Great Britain closed its Chengdu campaign with a solid 20-11 win over Czechia in the fifth place game at the women’s sixes competition at The World Games 2025.
Great Britain won twice overall in four games and rebounded from its loss on day three.
“I think we know that yesterday against Japan wasn’t exactly how we wanted to finish. We came into this tournament with real hopes and I think we’ve worked really hard,” said Great Britain captain Emma Oakley. “Ultimately it didn’t go our way yesterday but coming back in today, we knew that we had to finish with the win, finish positively and show what we can do going forward.”
“We’re really lucky being a small country that we can train together a lot in GB, and I think we focused on that one team element,” added Oakley. “We really wanted to come together, I think we showed that on the pitch in the way we came together after the loss yesterday to come back and get a win today. I think that really showed.”
Czechia finished in sixth place, a two-spot improvement from its debut at The World Games 2022.
“We’re super proud of the way that we were able to end up sixth in the world – that’s the best we’ve ever finished,” said Czechia’s captain Linda Semerakova. “We worked really hard to get here. It was a long road but it was definitely worth it.”
“Our chemistry was memorable as we have trained together for many years and we all live close together,” added Semerakova. “We get to see each other twice a week which is definitely our advantage.”
Great Britain came out firing, looking to put the game away early with five goals in the first five minutes on a wet field in Chengdu after morning rainstorms.
Czechia slowly settled into the game for the next two quarters, getting the score back to 13-8 at the end of the third, but Great Britain ended with another impressive seven-goal frame to put a stamp on proceedings.
Great Britain finished with seven caused turnovers and Czechia committed 22. The Brits also earned a 23-13 edge on ground balls.
Six different players had two assists on a strong day for Great Britain’s ball movement, and Chess Gray led the attack with four goals for six points. Cece Green added five points.
Emilie Chandler made 12 saves at a 57% clip as well.
Anna Lottmann had six assists for Czechia and Marketa Malinovska added four points. Goalkeeper Katerina Najemnikova made 14 saves.
Gallery
Chess Gray
4 goals, 2 assists
