Ali M.
26-07-2004, 08:10 AM
Hi everyone
Just thought I would fill everyone in on how the girls went since we have been so slack, especially compared to Dean!
Day One
We perlayed Sweden in the morning and won 7-3. Not the best of games for us but I guess we all had a bit of 1st game nerves. Next game was Aus and we \lost 2-3. It was really disappointing as we were up 2-0 at one stage and they shot a long shot in the dying seconds to win. We knew beating them was definitely possible as we had done it twice in Awara.
Day two
We played Canada first and won 3-2 (I think) and then played Ireland and won by about 5-3 (can:t actually remember than score). Our final game for the day was France. During the day, Canada had drawn with Aus so if we had beaten France that would have automatically put us second in our pool no matter what the result of the Aus France game was. Unfortunately we lost 3-2.
Day three
we played Hong Kong and won 17-0. That was the last of our pool play and we ended up 3rd in our pool. The top 4 from both pools went through to the quarter finals. We played our quarter final that day against the second ranked team from the other pool. It ended up being Germany, the, as at that stage, current world champs. We had an awesome game against them and ended up narrowly losing 5-4. So we went through to the 5-8 playoffs
Day four
We played Netherlands and won 5-3 (I think). This qualified us for the world games in Germany 2005 (top 6 from worlds qualify). We had another awesome game. Our defence was amazing (if I do say so myself!) They couldnt get inside 6m for a period of 3min at one stage before we got a turnover.
Our last game was a play off for 5th and 6th positions and it was against Aus again (they got beaten by Japan 7-4 in the quarters). It wasnt our best game and we ended up losing 6-4. So the NZ women ended up 6th place.
I would just like to say that I:m so proud of the team. When has a NZ women been so close to the top teams in the world. Losing by only 1 to France and Germany, beating Aus on several occasions on the tour, Drawing to GB in Awara (GB eventually won gold) and beating the Netherlands. All of these top teams were talking about us both to our faces and things we heard when people didn:t realise we were listening! And they were all saying awesome things about us. I think we have made a huge leap in 2 years and other top international players agree. Although on paper we stayed the same ranking as the previous worlds, we have now right up behind the top teams.
Well done girls, its exciting for NZ canoe polo!
Ali
Just thought I would fill everyone in on how the girls went since we have been so slack, especially compared to Dean!
Day One
We perlayed Sweden in the morning and won 7-3. Not the best of games for us but I guess we all had a bit of 1st game nerves. Next game was Aus and we \lost 2-3. It was really disappointing as we were up 2-0 at one stage and they shot a long shot in the dying seconds to win. We knew beating them was definitely possible as we had done it twice in Awara.
Day two
We played Canada first and won 3-2 (I think) and then played Ireland and won by about 5-3 (can:t actually remember than score). Our final game for the day was France. During the day, Canada had drawn with Aus so if we had beaten France that would have automatically put us second in our pool no matter what the result of the Aus France game was. Unfortunately we lost 3-2.
Day three
we played Hong Kong and won 17-0. That was the last of our pool play and we ended up 3rd in our pool. The top 4 from both pools went through to the quarter finals. We played our quarter final that day against the second ranked team from the other pool. It ended up being Germany, the, as at that stage, current world champs. We had an awesome game against them and ended up narrowly losing 5-4. So we went through to the 5-8 playoffs
Day four
We played Netherlands and won 5-3 (I think). This qualified us for the world games in Germany 2005 (top 6 from worlds qualify). We had another awesome game. Our defence was amazing (if I do say so myself!) They couldnt get inside 6m for a period of 3min at one stage before we got a turnover.
Our last game was a play off for 5th and 6th positions and it was against Aus again (they got beaten by Japan 7-4 in the quarters). It wasnt our best game and we ended up losing 6-4. So the NZ women ended up 6th place.
I would just like to say that I:m so proud of the team. When has a NZ women been so close to the top teams in the world. Losing by only 1 to France and Germany, beating Aus on several occasions on the tour, Drawing to GB in Awara (GB eventually won gold) and beating the Netherlands. All of these top teams were talking about us both to our faces and things we heard when people didn:t realise we were listening! And they were all saying awesome things about us. I think we have made a huge leap in 2 years and other top international players agree. Although on paper we stayed the same ranking as the previous worlds, we have now right up behind the top teams.
Well done girls, its exciting for NZ canoe polo!
Ali