The first ever World Floorball Championships final round to be played in Italy, will see a familiar WFC final. Finland and Sweden will meet for the second time during this event, and this time, the winner takes it all.
The first placements in this U19 World Floorball Championships were decided on Saturday, 9th May, and that day also included play-offs and semi-finals.
Singapore finished in 15th place, ahead of Canada. It was an important match for both teams as they were looking for their first win during this event. However, this match left no doubts about which team would claim 15th place. Singapore were dominating from start to finish and finally secured 15th place.
Japan and Hungary met for the 13th place game. Hungary had a tough event as their key players, Orsolya Galfi and Csenge Gombas, got injured during the tournament, which presented challenges for Hungary in terms of scoring. At the same time, it meant that new players needed to step up. Japan’s Yua Kawada was as unstoppable in this game as she had been throughout the event, scoring a hat-trick. Hungary managed to score enough goals during the first two periods and held onto the lead until the very end, although Japan came close. The final score was 4-5, and 13th place was claimed by Hungary.
Hosts Italy met Australia in the 11th place game. Italy came to this tournament with a new kind of formation. They won their matches against Canada and Japan and lost to Germany but were ready to secure 11th place in front of their home crowd. Australia, on the other hand, had lost against Latvia but won against Hungary and drew against Singapore. The match remained tight until the second period, but then the hosts put their game face on and continued to extend their lead. Stella Raber (2 goals, 5 assists) and captain Belen Lara Acosta (5 goals, 0 assists) were the key players in this game, helping Italy achieve that 11th place finish.
In the play-offs, Poland met Latvia and Denmark met Germany. Latvia were dominating the match and were already 5-0 up before Poland could start scoring. Thanks to efficient goalscorers as well as their goalkeeper Estere Elbrete, Latvia took home the win and secured a place in the 7th place match. The second play-off match between Denmark and Germany started evenly. Denmark took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Germany managed to equalise in the second. However, Denmark were better at utilising their scoring chances and finally took home the win, 9-3.
Norway and Slovakia played for 5th place in this U19 WFC. Slovakia were able to challenge Switzerland in the first match of the event, but they then fell to Slovakia and got a win against Denmark. Norway, on the other hand, drew against Poland but lost against Finland and Sweden in the group stage. In the 5th place match, Slovakia started scoring, with Eva Ragacova putting the ball in the back of the net with a fierce shot. Norway only equalised less than two minutes before the end of the game, and Maiken Enge-Kristiansen became the match hero. The game remained 1-1 until the end, and as overtime didn’t produce any results, the 5th place had to be decided in a penalty shootout. Finally, Zuzana Mrazova was the one who scored when additional penalties were taken, and as Daniela Zvarova (who was substituted in goal for the penalties) made the deciding save, Slovakia began celebrating their rather familiar 5th place result.
Then came the semi-finals. Finland met Czechia, and Switzerland met Sweden. Finland and Czechia had both been convincing in this event, as they were both victorious before this game. So, it could have been expected that this match would be a close one, at best. And it was exactly that. Finally, Zara Gauffin-Kauste scored the golden goal in overtime, and Finland advanced to the final, leaving Czechia heartbroken. In the other semi-final, a similar story unfolded. Switzerland started the scoring, Sweden equalised, then Sweden took the lead, and Switzerland equalised. In the third period, Sweden took the lead for good with goals from Alva Pettersson, Dessie Karlsson Johansson, and Emellie Gharaei. This meant that we would once again have a Finland-Sweden World Championships final while Czechia and Switzerland will be playing for the bronze medals.
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