Czechia exacted its revenge on Ireland with an emotional 16-10 victory on day two at The World Games 2025, reversing the result in the final of the 2025 European Sixes Qualifier and securing the program’s first ever victory at The World Games in its second appearance.
Czechia withstood a strong initial push from Ireland, and turned in a marked defensive improvement from its opening day performance to quiet the Irish attack through the second and third quarters. In the final frame, Czechia’s persistence paid off, and the attack exploded for six goals ahead of exuberant celebrations at the final whistle.
“This is a big win for us because we keep fighting against Ireland,” said Czechia’s Anna Lottmann. “We played against them in qualification for The World Games twice, one time we beat them, one time they beat us in overtime, so they’re kind of enemies, friendly enemies.”
“But I have goosebumps because it’s such a meaningful win for us,” Lottmann said. “We’re a little country and we can do so many big things, I’m so proud of us.”
Czechia improved to 1-1 in Pool B and dropped Ireland to 1-1.
Czechia made a key adjustment on the day in its overall positioning to prevent fast breaks on changes of possession, and drew a tight, deep line of confrontation to frustrate Ireland.
“Yesterday, they kept escaping with five seconds left on the shot clock, so today we focused on having our highest player ready to go, so I think that was the biggest win of the game,” said Lottmann.
Still, both teams brought their edge into every loose ball and confrontation in front of goal, and the result was a bruising, frenetic contest. Czechia rode hot shooting to an early lead, but Ireland dug deep to tie it at 4-4 in the second.
Czechia closed the frame strong with a 4-0 run keyed by two goals from Marketa Fiserova, and dried up Ireland’s attacking energy.
Ireland regrouped and mounted a strong push in the third quarter, and the game hung in the balance for three minutes when an Ireland goal to cut it to two would have put real scoreboard pressure on the leaders. Czechia’s defense forced Ireland into difficult shots from distance, and Katerina Najemnikova made a litany of saves, aided by a few dramatic deflections off the crossbar.
Michaela Srchova finally found a breakthrough with seven seconds left in the third to restore the lead to four, but Ireland snuck a last-second transition opportunity to cut it back to 10-7.
Again needing just a foothold, Ireland labored to start the fourth quarter, and nearly killed off a Czechia possession with seven minutes to go, forcing a restart with three seconds left on the shot clock. But Isabella Keyes rifled a quick-hitting shot from distance to salvage the possession and mark a massive inflection point in the quarter.
Czechia erupted for three goals in the next four minutes after barely mustering two in the entirety of the tense third frame, and with an 14-8 lead, the game was much easier to see out.
Najemnikova’s heroics in net – she made 17 saves at a 63% clip – proved decisive, as did Czechia’s timely finishing. Lottmann finished with two goals and four assists, and Srchova also had six points on four goals and two assists.
Isabella Keyes five points helped the cause as did Fiserova’s hat trick.
Gabby Rosenzweig led Ireland with a hat trick in defeat.
Czechia will play the United States on Saturday at 9 a.m. in its pool B finale while Ireland will take on Australia at 1 p.m.
Gallery
Our patience and moving the ball were key today … we had more time to think, more time to pass around, more time to play our game.
Anna Lottmann
2 goals, 4 assists
