2, K. Hanai 3, M. Kobayashi 7, S. Sekine, R. Otsubo 4, H. Miyagawa
India: S. Manohar, S. Adak, S. Sakeer 1, P. Shynuka Prahladan, V. Suresh, V. Akhila Shibu, S. Sajini, Y. Agrawal, P. Rao 1, N. Shukla, R. Saravanan, D. Doddaballapur Karthikeya, A. Gopi Sujitha.
South Africa 6 – 25 France (1-8, 3-4, 2-5, 0-8)
South Africa: O. Gando, T. Macdonell 1, T. Caswell, C.Mentz 1, M. Christian 1, E. Zondo, J. Van de Bosch, D. Wedderburn, J. Williams 1, M. Haworth 1, M. Boaventura, G. Eccles 1, S. Murray.
France: P. Martineaud Peret, J. Dhalluin 4, K. Boughara 1, C. Bouloukbachi 6, L. Jean-Michel, L. Vernoux 2, L. Andres 2, V. Heurtaux 4, E. Vernoux 3, E. Duflos 1, T. Raspo 2, T. Bacle, E. Lefebrve
Portugal 25 – 4 Chile (8-1, 3-0, 8-2, 6-1)
Portugal: M. Riberio, A. Rodrigues 2, C. Fernandes 2, I. Dos Santos 3, C. Pereira, A. Monteiro 1, L. Madalena 10, J. Arromba 1, M. Machado 5, M. Tejo 1, M. De Carvalho, B. De Sousa, A. Vicente.
Chile: A. De Andres, M. Dufflocq 1, A. Hernandez, I. Del Villar, D. Zavala, B. Gutierrez 1, A. Antillanca, A. Guerrero, A. Puelma 1, P. Torres, C. Beltran, V. Diaz 1, V. Roa
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