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June 21-11

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JUNE 22/11 (end of day) BRATISLAVA, SVK – Now that the opening festivities and ceremonial responsibilities are done, we get to the part of the tournament I enjoy the most.

By the third day, teams have settled into this new environment, players become more focused and disciplined, and the entertainment of the matches heightens. Nations jockey for position setting up the playoff rounds through days three to five. The game scores become closer, and all teams feel they are in the hunt. The great matches of yesterday and today reflected that.

The Men’s A-Pool gave us a greatly improved Greece edging Switzerland 2:0. Canada – Czechia provided a fabulous game for a world-wide audience on Eurosport2 with a 2:2 draw, while Germany proved themselves worthy of their return to the top level through a feisty battle with Portugal although they would ultimately fall 2:4. Finland so far have accounted for themselves very well with a win, a tie, and well played 1:5 loss to defending champion Czech Republic.

The A-Pool is as evenly matched as we have seen for many years. The Switzerland v Austria match was close through two periods until the Austrians ran into penalty problems. It is a good sign for our sport on the international level.

The B-Pool is not without its pleasant surprises as well. Newcomers France, Hungary, and Spain have performed better than most have expected. The French appear destined to a final four finish in the B-Pool, not many other than those on the team may have projected that. Great Britain with a roster heavily laden with UK residents has also impressed and seem bound for the semi-finals too. Of course there are the always competitive Bermuda, Cayman, and Pakistan, accompanied by an improved Hong Kong. Should be great playoffs throughout.

The women’s matches have reached the playoff stages and we will see more evenly contested games. The gap is closing but the Americans, Canadians, Czechs, and Slovaks remain at a higher level and they competed today for the A-Pool semi-finals. Canada defeated USA 5:0 with their best game of the tournament, but the highlight of the night was the Slovak v Czech clash before a packed house in Hall B of beautiful Ondrej Nepalu Stadium. It was the loudest crowd I have ever experienced for a women's match, and I am sure the teams fed off the atmosphere with brilliant performances. It took over time to decide who would meet Canada in the A-Pool final. 25 seconds in Pavlovicova sent the home crowd wild making it 2:1 for SVK.

The influx of new nations competing in women’s ball hockey is exciting and the re-grouping of Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Great Britain, and Hungary will bring each of them, as well as the fans, a more enjoyable competition. These are but simple growing pains, well worth the experience, because it is the enthusiasm of the athletes that matters most, and there is no lack of that from every single nation competing. The day saw GBR win 1:0 over GRE, and AUT edge HUN 7:5 in B-Pool action.

I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to applaud the tremendous work of the Host Committee and their staff. Everything has gone smoothly in our start. The quality of the webcasts and online stats is sensational.

President's note

George Gortsos
ISBHF president

This past weekend I had the honour of becoming the third President of the ISBHF. I believe that as a player and coach I have always strived to play ball hockey in a skilled and team way. Now I have a chance to work with all the great leaders of our sport throughout the World who love the game like we all do. I met some great people in Paris. And I would like to thank the representatives of all our member nations who voted me in on behalf of ball hockey players around the World. This is an honour I will handle with the honesty and hard work that made me a successful player and coach. I want to share the main keys that I will strive to work with my fellow board members to make this game better around the World.
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