Day 2: Aussie Sharks devour Japan in shootout at Intercontinental Cup

M5, 09:30, Group A, CANADA 18 SOUTH AFRICA 4

Quarters: 5-1, 5-0, 2-2, 6-1

Referees: Reynel Castillo (PUR), Liang Zhang (CHN)

Extra man: CAN: 5/10. RSA: 0/4.

Penalties: CAN: 1/1.

Teams:

CANADA: Dusan Aleksic, Gaelan Patterson, Sean Spooner (2), Nicholas Bicari (1), Jeremie Cote (6), Jeremie Blanchard (1), Bogdan Djerkovic (1), David Lapins (1), Aleksa Gardijan (3), Aria Soleimanipak, Devon Thumwood (2), Reuel D'Souza (2), Milan Radenovic, Mark Spooner. Head Coach: Pino Porzio.

SOUTH AFRICA: Lwazi Madi, Olver Roarke (1), Timothy Rezelman (1), Ethan Coryndon-Baker, Garreth Prout, David Rom, Jason Evezard, Loodewyk Rabie, Dylan Cronje, Mark Spencer (1), Liam Neill (1), Miguel Morsis, Keegan Clark. Head Coach: Paul Martin.

Pictures: Russell McKinnon

Canada rebounded from its narrow loss to Australia on Tuesday with a resounding victory built on power and freedom to move. South Africa performed brilliantly against Japan on Tuesday, but poor shooting and bad defence cause the score to mount in Canada's favour. Canadian head coach Pino Porzio was happy with the effort and everything went to plan. What worked brilliantly was Jeremie Cote's shooting arm. He netted a hat-trick in the first quarter, nabbed a fourth in the second and finished with a pair in the fourth. Loose marking on him made a huge differenced to the margin. Eight players scored for Canada, showing the depth of players and will prove useful in the latter stages of the event. South Africa kept up with the Canadians around the pool, but not close enough. Poor shots were taken from poor body positions, worrying about Canadian counters. The big conversion rate on extra helped considerably.

Paul Martin (RSA) — Head Coach

"Our attack let us down. Poor decisions. We scored a lot more than we missed yesterday. We had poor shooting, which is a product of our style back home, which is built on counter-attack. It's easy there. We can't do the big outside shots. They are mainly from four metres. What definitely let us down was the transition. We were always six on six, but sometimes we had heads down and had two defending one man and a simple cross pass, which the keeper can't get to. I can't fault their (RSA) effort. They had a big centre forward (Nicholas Bicari). Whether he gets the ball or not, he is a big presence. We concentrated on him too much and other players shot."

Match M6, 10:45, Group B, CHINA 14 NEW ZEALAND 7

Quarters: 5-3, 4-1, 1-2, 4-1

Referees: Michael Baty (RSA), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN)

Extra man: CHN: 6/12. NZL: 1/5.

Penalties: CHN: 1/1. NZL: 0/1.

Teams:

CHINA: Honghui Wu, Zhangxin Hu (2), Jiahao Peng, Yu Liu (1), Fada Qin (1), Zekai Xie (1), Zhongxian Chen (2), Rui Chen (2), Yimin Chen (1), Feihu Tan (2), Xiao Liu, Nuanxiang Liang (3), Zhiwei Liang, Chenghiao Chu, Rongkun Lie. Head Coach: Petar Porobic.

NEW Zealand: Sid Dymond, Matthew Lewis, Nicholas Paterson, Ryan Pike (1), Nicholas Stankovich, Matthew Small (1), Anton Sunde (2), Sean Bryant, Joshua Potaka, Matthew Bryant, Jerome McGuinness (1), Sean Newcombe (2), Bae Fountain.. Head Coach: Davor Carevic.

Picture: Russell McKinnon

China notched its first victory of the six-day tournament and can take heart from some positive play and excellent shooting. New Zealand played a vastly different game from yesterday when it pushed Kazakhstan all the way. The Kiwis came second in the major foul count — 12-5 — and China caned them with six extra-man goals and a penalty score. Head coach Davor Carevic refused to comment officially on the state of the match. It was a largely static match and the application of the new rules affected New Zealand more than China. Petar Porobic saw the match as a step forward and a good return from the previous day. China led 5-3 in a promising first quarter and took the margin to four by halftime. The Kiwis won the third and let the match slip in the fourth. There is little evidence of the new rules generally, although the free throws are quicker and less whistling by the referees, while zone play cuts down some of the exclusions.

Porobic (CHN) — Head Coach

"We worked hard for long periods. We didn't show much but finally we won and received a little confidence. Most important was that we worked to the conditions. You can't train twice a day and have no games. Here we have plenty of games. The best part was that we returned from a loss yesterday. We returned with confidence, which is good for the future. We will continue to work."

Matthew Small (NZL) — Captain

"If we played a similar game to Kaz we would have had a better result. You can't take anything away from China. We beat them 10-7 last year and this year they came back and beat us 14-7. In the third quarter we stopped doing a drop defence and the third quarter we decided to press to give our centre backs more of a chance to get steals and put more pressure on their shooters and as you saw we won the quarter, but it might have been too little too late."

Match M8, 12:00, Group B, KAZAKHSTAN 11 ARGENTINA 5

Quarters: 1-1, 5-2, 3-1, 2-1

Referees: Andrew Carney (AUS), Michael Goldenberg (USA)

Extra man: KAZ: 1/7. ARG: 2/14.

Penalties: KAZ:  1/2. ARG: 0/1.

Teams:

KAZAKHSTAN: Pavel Lipilin, Yevgeniy Medvedev (1), Maxim Zharlan, Roman Pilipenko (5), Miras Aubakirov, Alexey Shmider (2), Ruslan Akhmetov (1), Yegor Berbelyuk (3), Stanislav Shvedov, Mikhail Ruday, Ravil Manafov, Yulian Verdesh, Valeriy Shlemov. Head Coach: Dejan Stanojevic.

ARGENTINA: Diego Malnero, Ramiro Veich (2), Tomas Galimberti, Guido Martino, Emanuel Lopez, Tomas Echenique, Juan Montane Tobares, Eduardo Bonomo (1), Ivan Carabantes, Esteban Corsi (1), Carlos Camnasio, German Yanez (1), Octavio Salas. Head Coach: Daniel Poggio.

Picture: Russell McKinnon

Kazakhstan secured a second victory and looked a class team and better than Tuesday's 12-11 win over New Zealand. Argentina provided opposition for the first period and allowed Kazakhstan to slip out to 4-1 and close the half at 6-3. The margin pushed to nine in the third period as Argentina had a penalty shot blocked and Kazakhstan also missed. In fact, there were three penalties awarded in consecutive attacks. Kazakhstan eased through the final quarter in a match that seemed littered with exclusions and a stunning 18 advantages not converted. Roman Pilipenko, a veteran of the Kazakh team, slotted four goals.

Roman Pilipenko (KAZ) — Four goals

"We were ready for this game. First of all we focused on our defence because a team like Argentina is very aggressive on attack, so we needed to focus every minute of the game. Our tactics change in every game for every opponent. Every game is different."

Ivan Carabantes (ARG) — Captain

"It was a tough game. Kazakhstan fought very hard, which is what we had anticipated. This time we didn't come out on top, but if we improve our defence, we'll have a very good shot next time."

W5, 13:30, Group A, NEW ZEALAND 7 CHINA 24

Quarters: 3-8, 2-8, 1-3, 1-5

Referees: Garren Gaisford (RSA), Nick Hodgers (AUS)

Extra man: NZL: 4/10. CHN: 5/5.

Penalties: CHN: 4/5.

Teams:

NEW ZEALAND: Jessica Milicich, Isabella Morrison, Gabrielle Milicich, Shinae Carrington (1), Kaitlin Howarth (1), Elizabeth Alsemgeest (1), Emmerson Houghton (1), Katie McKenty, Grace Tobin (2), Gabriella MacDonald, Kirsten Hudson (1), Kate Enoka, Chantelle Conroy. Head Coach: Angela Winstanley-Smith.

CHINA: Jiaqi Zhang, Xinyan Wang, Xiaohan Mei, Jing Yan (3), Guannan Niu (1), Ning Guo (1), Yiuen Lu (4), Cong Zhang (3), Huan Wang (3), Zihan Zhao (6), Xiao Chen (1), Jing Zhang (2), Yineng Shen. Head Coach: Dali Gong.

Picture: Russell McKinnon

China stepped up a notch after losing 11-5 to United States of America on day one by defeating New Zealand 24-7. The first half alone kept the match secretary busy with 21 goals. New Zealand was up against it from the start yet was unfazed and played strongly throughout. The Kiwis drew level at 1-1, but China swiftly moved to 5-1 before finishing the quarter at 8-3. Six straight goals in the first five minutes of the second half had China way out in front. New Zealand slipped in consecutive goals for 14-5. However, China had the drive, the skills and the firepower, especially from the deep-wing players. China needs close marking and the accuracy and speed of delivery was evident at every turn. Long-standing star Zihan Zhao was in top form with six goals, including the last two. China had five penalty goals attempt, missing one while converting all five extra-man attempts, the first team to do so in Perth, men or women.

Huan Wang (CHN)

"Yes, good game. Today we had good counter-attack and we put a lot of pressure on them in counter-attack to score good goals. Tomorrow (Thursday) is a tough game for us; Japan is good counter-attacking team" 

Shinae Carrington (NZL) — Goal scorer

"We knew coming into this game that China was a very strong side, but we gave away many opportunities. However, I feel that in the second half we improved a lot. Building on today's game, we will have to come back more on defence and cover better before we go on the attack."  

Match W7, 15:45, Group A, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 18 JAPAN 7

Quarters: 5-2, 6-1, 4-1, 3-3

Referees: Adil Aimbetov (KAZ), Evan Andrews (CAN)

Extra man: USA:  3/6. JPN: 3/4.

Penalties: USA: 1/1.

Teams:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Gabrielle Stone, Jordan Raney, Stephanie Haralabidis (2), Rachel Fattal (2), Honnie Vandeweghe (1), Maggie Steffens (3), Jamie Neushul (2), Kiley Neushul (2), Brigitta Games, Kaleigh Gilchrist (2), Jewel Roemer (2), Alys Williams (2), Ashleigh Johnson. Head Coach: Adam Krikorian.

JAPAN: Rikako Miura, Yumi Arima (4), Akari Inaba, Eruna Ura (1), Chiaki Sakanoue, Miku Koide (1), Yuri Kazama, Yuki Niizawa, Hasumi Moeka, Misaki Noro, Marina Tokumoto, Kotori Suzuki (1), Minami Shioya. Head Coach: Makihiro Motomiya.

Picture: Russell McKinnon

United States of America played two different styles in beating Japan. In the first half it was all speed, fast drives, swift passing — all within the spirit of the new rules. USA made opportunities from nothing by darting around the offensive zone with skilful individual tactics. This mirrored the Japanese style, but USA was better at it and led by two at the first break. USA intensified the play in the second and boosted the margin to eight by halftime. At 15-4 by the end of the third, Adam Krikorian was rotating players and giving every opportunity for players to express themselves. he top, but the intensity. The style might have changed a littler and the shots hitting the bar or going over the top. Japan was equal to the task and when it came to extra-man conversions, netted three from four. USA shot at 50 per cent. The style of the game was energetic and exciting and the fact that only 11 major fouls were whistled says a lot about the recent changes. Yumi Arima was her usual forceful self, drilling balls from outside and collecting four goals.

Maggie Steffens (USA) — Captain and Player of the Match

" We are happy to get the win, but (there are) lots of things to improve on. Today we were just focusing on trying to play our game and wanted to play good defence. Japan did a good job of countering and getting some good goals. Moving forward we want to have better defence, which gives us a focus for the next game. We have some new girls in the team; we are loving having the young girls play — we have all been in their shoes in the past." 

Yumi Arima (JPN) — Captain

"USA was a tough opponent. We tried our best to counter-attack and outswim them, but unfortunately it wasn't enough today. Tomorrow we have a big day; we will compete against China who are also a very strong team, and we will make sure to put in our best effort in that game."

Match W8, 17:00, Group B, CANADA 13 KAZAKHSTAN 4

Quarters: 3-0, 4-1, 3-0, 3-3

Referees: Gabriella Varkonyi (HUN), German Moller (ARG)

Extra man: CAN: 2/7. KAZ: 2/6.

Penalties: CAN: 2/3. KAZ: 1/1

Teams:

CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo (2), Axelle Crevier (1), Gurpreet Sohi (1), Monika Eggens (2), Kelly McKee, Joelle Bekhazi, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie, Hayley McKelvey (4), Amanda Amorosa, Kindred Paul, Shae Fournier (3), Claire Wright, Blaire McDowell. Head Coach: Pavlidis Theocharis.

KAZAKHSTAN: Alexandra Zhazkimbaeva, Anastassiya Yezemina (2), Aizhan Akilbayeva, Anna Turova, Komila Zakirova, Darya Roga, Anna Novikova, Darya Muzareva, Anastassiya Murataeiyera, Zamirco Myrzafekora, Anastassiya Mirshina (2), Viktoria Khritankova, Azhare Alibayeva. Head Coach: Marat Navrazbekov.

Canada thoroughly earned victory over Kazakhstan with excellent defence proving the key. The scoring came as a result of the defence. That and the brilliance of Hayley McKelvey, who followed up her five-goal haul against Australia on Tuesday with four more goals tonight. Her third came after she rebounded her shot from centre forward and her fourth from well out at the left-hand-catch position. Canada went to 5-0 before Kazakhstan responded and 10-1 by the end of three quarters. To the Asian team's credit, it drew the final period with the final long shot down the middle by Anastassiya Yezemina for her second. There was energy plus from both teams with plenty of movement, although Kazakhstan struggled to get the ball decisively to the strike zone in the early stages. It appeared Kazakhstan was too static, but changed as the coach urged them on.

Match W6 18:15, Group B, SOUTH AFRICA 3 AUSTRALIA 21

Quarters: 1-5, 1-4, 1-5, 0-7

Referees:  Jinyong An (KOR), Megan Perry (NZL)

Extra man: RSA:  0/10. AUS: 2/3.

Penalties: RSA: 2/3.

Teams:

SOUTH AFRICA: Rebecca Thomas, Yanah Gerber (1), Astrid Faustmann (1), Nicola Barrett, Hannah Calvert, Amica Hallendorff, Kim Rosslee, Cassandra Day, Anna Thornton-Dibb, Nicola MacLeod, Emma Joubert, Georgie Moir (1), Stephanie Berry. Head Coach: Sarah Harris.

AUSTRALIA: Lilian Hedges, Keesja Gofers (4), Nioka Thomas, Elle Armit (1), Isobel Bishop (3), Sophie Milliken, Rowie Webster (3), Amy Ridge (3), Zoe Arancini (3), Lena Mihailovic (2), Jessica Zimmerman (1), Pascalle Casey (1), Gabriella Palm. Head Coach: Predrag Mihailovic.

Picture: Russell McKinnonThe Aussie Stingers had plenty of pace and potency on attack. Counter-attack proved fruitful as was snappy passing and an abundance speed. The whole team toiled for the victory while South Africa was left in its wake. South Africa had two penalty strikes in its tally, missing another. The experience of Rowie Webster, Zoe Arancini, Isobel Bishop and Keesja Gofers combined well with relatively new faces or those with minimal international exposure. Lilian Hedges performed admirably in goal when South Africa was given some space to move. The Stingers frequently denied South Africa ball, stealing at will. It was Australia's second win while South Africa gained more experience against the team that claimed silver in last year's World Cup.

Match M7, 19:45, Group A, JAPAN 15 AUSTRALIA 17 in penalty shootout (FT: 12-12)

Quarters: 2-3, 0-4, 3-2, 7-3. Pens: 4-5

Referees: Voijin Putnikovic (SRB), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)

Extra man: JPN: 2/12. AUS: 4/13.

Penalties: JPN: 2/3.

Teams:

JAPAN: Katsuyuki Tanamura, Seiya Adachi (1 +1), Haruki Koppu (1), Mitsuaki Shiga (1), Takuma Yoshida (+1), Atsuto Iida, Yusuku Shimizu, Mitsuru Takata (1), Atsushi Arai (2 + 1), Yusuke Inaba (4), Keigo Okawa (2), Kenta Araki, Tomoyoshi Fukushima. Head Coach: Yoji Omoto.

AUSTRALIA: Joel Dennerley, Richard Campbell (+1), George Ford, Joseph Kayes (3 +1), Nathan Power, Lachlan Edwards (1), Aidan Roach (2 +1), Nicholas Brooks (2 +1), Angus Lambie, Timothy Putt, Lachlan Hollis (1), Blake Edwards (3 +1), Anthony Hrysanthos. Head Coach: Elvis Fatovic.

Picture: Russell McKinnon

Both teams faced off in Brisbane in January with the Aussie Sharks winning twice, lone by the narrowest of margins. Joe Kayes opened the scoring for Australia, matched by Yusuke Inaba. Australia was denied a certain goal at 1-1 when the ball crossed the line and was signalled a goal by a FINA official. However, the lead referee said it did not cross the line. Japan then went to the lead with a fine counter-attack goal by Keigo Okawa. Controversy of sorts followed at 5-2 when a Blake Edwards shot appeared to go over the line, without the goal judge's support. However, the other referee awarded it. The fourth Aussie goal was spectacular in that Nicholas Brooks' won the swim-up, flicked the ball back, kept swimming and received the ball to swim up and beat the advancing Japanese goalkeeper. Lachlan Edwards (Blake's brother) had his hat removed at centre forward, but nonchalantly turned and scored a slider for 6-2. Kayes closed proceedings for 7-2 with a centre-forward backhand shot while heavily defended. Inaba opened the second half with a 6m free throw that rocketed straight down the line.  He repeated the dose for 7-4 a minute later. It became more interesting when Mitsuaki Shiga fired in from deep left for 7-5. Kayes struck again for the Sharks from about five metres in front at 4:21 in the third. The match was alive. With two minutes remaining Japan goalkeeper Katsuyuki Tanamura was ejected for holding on to the ball. The cross pass to Kayes slipped off his hand as an open goal beckoned. Brooks made sure from the left-hand-catch position for 9-5 at 1:17. With three seconds remaining, George Ford bounced off the water into the bar, losing a chance for a five-goal margin heading into the last eight minutes. Japan earned a penalty at the start of the fourth, but goalkeeper Anthony Hrysanthos blocked Shiga's shot. Atsushi Arai converted extra-man attack soon after and the match was at 9-6. Japan was getting on a roll with Shiga narrowing to two. Blake Edwards responded on extra from the deep left. Arai on counter extra man, Inaba with a penalty goal and Mitsuru Takata at the four-metres line and Seiya Adachi from the same position almost had Japan 11-10 ahead — 6-1 for the quarter. The Sharks went to a timeout, but the subsequent shot smashed into Tanamura. Japan lost its attack and Australian gained an exclusion at 1:40 and Aidan Roach fired into the bottom left for 11-11 at 1:18. Koppu latched on to a rocket cross pass at 0:58 for the 12-11 lead. Tanamura stole the ball off centre forward Kayes and Japan used the time until 6.1 seconds. The ball shot up the right to Roach who wanted to pass but reacted to the screams of the crowd to bounce the ball into goal with half a second remaining. Japan had the shot. but it went wide and the match went to penalty shootout. Australia sealed the match with five straight goals while Inaba had the fourth Japanese shot blocked by Hrysanthos.

Joe Kayes (AUS) — Four goals

“It’s never easy playing the Japanese; they throw everything at you. We went into the last quarter up six goals, but they punished us for those little mistakes. They (Japan) are probably the best counter-attacking team in the world. It was hard to play… kept going back and forward so there was no real momentum. But we’re happy with the win and looking to move forward. It was a plan of ours to come out strong and show that we weren’t hurt last night. We’ve fallen behind in previous games with these guys (Japan) so we didn’t want to start on the back foot."

Keigo Okawa (JPN) — Captain

"It was a tough game against the Australians. We didn't have a very good start, but in the third and fourth quarter, we improved our defence and managed to tie 12-12. We did a lot of quick counter-attacks and scored a lot in the second half of the game, but unfortunately, the penalty shootout didn't bring the results that we would have liked."