Day two was the continuation of the round robin. Some teams still have their fate in their hands while others already know that they will be going to the B Championships next year.
 
After day two’s play, we are nearly sure of all the quarter finalists and we are starting to learn which teams will be relegated to IBSA Goalball European B division.
 
Czech Republic continued to hold their title of dark horse for this tournament. However, this is not going unnoticed, especially after narrowly defeating the hosts of the tournament, Turkey, 4-3. This win has assured them the top spot in Pool A. The remaining three quarter final spots look like they will be going to Finland, Turkey and Belgium with day three’s results deciding the exact order. For Slovenia, it looks like they will be finishing at the bottom of their pool and heading to European B division.
 
Lithuania was the surprise in Pool B on day two but for the wrong reasons. Too many penalties proved costly in their matches and they consequently lost both of their matches today to Ukraine and Spain. This leaves Spain currently at the top of this pool. They should be joined in the quarter finals by Ukraine, Lithuania and Germany but in which order, we won’t know until day three has been played. This means that Sweden will end up 5th in their pool and will be relegated to European B division.
 
Day two was a heart breaking day for Denmark in Pool X. They had two narrow defeats which have assured that they will finish in the final position in this pool. They lost 4-6 to Israel and earlier in the day lost the must win match against Germany 3-4. Turkey was on the other end of the scale. They continued their strangle hold on this Pool and remain undefeated. Prior to day two Spain was also undefeated but they were no match to Turkey going down 8-2. Both of these teams will regardless be moving on into the quarter finals from this pool along with Israel and Germany.
 
Russia versus Finland was potentially a very exciting match because these two teams were looking very strong in Pool Y. We can happily report that this match lived up to all its potential. It resulted in a 5 all draw. Unlike the other pools, a lot still rests in the final round robin results. Ukraine had two good wins on day two over Great Britain and Sweden. This means that they will be joining Finland and Russia in the quarter finals. Just the order rests on day three results.
 
If you are wondering, how can so much be already known when there are still many matches to be played, well the answer is simple. The current rules state that when determining the pool ranking when two teams are on the same number of point you first look at what the two teams did against each other. This is the reason why some teams already have their fate decided. Take Pool B for example. Germany currently stands on three points and Sweden on zero. However, if Sweden win tomorrow and Germany lose, Sweden will always remain below Germany on the rankings because they lost to Germany in the round robin stage.
 
Matches to look out for on day three.
The match between Sweden and Great Britain is a do or die game. The winner will move through into the quarter finals while the loser will move down to Europeans B.
 
Another potentially fiery match is the pool X match between Turkey and Israel. Both of these teams are full of young exciting talent and we hope this can transfer into a great game.
 
Day three should be an exciting day with many teams trying to bid for the best position in their pool.
 
RESULTS
MEN POOL A
BELGIUM 6 — 12 FINLAND
CZECH REPUPLIC 4 — 3 TURKEY
SLOVENIA 5 — 14 FINLAND
CZECH REPUPLIC 15 — 8 BELGIUM
MEN POOL B
UKRAINE 11 — 6 LITHUANIA
GERMANY 11 — 7 SWEDEN
SPAIN 7 — 1 LITHUANIA
GERMANY 6 — 10 UKRAINE
WOMEN POOL X
GERMANY 4 — 3 DENMARK
TURKEY 8 — 2 SPAIN
ISRAEL 6 — 4 DENMARK
TURKEY 12 — 6 GERMANY
WOMEN POOL Y
GREAT BRITAIN 4 — 10 RUSSIA
UKRAINE 9 — 3 SWEDEN
FINLAND 5 — 5 RUSSIA
UKRAINE 5 — 2 GREAT BRITAIN