Spain and Italy were handed blows in their quest for semi-finals among men while the Dutch women came out on top against France at the 2024 International Canoe Federation Canoe Polo World Championships.
A quick-fire start from the Swiss took the second-ranked Spaniards by surprise on Thursday. Shane and Livio Vogeli combined well to help world number nine Switzerland register a famous 6-3 win.
The Italians, up against Great Britain, conceded after only 17 seconds of play but Gianmarco Emanuele pulled one back soon after.
However, nothing could stop captain fantastic Suryan McCutcheon, who powered Britain to victory. Leading from the front, he bagged another hat-trick as they won 3-2.
The race for semi-finals saw Germany, Poland, Denmark and France all come out on top in the men’s category. Rene Kirchhoff and Erik Beukenbusch stood out with a two-goal performance for the Germans against Portugal.
Earlier in the day, the fight for second position in the men’s Group A went down to the wire, with Japan and Belgium giving it their all.
The exhilarating match ended in heartbreak for Japan, who squandered their lead twice.
Skipper Ryota Kimura’s hat-trick was in vain as the Belgians did enough to edge the game 5-4.
The women’s competition saw The Netherlands entertain the crowds by edging second-ranked France 6-5. The nail-biter saw the French lead 4-3 at half-time only for Selina Dijkstra to level things up.
Alisha Van Den Berg and Astrid Van Der Maas stood out for the Netherlands, as they scripted a memorable win at the Deqing County International Convention Centre (Fengqi Lake).
Germany’s women’s team made light work of hosts China, defeating them 17-1. Katharin Gruenewald starred with five goals and skipper Svenja Schaeper got a hat-trick. They went on to make it two from two against world number eight Denmark 7-0.
Singapore women came up with one of the results of the tournament, drawing 2-2 with the in-form Spaniards.
A brace from Jia Xin Ong almost got them a surprise win against the Super Cup champions only for the sensational Beatriz Carmona Quevedo to equalise with two minutes remaining.
Learning their lesson against Singapore, Spain took a cautious approach to beat higher-ranked Italy to finish the day on a high.
France and Italy won both their games in the U21 men’s category, bagging crucial points in the second phase of group stages.
World number one Spain was in front against third-ranked Italy thanks to the ever-reliable Jose Luis Aguilar but failed to keep up the momentum as the Italians came back to win 3-1.
Spain did just about enough to beat The Netherlands 4-3 in their first game of the day to remain in contention for the semi-finals.
Poland is embracing the giant-killer role, following in the footsteps of the senior team, beating second-ranked Germany 3-2.
Winner at the death is an understatement as Dominik Taluk scored with one second remaining to help the Poles victory.
In the U21 women’s category, Spain and France got the better of The Netherlands 3-2 and 5-2, respectively.
The defeat against Spain would have been hard to digest for the Dutch after two goals in the last moments almost sparked a comeback.
New Zealand are well on course for defending their title after a stunning 3-2 win over Great Britain.
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