3rd Day: Focus on Great Britain

In the Great Britain team there are three players who played for Dutch clubs: Otto Fabius (Dalto 2); David Synott (PKC 2) and Natasha Dawson (KZ 2). Although they have never played the highest level of Dutch competition, I could see a good rhythm in their play.
Otto Fabius and David Synott play together in one section; two tall and strong athletes who can cooperate fairly well. There is only one "small" problem: both men are not good shooters. In the match against Portugal, David and Otto played very well around the post zone in the function as Bears (31 rebounds out of 40 shots). But when they don't score easily they will miss the core of korfball. Their marks as Tigers were 5/41 (Otto 4/26 and David 1/25). The female players in that section have the same problem with their shooting (0/21). But these girls have also another problem: their technique is not up to par; they play the 1-1 duel as junior players. The two male players Otto and David should be supported by better female players who can finish attacks and who can move in a wide action radius.

The most valuable player of England is David Brooks. He has a body of a rugby player who is stuck in the front row of a scrum. In the match against Portugal he was, in the function of the Bear, the key player of the team. He understood that a Bear can only do his role when he is also ready to make shots. His modern high shot around the post is hardly to stop / to block. It is a pity for him that the referees don't understand that in modern korfball a shot while in movement can never be seen as an infringement ( the rule should be changed: a shot is defended when it is done in a static position and is blocked).
David Brooks will recognize how difficult it is when your female players have limited skills. His zone made 18 shooting attempts in total and while there were 3 goals, David scored 2 goals out of 5!

In the match Chinese Taipei - Great Britain there was again, as a substitute, Joseph Bedford. He showed good competencies as a Tiger.
I need more time to make a final conclusion. But as it looks right now, Great Britain came stronger to world Games than I expected. Especially the male players have a good level. The girls section is not (yet) strong enough for international korfball. Aimee Evans and Carly Holness are the only girls who could be unpleasant opponents. All in all I think there is hope that the BKA will get the ambition to see korfball as a top sport.