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New Zealand, Azerbaijan and Ukraine ended the women's Samsung Hockey World Cup Qualifier on a winning note after claiming their respective playoff matches in Rome today.
Although the day was reserved to determine the final standings in the lower half of the table (positions 7-12), all teams were still striving to achieve as high a result as possible which resulted in keenly contested matches.
New Zealand emerged with a seventh place finish after edging Ireland as both teams were forced to rebound from the disappointment of yesterday's losses that ended their World Cup hopes.
The first half was one of limited scoring opportunities but when New Zealand lifted their intensity after the break and Ireland responded, the match became a more entertaining tussle. The goals followed soon after with a pair of Black Sticks goals midway through the term enough to see off the Irish challenge.
In the playoff for 9th place, Azerbaijan did enough to edge Scotland despite having significantly more scoring chances, particularly in the second half.
If not for some good goalkeeping from Scotland's Debbie McLeod, Azerbaijan would have run away with the match after half time, but her efforts combined with the low conversion rate of the Azerbaijan strike line enabled the score to stay close until the final whistle.
Ukraine avoided last place by thrashing a disappointing Italy. The result was secured in the first half, with all five goals for the match coming as the Italian defence allowed Ukraine uninterrupted passage into their scoring circle.
The Italian defence was non-existent as Ukraine enjoyed the chance to play the ball freely around the pitch and score more than two goals in a match for the first time in the tournament.
Tomorrow the three remaining matches in the tournament will decide positions 1-6.
Most interest will focus on the playoff for fifth place between China and France for the final place still available at this year's Samsung Hockey World Cup in Madrid.
China, the world's number five ranked team and the tournament top seed, enter the clash as overwhelming favourites.
England and Korea will contest the final, with the two best performed teams in the tournament sure to produce an exciting, high tempo match, while the 3rd place playoff will be between USA and Japan.
