Huge drama with the two closest games of the tournament so far both today!
August 13, 2025 by Sean Colfer in Recap
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Day two of the World Games competition saw even warmer weather, and some crucial games between the teams despite the early stage of the tournament.
USA Pushed All the Way by Germany
These two teams played out the game of the tournament in Birmingham in 2022, as Germany snagged a huge upset victory in the pool. This time around, they got as close as can be without quite managing to get over the line.
Germany started out trying to challenge the deep space, but miscues led to blocks by Michael Ing and Marques Brownlee that were both converted as the Americans took an early 2-0 lead. Unforced errors from Raphy Hayes and Claire Chastain gave the Germans a way back into the game, though, and the German offense held a messy point to go into half 7-6 up.
The only break for much of the second half was another messy, wild point that saw two spectacular German catches wasted as Levke Walczak rushed a shot to the end zone and overthrew her receiver. The Ings connected to convert the break, Michael hammering to Henry. However, late drama saw Dylan Freechild throw straight to a poaching Conrad Schloer, who threw the break to Paul Herkens to go up 12-11. Germany received on universe point but Freechild got his own back with a stunning layout poach block on a throw from David Metzger, and converted to Dawn Culton to seal the win. Walczak and Schloer were brilliant for Germany in defeat, as was Jakob Dieckmann, but the USA’s big names were able to make just about enough plays to drag themselves over the line.
Colombia Ousts Australia
These two teams entered this game knowing that a loss may well rule them out of the tournament1. Both had struggled slightly to get into an offensive rhythm yesterday and were looking to right themselves.
Colombia succeeded in righting its offensive ship in spectacular fashion. A wayward throw from Valeria Cardenas, behind Ivan Alba, on the third point of the game was the only time the Colombians turned the disc over in the contest. No point in the game had more than one turn, and the Australian record of only six turns all game would usually be enough to be competitive. In this one, the Crocs were blown away by Colombia’s execution.
Australia tried all it could; zones, sags, poaches and even intentional gender mismatches to try and contain Valeria Cardenas. In the end, nothing gained the traction they needed. Kya Wiya turned in another strong game to enhance her growing reputation, but the metronomic brilliance of Yina Cartegena and a massive 5-goal, 2-assist, 1-block performance from Andres Ramirez helped Colombia notch its first win.
Canada Proves its Mettle
The game between Canada and France was very likely to decide the winner of pool B2. The game showed that the teams are very closely matched.
France again started the game by giving up a break to go. The offense hit its stride in response this time though, and an absolute slog saw Canada hold its first chance on O after eight combined turns. The teams settled into a rhythm of holds after that until 5-4 to Canada, a drawn-out, seven-turn point punctuated by a callahan from Molly Wedge. France took a break back before half, Simon Ruelle catching a shot from Léo Stangeuennec, but Canada went into half up a break at 7-6.
The second half was very clean from both teams. Canada stretched its lead with a break after an ill-advised hammer from Elliot Bonnet, but after a turn from Brittney Dos Santos at 12-10, Ruelle found Gaël Ancelin to bring France back within a point. A poor reset throw from Quinn Snider gave France a look at the end zone to try and force universe, but a rushed Ruelle huck was knocked away by Snider. Lauren Kimura found Dos Santos to seal the big win for Canada.
The loss knocked Australia out of contention and set up a straight shootout between Colombia and France for second in the pool tomorrow. The game also came at great cost for France – Sullivan Roblet was substituted in the final point of the game with what looked like a concerningly serious injury, and Tifaine Latchy also may be missing tomorrow after sustaining an injury. That would leave France down to 12 players against a resurgent Colombia.
Japan Defeat China Handily
In another game that had potential elimination implications, Japan faced China in the last contest of the day. The crowd was again loud and enthusiastic, with some huge noise generated by big Chinese plays late in the game like Jiarong Guo’s aerial block on Japan player/coach Masahiro Matsuno and Bo Liu’s flying catch in the back corner of the end zone. Unfortunately for those fans, by that stage the result was largely sealed.
Japan came out hot, scoring three breaks in a row to go from 2-1 up to 5-1 up, and broke again to take half 7-2. Shumpei Makiyama contributed two assists, a goal, and a big block in the end zone to the effort, with Akifumi Muraoka adding an assist, a block, and a goal. Makiyama caught another goal, a deep shot from Sho Okajima, to start the second half and put Japan up 8-2. In building the significant lead, Japan had turned only once.
China put some holds together and managed to get a break back at 11-6, but Japan held on for the 13-8 win. Riyu Shimizu was again excellent at controlling the tempo and Yuko Kashino had a huge game downfield.
Tomorrow’s Action
The World Games format does not feature quarterfinals, but the draw has given them to us anyway. Germany plays Japan at midnight ET for a place in the semis, with Colombia and France playing for the same stakes at 5:30 AM ET. The USA plays China at 3:30 AM ET in a dead rubber, and the day’s action starts with a similar game between Canada and Australia at 10:00 PM ET.
