Round Robin Phase – Saturday and Sunday - Updated 12 October

The first thing I noticed when I arrived on Saturday morning was how many people were about. Spectator numbers was considerable with some of the round robin (of which 12 are played simultaneously) containing hundreds of spectators huddled around the court, creating a great atmosphere.

World Championships Venue in China

All the Chinese teams and a few of the teams from the other nations showed an incredible level of skill with double touches a regular occurrence. The tactics of the top teams saw balls grouped tight to lines waiting patiently for their opportunity to attack.

The Australian charge started well with Canberra picking up a 10-7 win (albeit playing a bit rustily) against Korea Union, this was followed up by an excellent win by Southport 16 -9 over Brazil 8. This is where the strong run by Australian teams ended losing 12 of the next 13 matches with the only other win coming in Canberra’s last game, a 15 – 7 win over Brazil 7. Other Australian teams faced tough opposition with some particularly tough groups.

A list of the Australian results is below:

Canberra – 2nd place in their group

Canberra 10 - 7 def Korea Union
Canberra 10 - 21 lost to Hong Kong Team 1
Canberra 15 - 7 def Brazil 7

Southport – 3rd place in their group

Southport 16 - 9 def Brazil 8
Southport 10 - 13 lost to Hong Kong 3
Southport 9 - 10 lost to Russia

Wombats – 4th place in their group

Wombats 7 -14 lost to Iwate Kuji
Wombats 9 - 25 lost to Zhengzhou Yongtong
Wombats 9 - 19 lost to Inchon Kyodong

Brolgas – 4th place in their group

Brolgas 12 - 14 lost to Brazil 12
Brolgas 10 - 18 lost to Yunnan Liming
Brolgas 7 - 16 lost to Bali

Koalas – 4th place in their group

Koalas 6 - 25 lost to Brazil 6
Koalas 8 - 25 lost to Hebei Langfang
Koalas 8 - 17 lost to Macau Gateball Team 2

The table below shows the results of teams from each nation in the round robin phase.

	Wins	Losses	%
Australia	3	12	20%
Brazil	14	31	31%
China	42	6	88%
Hong Kong	7	8	47%
Indonesia	3	3	50%
Japan	31	14	69%
Macau	5	10	33%
Paraguay	3	3	50%
Philippines	1	5	17%
Russia	1	2	33%
South Korea	12	15	44%
Taiwan	13	20	39%
USA	3	9	25%

Note: Full results from the block draw are available at http://www.gateball.or.jp/jguweb/wgu/competition/pdf/10_wag_02.pdf

The major trends from 2006 are the increased dominance (and level of participation) of Chinese teams and a drop off in the results from Taiwan and Korea. Our friends in Hong Kong had a strong tournament, making the knock-out phase for the first time.

A number of matches were won by large margins (25-3 was the largest) underlying a large gap between the strongest teams (China and to a lesser extent Japan) and the less skillful teams.

Brazilian Gateballer

Three members of the Canberra team discussing strategy

A young Chinese player displaying an unusual sparking style. This team finished in third place

Japanese player hitting golf style

Two members of the Russian team

Southport in action

Elaine Coverdale from the Wombats completing a spark

Sue Leitinger, Captain of the Wombats lining up for a gate

Lowen Clarke and referee

Soutport team working together

Liz Fleming sparking after a gate double touch

A tense moment in a China vs Brazil match

Pictures courtesy of Tim Goodland, Gilon Smith, Kimberlee Trent, Keith McLeod, Weekly Gateball News and the Chinese Gateball Association