Day 5 Match Reports

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Game 33: 9:00, Group A, EGYPT 5 HUNGARY 16
Quarters: 0-4, 3-3, 2-4, 0-5
Referees: Keiichi Onkasa (JPN), Anastasiya Skovpina (UZB)
Extra Man: EGY 0/5, 2/4
Pens: EGY 1/1, HUN 2/2
Teams:
EGYPT: Mostafa Mohamed, Omar Atlia, Mohamed El Shishtawy (1), Moataz Ahmed, Amr Hassan, Mostafa Akl, Yehia Mohamed, Mahmoud Abdelgawed (2), Abdelrahman Abbas (1), Thakeb Mahmoud, Khaled Sobhi (1), Basel Abdellatif, Mohamed Mohamed. Head Coach: Mahmoud Eid.
HUNGARY: Mihaly Peterfy, Daniel Santa (1), Szilard Jansik, Tamas Sedlmayer (1), Jozsef Berta, Krisztian Manhercz (2), Gergo Zalanki (3), Tamas Gyarfas (1), Balint Lorincz (4), Bendeguz Szabo (1), Andras Telegdy (1), Toni Nemet (2), David Gyorgy. Head Coach: Gyorgy Horkai.


EGY vs HUN - credit: Anthony Pearse

Men’s tournament heavyweight Hungary easily accounted for Egypt 16-5 in the morning’s first Group A game. The Egyptians took many shots at goal but were unable to score as Hungary finished the first quarter 4-0. Bendeguz Szabo converted Hungary’s fourth through a gentle deflection from centre forward.

In the second, Mahmoud Abdelgawed scored Egypt’s first for the game and followed immediately with a second from eight metres. Hungary scored three of its own to take a 7-3 lead into halftime with Balint Lorincz converting a 5m penalty on the buzzer.

Hungary came out more determined in the third term, wanting to ensure a comfortable lead heading into the final quarter. Krisztian Manhercz scored a double and Daniel Santa, Tamas Sedlmayer and Gergo Zalanki all slotted singles to give Hungary an 11-5 advantage.

The Hungarians increased their pressure even more in the fourth period, pushing the Egyptians to the outer perimeter of the pool, allowing their drivers to swim through the middle and drive home another five goals.

Hungary now earns a day off as winners of the group, while Egypt will play Peru in the classification stage for places 13-20 on.

Mostafa Akl (EGY) reflected on his team’s loss to Hungary saying: “We weren’t that good on defence in that game. Hungary have played more international matches than us. We hadn’t played any international games before now, so we are very proud of our efforts. We just need more experience.”

Game 34: 10:20, Group A, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 17 CANADA 5
Quarters: 1-2, 6-1, 4-1, 6-1
Referees: Andrej Franulovic (CRO), Risto Damcevski (FYROM)
Extra Man: USA 2/9, CAN 2/10
Pens: Nil
Teams:
USA: Garrett Danner, Adam Abdilhamid (5), Reid Chase (1), Matthew Farmer (2), Patrick (Jack) Fellner (1), Kent Inoue (1), Max Irving, Chandler Jarrels Stickney (2), Chancellor Ramirez, Ryder Roberts (3), Connor Stapleton (1), Alec Zwaneveld (1), Kevin Levine. Head Coach: Jason Lynch.
CANADA: Drake Greschner, Ethan Davis, Maxime Gallant, Martin Pelland (2), Harrison Watt, Oscar Henning, Elias Issa, David Lapins, Eric Graham (1), Connor Perry, Devon Thumwood (1), Nikola Curcija (1), Virgile Chabot. Head Coach: Robert Couillard.


USA vs CAN - credit: Anthony Pearse

USA won the clash of the Americas in Group A, taking down neighbour Canada, 17-5. After five minutes without a goal in the opening term, Canada scored the first two of the game courtesy of Martin Pelland and Eric Graham in extra-man attack to take a two-goal lead. Ryder Roberts gained one back for USA and at quarter time it was 2-1 to the underdog.

USA levelled things up a minute into the second period but Canada responded almost immediately via Pelland to go 3-2 up. From then on the quarter was all USA with first Chase Reid, then a treble from Adam Abdilhamid in less than 90 seconds, and another from Chandler Stickney, blasting the score out to 7-3 to USA by halftime.

The third quarter saw the USA stretch its lead to 11-4 with some strong centre-forward goals from Matthew Farmer and Alec Zwaneveld. In the final quarter the USA scored six to Canada’s one for a final wining margin of 12.

Abdilhamid top-scored with five for the game, while Roberts notched a treble. A jubilant Abdilhamid said USA games against Canada always began with a flourish and his side had not gotten off to the start it had planned, while the sharpshooter played down his individual performance.

“Right from the start we kind of strayed from our game plan a little bit and gave them that 2-0 lead,” Abdilhamid said.

“You can never give a team like that a lead early. It gives them hope, it gives them energy and they feed off the crowd but once we got back into it and put a couple of points on the board we got rolling and opened up a couple of counter attacks.

“My goals are the team’s goals. I was the one who was open, I stepped in and took the shots but they are the team’s goals.”

The victory means USA finished second in the group behind Hungary and now goes to the second round for the right to progress through to the quarterfinals. Canada’s path to a quarterfinal berth is not as easy with a second-round game against the mighty Serbians on Thursday.

Game 36: 11:40, Group A, NEW ZEALAND 14 SOUTH AFRICA 6
Quarters: 6-0, 2-1, 4-3, 2-2
Referees: William MacKay (CAN), Joao Cardenuto (BRA)
Extra Man: NZL 3/6, RSA 0/4
Pens: Nil
Teams:
NEW ZEALAND: Thomas Kingsmill, Matthew Lewis (4), Mathew Hansen, Daniel John Kayes (2), Cameron Hayes (1), Tyler Levi, Mitchell Goff (1), Braeden Drennan, Rory McJorrow (1), John (Jack) McGuiness (1), Owen Chambers (2), Anton Sunde (1), Sid Terence Dymond. Head Coach: Jonathon Ware.
SOUTH AFRICA: Franco Conversano, Michael Watt-Pringle, Dayne Jagga (1), Murray Howard, Chad Roman, Nicholas Downes (1), Kyle Gibson (3), Campbell Gregory, Yasien Meth, Joshua Stubbs, Michael Young (1), Kyle Westman, Julian Lewis. Head Coach: Ryan Weideman.


NZL vs RSA - credit: Anthony Pearse

New Zealand eased to a 14-6 victory against Group B rival South Africa, advancing to the final 12 of the tournament. New Zealand was too strong in the pool, shooting one goal after another to put South Africa on the back foot. Matthew Lewis helped himself to an early double as the Kiwis established a 5-0 lead at the first break.

The Kiwis continued their shooting streak in the second with Owen Chambers scoring a pair, before Dayne Jagga netted South Africa’s first with an extra-man goal two and a half minutes from halftime.

South African keeper Franco Conversano was able to keep his team within touching distance early in the third with some fine saves. His team-mates then backed him up with three goals of their own, including a double to Kyle Gibson.

The pace quickened in the final period with New Zealand spreading its attack, forcing the South Africans to work harder up and down the pool. Mitchell Goff (NZL) shot the winning goal for a, eight-goal margin. New Zealand now plays Romania for a place in the quarterfinals.

Kiwi Head coach Johnathon Ware was surprised with the outcome of the game but was pleased all the same. “I’m happy with the match, however, leading by six goals was not in our plan,” Ware said.

“We came out firing and we stuck to our game plan. We are very excited after last night, we put up a good fight against Australia and we’ve reached our goal now, which was the top 12. So now we’ll just see what happens.”

Kyle Gibson (RSA) said: “We’re pretty disappointed. Everyone really wanted to win, but yeah, we don’t know who we’re playing next, so we’ll see.”

Game 37: 13:00, Group C, GREECE 20 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 3
Quarters: 3-0, 5-1, 6-0, 5-2
Referees: Anlong Meng (CHN), Wilmer Pozo (PER)
Extra Man: GRE 2/3, TRI 0/4
Pens: Nil
Teams:
GREECE: Nikitas Paraskevopoulos, Michail Kazazis (1), Spyridon Fotopoulos (1), Emmanouil Prekas (1), Chrysovalantis Chrysospathis (1), Konstantinos Gouvis (2), Georgios Dervisis (4), Evangelos Potamianos (1), Marios Chatzigoulas (3), Nikolaos Alvertis, Panteleimon Kalogerakos (1), Emmanouil Solanakis (5), Alexandros Koumis. Athanasios Kechagias.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Sebastian Van Reeken, Christian Chee Foon, Daniel Tardieu, Johann Callender, Kieron Emmanuel, Russell Ferreira (2), Jonathan Gillette, Andrew Chin Lee, Shaquille Mitchell (1), Marc Stauble, Justin Bodden, Adrian Hinds. Head Coach: Adam Foly.


GRE vs TRI - credit: Anthony Pearse

Greece fine-tuned its set plays and extra-man defence ahead of the quarterfinals with an emphatic 20-3 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in their final Group C match on day five. Centre forward Emmanouil Solanakis (5) and driver Georgios Dervisis (4) were again the stars as they combined for nine goals in a comprehensive display that indicated they would be a team to be reckoned with in the finals stages.

The Greeks eased into the contest with a three-goal opening quarter with Nikolaos Alvertis, Konstantinos Gouvis and Panteleimon Kalogerakos all getting on the board. In the second term, Alvertis scored his second and Emmanouil Prekas his first, before Solanakis exploded with two powerful finishes at two metres.

Greece did not have it all its own way as Trinidad & Tobago keeper Sebastian Van Reeken kept the Europeans honest with a series of superb saves. The Greeks then ran away with it in the third with Dervisis scoring three goals in a row — all within the space of 70 seconds.

Van Reeken continued to inspire his team, making more fine deflections but his bravery was not enough as Greece piled on six more. After Shaquille Mitchell’s (TRI) opener in the second, Trinidad & Tobago’s Russell Ferreira restored some respectability with two excellent goals — including a sublime backhander — to send the vociferous T & T entourage into raptures.

Solakanis then added two more to his tally to end the game with five. He said the team had enjoyed a great campaign so far and believed they had plenty more to offer.

"All of our minds are in the quarterfinals now. We have a strong opponent in Serbia but we have a very good team and we have one day to prepare and train. We are feeling very confident and are looking forward to the game,” Solakanis said.

Greece has a day off, while Trinidad & Tobago will play Colombia in the classification round to decide places 13-19.

Game 38: 14:20, Group C, UZBEKISTAN 10 IRAN 13
Quarters: 3-4, 2-4, 1-3, 4-2
Referees: Nenad Golijanin (SRB), Balasz Fekete (HUN)
Extra Man: UZB 2/13, IRI 5/17
Pens: UZB 3/3 
Teams:
UZBEKISTAN: Stanislav Pashkanov, Timur Razzakov, Miraziz Qosimov (1), Amir Kurbanbaev (2), Mirsodik Yodgorov, Aleksey Zaytsev, Kirill Rustamov (3), Egor Chumachenko (1), Abbas Sayliev, Semyon Selifontov (1), Artur Kim, Maksim Krakhotin (1), Radion Khabibullaev. Head Coach: Aleksandr Sokolov.
IRAN: Mehran Seyed Bagheri, Masoud Ahmadi, Mahmoud Gholamnejad (4), Malek Khanbanan Hamed (4), Ali Mohammadi Gahroei (1), Ali Khaledi Tabar (2), Alireza Moghaddam, Nima Jamshidi Orak, Sheikhighalehsardi Reza (1), Nima Shahbazi, Heydari Mohammadmehdi, Ramtin Osati (1), Mohammad Salemi. Head Coach: Davood Rezasoltari.

Iran battled through a tough men’s match on day five against Uzbekistan to set up a key second-round game with host Australia. Iran came out firing in the opening term, jumping to a narrow 4-3 lead. Ill discipline was costly for Uzbekistan with Miraziz Qosimov and Aleksey Zaytsev both excluded before halftime. This allowed Iran to build a comfortable 8-5 advantage at the main break.

The two teams continued to trade goals in the third term before the Iranians extended their lead to 11-6 at three-quarter time. Iran’s Reza Sheikhighalehsardi became the third player to be excluded from the match in that period. Uzbekistan’s luck continued to crumble in the final stanza, as its various attempts on goal were unsuccessful.

Things turned around, however, as Amir Kurbanbaev and Kirill Rustamov inspired a late comeback. It was all to no avail though, as Hamed Khanbanan sealed the victory with a strike in the dying seconds.

Iranian Head coach Davood Rezasoltani was happy with the result but was mindful of the challenge ahead against Australia. “It will be a good experience for us. The Australian team is very strong,” he said.

Game 39: 15:40, Group D, PERU 1 ITALY 22
Quarters: 6-0, 6-1, 4-0, 6-0
Referees: John Waldow (NZL), Ian Melliar (RSA)
Extra Man: PER
Pens: 
Teams:
PERU: Luis Vidal, Nick Pizarro, Aldo Rodriguez, Rodrigo Recabarrew, Eduardo Grandes, Victor Giordano Castillo, Gerson Rolawdo, Piero Padno, Nicolas Rodruquez, Diego Villar (1), Agusto Otero, Sebastian Morales, Jesus Angulo. Head Coach: Jose Antonio Luque.
ITALY: Leonardo Cavo, Umberto Espositio, Gianluigi Foglio (1), Federico Foti (1), Andrea Fondelli (3), Jacopo Alesiani (3), Vincenzo Dolce, Lorenzo Bruni (6), Allessandro Velotto (2), Tommaso Busilacchi (4), Luca Cupido (1), Nicola Cuccovillo, Fabio Viola. Head Coach: Amedeo Pomilio.


PER vs ITA - credit: Anthony Pearse

Italy’s men made short work of Peru 22-1 in the sixth men’s game of day 5. Fresh from the thorough victory against Serbia that showed the Italians to be the real deal at the tournament, they jumped out of the blocks and immediately had Peru on the back foot. An early double for Andrea Fondelli and Lorenzo Bruni (ITA) saw Italy 6-0 up at quarter time.

Goals continued to flow for Italy in the second stanza. Peru’s defence wilted, providing Italy with the opportunity to score in open water on more than one occasion. The Peruvians earned reward from their first-half toil, Diego VIillar (PER) converting a penalty chance just before the main break with Italy leading 12-1.

Peru continued to pester its opponent in the third quarter, forcing Italy into error during a sloppy period of play. However, the Italians were never threatened at the defensive end and had blown out the lead to 15 goals by the last change. A late game highlight came courtesy of a backhand shot under pressure by Italian Tomasso Busilacchi, in a 6-0 final quarter.

Peru coach Jose Luque acknowledged Italy as a very good team but saw the match as a valuable learning tool for his side. “We’re going to take a lesson from each play and have a team that is very young that will take the experience for the future,” Luque said.

Italy had threats all around the pool, finishing with eight different goal-scorers. The main contributors to the Italian cause were Bruni (6 goals), Busilacchi (4) with Fondelli and Jacopo Alesiani chipping in with three goals apiece.

Speaking after the victory, which meant his country topped Group D, Luca Cupido (ITA) was quick to move the Italians’ focus forward.

“We are very concentrated on our next game and for the finals. We will use our break to train and go over our game plan,” an excited Cupido said.

Italy earns itself a valuable day off before Friday’s quarterfinal. Peru will search for its first win of the championships fighting among the teams in the classification series 13th to 19th.

Game 40: 18:30, Group C, BRAZIL 12 KAZAKHSTAN  7
Quarters: 2-2, 2-0, 3-1, 5-4
Referees: Michail Birakis (GRE), Ahmad Farman (KUW)
Extra Man: BRA 2/6,  KAZ 4/13
Pens: Nil
Teams:
BRAZIL: Bernardo Campos, Pedro Stellet, Leon Psanquevich, Felipe Martins (1), Guilherme Campos (1), Pedro Real Vergara (3), Andrey Lopes, Henrique Vasconcelo (2), Guilherme Gomes (1), Gabriel Salgado (4), Caio Marques, Lucas Franca, Matheus Sorilha. Head Coach: Angelo Coelho.
KAZAKHSTAN: Dmitriy Kuprin, Stanislav Tsoy, Vadim Safiullin, Alexandr Godovanyuk (2), Altay Altaev, Rustem Garayev (2), Bolat Turlykhanov (2), Yegor Berbelyuk, Raul Mudrik, Yersainov Makhambet (1), Miras Aubakirov, Andrey Sukhoparov. Head Coach: Nemanja Knezevic.


BRA vs KAZ - credit: Anthony Pearse

Brazil secured a spot in the last 12 of the men’s competition with a tough 12-7 triumph over Kazakhstan in the penultimate game of day five action at Challenge Stadium. Henrique Vasconcelo (BRA) blasted two powerful goals from long range to put the Kazakh defence on notice. Kazakhstan goalkeeper Andrey Skyhodarov limited the damage of Vasconcelo’s lethal right arm with some quick saves of his own that allowed his team to square away the first quarter 2-2.

Felipe Martins (BRA) broke the deadlock midway through the second quarter dashing away from the Kazakhs to put his stamp on the match. Another Brazilian goal to Gabriel Salgado gave his team some breathing space in a keenly fought affair. Despite the best efforts of both teams, excellent defensive discipline meant that Brazil enjoyed a 4-2 break at the half.

Pedro Vergara (BRA) gave his team the biggest lead of the match midway through the third term. The resolute Brazilians absorbed wave after wave of Kazakhstan attacks before a clever lob shot from Salgado, along with Pedro Vergara’s second of the term put Brazil in the ascendency, 7-3 at three quarter time.

Two Brazilian goals were met by two Kazakh goals in a frantic first two minutes of the last quarter. Brazil finally put Kazakhstan’s challenge to bed with three of the next four goals, running out five goal winners in a match that was a lot closer than the scoreboard would suggest.

Pedro Stellet (BRA) felt his team’s adherence to the game plan laid out by coach Angelo Coelho paved the way for the Brazilian victory and gave them confidence for the matches ahead.

Brazil move into the playoff action against USA on Thursday with two wins from Group D, while Kazakhstan finished a spot lower in fourth place after the group matches and will play for positions in the lower reaches of the classification.

Game 35: 20:00, Group B, AUSTRALIA 15 COLOMBIA 2
Quarters: 4-1, 3-0, 5-0,
Referees: Masoud Rezvani (IRI), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ)
Extra Man: AUS 4/8, COL 0/7
Pens: AUS 1/1
Teams:
AUSTRALIA: Anthony Hrysanthos, Blake Buckley (2), Davis Verboon, William Mackay (2), Luke Pavillard (3), Matthew Perrott (1), Matthew Skinner, Lachlan Edwards, Gordon Marshall (2), Justin Trabinger, Reed Cotterill (2), Ciaran Wolohan (3), Sam Cocokios. Head Coach: Chris Wybrow.
COLOMBIA: Diego Mateus, Simon Suarez, Andres Rua, Joyman Camacho, Juan Pablo Padilla, Omar Correa, William Jaramillo (2), Bryan Avila, Steven Medina, Pablo Velasquez, Brian Gutierrez, Sebastian Vargas, Juan Rua. Head Coach: Bladimir Molina.


AUS vs COL - credit: Anthony Pearse

Australia cemented their position as the number two team in Group B with a 15-2 win over Colombia in the night’s final game. Australia scored four goals to Colombia’s one in the first term with Blake Buckley, Ciaran Wolohan, Gordon Marshall and William Mackay all contributing to the scoresheet and while the intensity was still there the Australians looked to be a lot calmer than they had appeared in their previous few appearances.

The Colombian’s goal came from William Jaramillo who sat up on 7 metres after being fouled and drilled the ball into the post before it ricocheted in off Australian goalkeeper Sam Cocokios. The second quarter went much the same as the first with Australians Reed Cotterill, Marshall and Matthew Perrott scoring the period’s only points to enter halftime with the scoreboard reading 7-1.

The effort to keep pace with the Australians in the first half started to take its toll on Colombia who seemed to fatigue badly in the third quarter and tried to slow the pace of the game. But that tactic didn’t work as they made some basic errors, Cocokios made some inspired saves and Australia extended to 12-1 at the last break.

The last quarter saw goals to Cotterill (off a Pavillard pass), Wolohan (in extra-man) and Pavillard (off a 5m earnt by Marshall) for Australia but the goal of the quarter and perhaps of the game came after a Colombia’s Simon Suarez delivered a perfect pass to Jaramillo to slam it home. The strike could not have been done any more text book.

Australian Head coach Chris Wybrow described the performance as “a lot more clinical” and noted that the Australians had just three bad passes tonight compared to 14 against New Zealand 24 hours earlier.

Wolohan said the Australians came to the pool focussed on the task at hand with the aim of making better decisions in the water.

“We really focussed in our team meeting on keeping calm because we kind of panicked in our other games,” Wolohan said. “It was one of our main goals to keep it calm and have a lot of communication and the boys did pretty well at that.”

On Day 6 Australia will play Iran for the chance to take on Hungary in the quarterfinals, whilst Colombia, who finished fourth in the group will come up against Trinidad and Tobago in the 13-19th place classification.