Australia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand. They are the four countries from Asia Oceania who have qualified for WFC 2018 in Prague.    

Two qualification matches today between the teams who placed 2nd & 3rd in their group decided the final qualifiers. New Zealand faced Thailand and although they have improved in every match they have played they were outplayed by the more experienced Thais. The Kiwis were the first to score but once Thailand put the ball in the net the first time they found their rhythm and with a 5-1 lead already by the end of the first period they were not going to be beaten from there. Final score was 11-2.

In the other game, Japan played Korea. Korea have come very close to making the final round at the last two qualifications, while Japan missed out on qualifying for the first time ever in 2017, so both teams had good reason to really fight hard in this match. It was very even and the teams played a very similar style of game, but the ability of Japan to actually score goals was the difference. The Koreans never put enough pressure on the Japanese goalkeeper, letting him have a clear sight of shots, or making poor decisions to shoot when there was a Japanese defender in good position to block the shot. Japan won 6-2.

7th place was decided in the game between Malaysia & China. China were playing their first qualification event, while Malaysia are in the process of rebuilding after a long absence from international Floorball. China showed they have potential to develop and were good competitors the whole tournament. For now they still have a long way to go but it won´t be long before they are challenging on a more even level. Malaysia were disappointed with some of their results but did well in this game and the players would have enjoyed finishing on a high note, winning 17-1.

Match replays are available on IFF YouTube Channel 1 and photos on Flickr.

For all results and statistics visit the WFCQ 2018 AOFC Event page.