Eliska Krizova goal

Jill Quek in B-division All Stars

The following players were elected to the B-division All Stars line-up in the Women´s WFC 2009:

Goalkeeper
Nancy Gatzsch, Germany

Right defender
Anna Harmat, Hungary

Left defender
Franziska Mietzsch, Germany

Center
Jill Chwee Ping Quek, Singapore

Right forward
Brigitta Radácsi, Hungary

Left forward
Melanie Cathie, Australia

Kristyna Jilkova penalty shot

Record budget for the WFC 2010

The Magical Floorball Games 2010 invites the whole Floorball family to experience the joy, drama and the feeling of togetherness, the Communality of the Floorball world, during the main event of the year when the top teams and players in the world fight for the World Championships victory.

“The budget of the next Men’s World Floorball Championships played in Finland reaches 1,5 million Euros and is the biggest ever in Floorball history. We are also aiming to break the previous record of 104 000 spectators from Czech Republic 2008, which is a big challenge, says Mr. Ismo Haaponiemi, the General Secretary of the WFC 2010.”

The World Championships 2010 are for the first time played with 16 teams including quarter finals and the IFF Central Board has made the decision that the top 5 ranked teams in the WFC 2010 will be directly qualified for the Men’s World Championships 2012.

“This makes the matches important not only for the winners but also for the losers of the quarter finals.” Mr. Eriksson explains.

Czechs miss gold medal chance

Switzerland took the victory in the first semi-final on Friday afternoon with a 5-1-win against the Czech Republic to earn a place in the Final on Saturday. For the Czechs the semi-final was their first ever. Switzerland on the other hand was placed third in the previous WFC and was chasing for a place in the Final.

There was some nervousness in the Czech team in the beginning of the match. Natalie Stadelmann scored the first goal for Switzerland due to a substitution error made by the Czechs when only two minutes were played. Switzerland increased the lead to two goals in the end of the period, when Andrea Benz gave a brilliant pass to Corin Rüttimann who scored with a hard shot.

The Swiss team had slightly more ball possession, but generally both teams were able to create good scoring opportunities. The decisive difference between the teams was the ability to use the obtained chances. The Swiss team was able to turn the chances into goals while the Czechs were not able to utilize the opportunities that well.

Switzerland scored two goals in the second period and the match was settled.

Daniela Stettler increased the Swiss lead already to 5-0, before Eliska Krízová reduced the numbers to 5-1 with a nice backhand shot.

IFF reached over 50 Member Associations

Iran has been accepted as the IFF Member number 50 and Indonesia as IFF Member number 51. The continuous growth in the number of new member associations is important in order to reach the IFF vision of having 100 members by 2020.

“The number of active members, the Universality and popularity of a sport, are key factors for entering Multisport events in the future. The appeal to youth might be one of Floorball’s strengths as the age of the viewers watching the Olympic Sports are getting older. The top countries in Floorball are also commercially interesting for the World Games, which needs to be emphasized and promoted, Mr. Jan Fransoo, the President of the IOC Recognised Sports Federations (ARISF), emphasized.”

“We also need to focus on the quality of the IFF Member Associations and the IFF will implement a License System for participation in IFF Events starting from 2012. The License System urges its Member Associations to build up their own Association and certain criteria have to be met before entering the IFF events, the IFF President Mr. Tomas Eriksson informs.”

“Keeping up the high level of the Floorball events, such as the World Championships and the EuroFloorball Cups is of great importance. The IFF is now working together with the top nations to develop the EFC’s and will also invite the two top clubs from the top four associations to have a joint meeting concerning the future of the EFC in January 2010, Mr. Eriksson continues”

Singapore in B-division bronze match

Singapore lost the B-division semi-final against Hungary 5-2. This means they will play for the B-division bronze on friday.

Nicole Vértesi´s goal was the only goal in the first period, but in the beginning of the second period Hui Hui Ong evened the score to 1-1.

Jill Quek´s had the chance to increase the lead with a penalty shot but could not give Team Singapore the lead. Instead it was Hungary who scored two more times in the second period.

In the beginning of the third, it was Hungarys turn to miss a penalty shot. But only minutes later they made the game 4-1 and the match seemed out of reach for team Singapore.

Singapore took a time out and pressed on, but could only score one more goal.

Singapre goal scorers:
Hui Hui Ong
Huei Pin Debbie Poh

Japan-Slovakia 6-3

Team Japan has really improved their form during the course of the World Floorball Championships in Västerås.
On Thursday they took their second straight victory when Solvakia was beaten 6-3.

Japan has won over a lot of hearts during the championships with their attitude and never say die mentality.

Against the Slovaks Team Japan came back from a 1-3 disadvantage in the second period to win.

This means that the Japanese team will end in 17:th place.

Japanese goal scorers against Slovakia:

Yoshiko Sato x 2
Asami Morimoto
Hisako Tsuzuki
Miho Nakagawa
Keiko Nakata

After Japan -vs- Canada

Team Japan Pre Game Huddle