Germany to their first triumph
Germany scored their first victory of the tournament after besting Canada 7 to 15. They will face off with their northern neighbor Denmark fighting for the 9th position in the tournament.
Germany’s best player of the match #10 Janos Bröker wasn’t satisfied with the first half of the game but said that, in the latter half they found their groove and were able to play more aggressively and secure the victory. He was happy that they moved on to play for the 9th position.
Canada was able to hang on in the game for two periods, but in the final period Germany let loose and left Canada behind. Canada will face Poland in the competition for 11th place in the tournament.
Canada – Germany 7-15 (1-3, 2-4, 4-8)
Denmark succeeds against Poland
Denmark will play for the 9th position against Germany after the 7-3 win against Poland. However, this was regarded as an underperformance by the Danish player #21 Mikkel Skov Nielsen:
-We came to the tournament to play for positions 5-8, so we cannot be satisfied. But today we played a good game against Poland and that will boost us to our last game.
Poland was pretty well in the game after two periods, even though it was five goals down. There was a slight chance, which Poland could not utilize and will now play for the 11th position.
Poland – Denmark 3-7 (1-4, 1-2, 1-1)
USA and Singapore ended their tournament
Team USA and Team Singapore met today in their last game in the tournament for position 15. Team USA won the game 4-2.
Team USA’s head coach Joel Olofsson summarized the tournament as follows:
– Our team met only a couple of days before our first game and we had four team practices.
That is certainly not the ideal way to start a tournament, but on the other hand that is also the case with many other teams.
And as #8 Maximus Blanco from team USA put it:
– I did not even know most of the players before our first practice.
One international career also came to its end, when #7 Syanzi Ramlee from Team Singapore played his last international. The career lasted for 13 years, but he will still continue on the national level.
USA–Singapore 3-7 (0-1,2-0,2-1)
Czechia the first team to qualify to the semifinals
Team Czechia won the tough quarterfinal against team Latvia 9-1. Czechia was the first team to take place in the semifinals at Hartwall Arena.
After the game #11 Marek Beneš from Czechia commented that today they defended well. In the first period they didn’t let Team Latvia get any shots on the goal. Now Czechia has achieved their first step towards the finals.
#22 Peteris Trekše summarised after the game:
– We didn’t expect to lose. I don’t think that the result shows the difference between the teams. It was an even game until the end.
Trekše also said that in the third period they tried to play more aggressive and let their defense more vulnerable but that wasn’t the key to win this game.
Czechia – Latvia 9-1 (1-0, 2-1, 6-0)
After a tough game against Philippines, Thailand placed 13th.
First period started quickly when Thailand scores 3 times in time 12:03. After that Philippines started to narrow the situation and end of second period the numbers on the board were 4-4. From the first period game was full of actions. Both teams took penalties, Thailand 8 minutes and Philippines 6 minutes.
At the time 58:30 Philippines player #23 Ryan Hallden Cater scored and situation was 8-8. Game went to over time but neither of teams didn’t score and the game was solved by penalty shootouts were Thailand earned 13th place by 2 successfully shots. Captain of Thailand #19 Pawat Thaidit commented the key to victory was playing with the heart. He also was awarded as the best player from Thailand.
Philippines – Thailand 8-9 (2-3, 2-1, 4-4,0-0)
Hosts Finland cruised to the semis
The second quarter final game on Wednesday was played between hosts Finland and Slovakia. The game remained close until about the half point until #61 Peter Kotilainen punished Slovakia twice in the second period. Slovakias #24 Lukas Ujhelyi had just scored what ended up being their only goal for the game on a powerplay before Kotilainen’s first goal.
A pretty comfortable win for hosts Finland that made Finland the second team to qualify for the semis at Hartwall Arena on Friday.
– All in all a good performance from the team and now we’re through to the semi finals, said the debutant #87 Miko Kailiala in the post-match interview.
Finland – Slovakia 5-1 (2-0, 2-1, 1-0)