Japan beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in the final of BDO Women's World Cup Qualifier in Kazan due to a last minute goal scored by Kaori Chiba. Russia took the Bronze after a Golden Goal victory over Belarus. Italy finish 5th.
1st place
Japan v Azerbaijan 1-0 (0-0)
Both teams were very nervous at the beginning. Japan gradually gained control of the game but Azerbaijan had some dangerous counter-attacks through their defenders who were flicking the ball towards their strikers awaiting the ball in midfield. In the first half nobody had a great opportunity to score because both teams defended well. Marina Aliyeva turned up once in the Japanese circle but missed the ball. Japan gained one penalty corner which failed. Before halftime Japan attacked well but Mazuki Arai's pass did not reach a team-mate.
Japan created two opportunities at the beginning of the second half. A penalty corner shot from Ai Murakami was saved by Azerbaijan goalie Viktoriya Shahbazova and soon after Kaori Chiba was close to scoring but missed the goal. Natsumi Tameto kept the Azerbaijan defenders busy by her dangerous moves in the circle. Meanwhile two short corners of Azerbaijan failed. In the 68th minute Kaori Chiba scored the game winning goal for Japan. She received a pass in the circle and smashed the ball into the goal with a backhand stroke.
Congratulations to Japan!
1-0 68' Kaori CHIBA (FG)
3rd place
Belarus v Russia 2-3 OT (2-2, 1-0)
Belarus started with pace into the Bronze Medal match. Not even two minutes were played when they had a great opportunity to score. Volha Shyntar brought the ball into the circle and passed it to Yulia Laptsevich who shot immediately but goalie Oxana Serezhkina saved it. Afterwards Russia had a good counter-attack which failed. Margarita Drepenkina and Irina Kuzmina combined well but the first shot was saved by Belarus goalie Yuliya Lashuk and then Elena Polovkova was unable to tip the rebound into the goal. Now Belarus got stronger. Captain Shyntar had a good game today and won the first corner for her team which failed. In the 17th minute Belarus however took the lead when Yulia Laptsevich scored with a backhand-stroke directly into the net. Afterwards Russia missed an opportunity to equalise through a penalty corner goal when Shyntar cleared off the goal-line for a long corner.
Belarus were also dominating the beginning of the second half. Shyntar (45') increased the lead and scored her sixth goal in this competition making her the new top scorer. Only a few minutes later Kristina Shumilina (48') made it 2-1 when she defeated the goalie with her third attempt. Now Russia started to take control of the game and equalised. Svetlana Grigorieva's (51') shot went high and goalkeeper Lashuk deflected it into the net, very unlucky. Play was hectic during the last 15 minutes; both wanted to avoid extra-time.
The golden goal was scored by Grigorieva (78') who won possession in the circle and smashed the ball into the goal.
1-0 (17') Yulia LAPTSEVICH (FG)
2-0 (45') Volha SHYNTAR (FG)
2-1 (48') Kristina SHUMILINA (FG)
2-2 (51') Svetlana GRIGORIEVA (FG)
2-3 (78') Svetlana GRIGORIEVA (FG)
5th place
Italy v Wales 1-0 (1-0)
The round-robin encounter between Italy and Wales, last Sunday, finished with a score of 2-1 in favour of Italy, although Wales opened the scoring.
Today's first match took mainly place in midfield with not many chances either side. But each team missed a great opportunity in the first half: Italian Maria Victoria Baetti received a pass in the circle and deflected the ball towards goal but Welsh goalkeeper Margaret Rees cleared for a long corner. On the other side Abigail Welsford missed a chance to take the lead when her high shot was saved by goalkeeper Paula Calvo playing her second match in this competition.
A few seconds before halftime Italy won their first penalty corner which succeeded. With ten players at the circle line it was Daniela Possali (35+') who took the direct shot and scored, 1-0 Italy.
Francesca Faustini (40') missed to increase the lead when her backhand stroke went wide over the crossbar. Afterwards Rees had a spectacular save against Jasbeer Singh and Possali. Wales dominated the match during the last minutes; they created good opportunities, won four more penalty corners but were unable to equalise.
1-0 35+' Daniela POSSALI (PC)
All action from the BDO World Cup Qualifier in Kazan, Russia can be followed live through the special micro site of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Please click here for direct access.
