The de-facto quarters led to some nail-biting play on a cooler day in Chengdu
August 14, 2025 by Sean Colfer in Recap
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Stormy weather disrupted day three, but with semifinal spots on the line in two games all the delays did was increase the drama and anticipation. Two of the games today were technically meaningless, but significant narratives still emerged from both.
Germany Earns Semis Return
Germany finished fourth last time around, earning a surprise spot in the semis with their flawless pool play record. A 13-12 loss against the USA blotted the copybook this cycle, but a dominant defensive performance against Japan set them up well for the semifinal anyway.
Both teams knew the winner would progress, and Germany came out with intensity from the off. A turn by Masashi Kurono on the second point allowed Paul Herkens to find Joana Erdmann for the first break of the half, with the Germans adding two more to lead 6-3. A mammoth, 10-turn point1 led the teams into half, Germany holding despite huge Japanese pressure. Another break thanks to an excellent layout from Nis-Julius Sontag followed straight out of half, and Germany led 8-3.
Paul Herkens was the defensive star for Germany on day one and seemingly decided he’d like to get in on the layout party later in the half, knocking away a Japanese possession before receiving a pass from Conrad Schlor to put the Germans up 10-4.
Japan stole back some momentum with defensive stalwarts Shoh Okajima and Shumpei Makiyama assisting each other on back-to-back points to bring Japan back to 10-6. The Japanese defense couldn’t get the disc back again, though, as the teams traded clean holds to finish the game 13-9. Schlor continues to look like one of the best players in the world, contributing four assists, a goal and two blocks2 to the victory.
France Ekes Out Win Over Colombia
The second de facto quarterfinal was a much squeakier affair. The two teams were clearly desperate to take the win and some of the play was slow going with a lot of stoppages3, especially in a tight second half. But the teams4 did well to not let the atmosphere between them deteriorate under such intense pressure.
France took first blood, Gaël Ancelin sending a perfect OI flick huck to Simon Ruelle after a Colombian turnover to go up 4-3. The French were grinding out holds despite turnovers, but eventually they gave up one too many chances to the Colombian D-line after Paul Benvegnen missed a shot to the end zone, allowing Ximena Montaña to find Maria Paula Santos for the break back. The final point before half, though, saw France snatch back the momentum after a deep turn by Manuel Candamil. The French struggled slightly to move down the field but once they found space, Elliot Bonnet was able to find Lison Bornot deep for the break into half, up 7-6.
The teams traded holds in the second half until the 10-9 mark. The twentieth point of the match carried on for nearly five minutes with France on offense, moving back and forth and taking safe passes rather than challenge the defense deep or risk a turnover as the clock slowly ticked down. However, Tifaine Latchy dropped the disc on the endzone line and Colombia took advantage, Manuela Cárdenas hucking to Andres Ramirez. The time expired before the next pull, making it game to 12 with the squads tied at 10. France held, and then Zoë Forget lost a game-winning break as she hit the grass on what would have been a stunning layout catch. Yina Cartagena found Valeria Cárdenas and the game went to what it deserved: a universe-point decider.
The final point itself was illustrative of the game. Bornot, one of France’s emotional leaders and best players at this tournament, laid out to save an errant swing by Benvegnen. She returned it back to him, and his huck to Bonnet seemed speculative since he was actually behind Andrés Ramírez, who has been one of Colombia’s strongest players. Ramírez got a hand on it first but Bonnet kept going and snaffled the second chance goal, sending France to semis and Colombia to despair.
France reaches its first-ever World Games semi on their second attempt and guarantees the first-ever medal for Europe at this event.
Canada Tops Struggling Australians
The Canadians have had perhaps the best-performing offensive unit in Chengdu, and its performance today did nothing to dissuade anyone of that notion with only one turn all game.5
Australia, on the other hand, has been searching for answers on both sides of the disc. The Aussies used intentional mismatches again6, several zone and poach sets, and moved players around to try and goose the offense. In the end, too many individual errors meant they couldn’t keep up, especially with the defense forcing only one turn for the second game in a row.
The main story from this game, though, is another unfortunate and unwelcome one. Brittney Dos Santos, who had been having a good tournament with her wonderful throwing ability opening up the field for Canada, left the game with a knee injury. Fingers crossed it wasn’t as bad as it appeared, for her sake and for her team’s.
USA Labors Past China
A 13-6 win in almost any circumstance is a comfortable one that the winners should be happy with. The USA will be pleased to have come through this one unscathed physically, but there were some concerning moments for the favorites against an entertaining and resilient Chinese outfit.
The USA played extremely loose with the disc at times, with several points extending thanks to multiple turnovers. The number of turns in the handler space was quite unusual for American teams, with China earning some poach blocks and benefitting from execution errors and miscommunications between the US players. The offense will need to improve to stay on top of the final bracket.
The constant that the USA has been able to rely on is its defense. Michael Ing had another spectacular game in that regard, but the whole roster is able to play defense at a level that no other team has been able to match so far. The two best units at the tournament are the US defense and the Canadian offense – will we see them match up in the final? We’ll find out tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s Action
Canada will play Germany in the first semi at 3:30 AM ET, and the USA will play France at 5:30 AM. The first games tomorrow will be in the consolation bracket, with China playing Colombia and Japan playing Australia at 10 PM and midnight ET, respectively.
Which also featured a timeout, extending it even further. ↩
With one turn, his first of the tournament. ↩
This was the first game of the event not to go to 13. ↩
And game advisors, who handled things well (in this writer’s opinion). ↩
A good poach read by Rob Andrews to knock away a Molly Wedge swing. ↩
One of which left Quinn Snider so open in the end zone he was able to stand still waiting for the huck. ↩
