As the clouds loomed over the peaks of the Hong Kong skyline, our most important day of the tournament thus far loomed as well. Ahead, a match against a powerful and towering Chinese side who had been performing much more consistently than Chinese teams of the past.
Our usual daily routines continued with a recovery session and Koru's presentation before training. This still remains a highlight for all our players and today Bateup chose to pass our little kiwi on to Kelsey as just reward for her tireless hard work and regular smiles throughout what has been a tough introduction into international korfball. A new tradition has also been created with a shopping guru, manager Helen, find some brilliant New Zealand undies with a big fern stretching across the front. Each day someone will receive a pair of these if they had a 'shit' day. The obvious recipient for the award today was our sling clad teammate Bateup. While she needed a helping hand to get them on, she certainly wore her award with pride. Just a quick update for you all, Bateup is coping well and starting to feel better with some good pain relief. As always her spirits remain high as she continues to be an integral and true team player.
Training was a little more relaxed today with pleasantly weary bodies and a few niggles creeping in. The two physios, Rachel and Bevan, have been kept busy while our medic Lucy also hasn't been able to give her hands much of a rest. Honestly, Rosa alone has basically had Rachel as a personal physio for herself! Rosa legs often looking like pin cushions as Rach does her best to manage Rosa's troublesome shins. Unfortunately for Steve, his calf strain has only marginally improved and doesn't look on track for him to recover before the end of the tournament. Nev also had a niggly knee today, ruling him out, while some sore achilles and shins in the female ranks are also making life more challenging.
A pensive Coach Garrett had a change of tack for his pre-game speech, walking in, announcing the team and walking out, leaving Bevan to try conjure up some words to inspire the group.
Starting in attack today was Bevan (c), Carl, Loralee and Kelsey. In defence was Simon, Mikey, Rosa and Rachel. China, traditionally much stronger in their male players than their female players have shown they are a well balanced side this time with their females often outscoring their male teammates. The game began with China scoring a penalty early which was countered by a lovely Loralee long shot. A further goal each way, Rosa scoring at six minutes, left the game in the balance at 2-2. From here China really began to control the game through their height and accurate shooting, while their defensive pressure meant that our attacking divisions struggled to create effective scoring opportunities. When we did create, poor shooting percentages we letting us down with too many missed shots from close range. China went on a nine-goal run, four to the tournaments top scorer so far. The only bright spot on the Korus score board was a penalty to Bevan just before half time leaving the scores 3-11 at the break.
Our usual daily routines continued with a recovery session and Koru's presentation before training. This still remains a highlight for all our players and today Bateup chose to pass our little kiwi on to Kelsey as just reward for her tireless hard work and regular smiles throughout what has been a tough introduction into international korfball. A new tradition has also been created with a shopping guru, manager Helen, find some brilliant New Zealand undies with a big fern stretching across the front. Each day someone will receive a pair of these if they had a 'shit' day. The obvious recipient for the award today was our sling clad teammate Bateup. While she needed a helping hand to get them on, she certainly wore her award with pride. Just a quick update for you all, Bateup is coping well and starting to feel better with some good pain relief. As always her spirits remain high as she continues to be an integral and true team player.
Training was a little more relaxed today with pleasantly weary bodies and a few niggles creeping in. The two physios, Rachel and Bevan, have been kept busy while our medic Lucy also hasn't been able to give her hands much of a rest. Honestly, Rosa alone has basically had Rachel as a personal physio for herself! Rosa legs often looking like pin cushions as Rach does her best to manage Rosa's troublesome shins. Unfortunately for Steve, his calf strain has only marginally improved and doesn't look on track for him to recover before the end of the tournament. Nev also had a niggly knee today, ruling him out, while some sore achilles and shins in the female ranks are also making life more challenging.
A pensive Coach Garrett had a change of tack for his pre-game speech, walking in, announcing the team and walking out, leaving Bevan to try conjure up some words to inspire the group.
Starting in attack today was Bevan (c), Carl, Loralee and Kelsey. In defence was Simon, Mikey, Rosa and Rachel. China, traditionally much stronger in their male players than their female players have shown they are a well balanced side this time with their females often outscoring their male teammates. The game began with China scoring a penalty early which was countered by a lovely Loralee long shot. A further goal each way, Rosa scoring at six minutes, left the game in the balance at 2-2. From here China really began to control the game through their height and accurate shooting, while their defensive pressure meant that our attacking divisions struggled to create effective scoring opportunities. When we did create, poor shooting percentages we letting us down with too many missed shots from close range. China went on a nine-goal run, four to the tournaments top scorer so far. The only bright spot on the Korus score board was a penalty to Bevan just before half time leaving the scores 3-11 at the break.
In the second half we continued to play with positive intent but lacked in execution and goal scoring ability. China scoring the first three goals of the half before Bevan managed to drop one in from the back line. China continued to dominate the game, creating attacking opportunities at ease with some effective ball movement while the Korus just couldn't match their defensive intensity. China scored eight of the next nine goals, Simon scoring a medium distance shot after working hard and playing a very controlled game on the outside. Over the closing minutes we managed to score twice more through Mikey and Bevan before China closed out the game with the final goal for a 7-23 winning scoreline and securing qualification for the world champs.
For the Korus the world champs dream is finally over. Yes, we have built positively through the week but the tournament has also made us aware how much we miss from not having regular international competition against more intense opposition. There has been some good game play and ball movement but the lack of experience and finishing ability has certainly been our Achilles heel.
Now it is time to refocus and play for fifth place, for self-respect, for all of those people who have supported us, for our nation and most importantly, for enjoyment.
Till next time, ke