Ice hockey-Denmark stun Canada, Swedes beat Czechs to reach world championship semis
Ice Hockey - IIHF World Championships - Quarter Finals - Canada v Denmark - Jyske Bank Boxen Arena, Herning, Denmark - May 22, 2025 General view during the match Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via REUTERS
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The Star
26-05-2025
- The Star
Rugby-Magnificent seven for Portia as New Zealand make statement ahead of World Cup
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Rugby Sevens - Women's Pool A - New Zealand vs Canada - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - July 28, 2024. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe of New Zealand in action with Carissa Norsten of Canada REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo SYDNEY (Reuters) -Portia Woodman-Wickliffe's return from retirement paid big dividends for New Zealand at the weekend when the veteran winger scored seven tries to help the world champions thrash the United States 79-14 and retain the Pacific Four title. Katelyn Vahaakolo on the other wing chipped in with four tries but it was Woodman-Wickliffe who caught the eye with some devastating finishing as the Black Ferns produced a statement win three months before their Women's World Cup title defence. The 33-year-old, who was playing her first test since the 2022 World Cup final after coming out of retirement in April, also overhauled Vanessa Coutts as her country's all-time leading try scorer with 45 five-pointers in 26 internationals. "It's always amazing to represent the black jersey and the legacy that we have, but it's really cool for where we can go from here," twice World Player of the Year Woodman-Wickliffe said. "For me, I just finish what the girls are doing, if I'm there to finish the tries out wide, then that's my job done. We've still got a lot of work to do as a whole team, which is really exciting." After drawing 27-27 in their last outing against Canada, New Zealand needed to beat the U.S. by 25 points and earn a bonus point on Saturday to retain the Pacific Four title. Despite the Americans scoring the first try, that proved no problem at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium with sevens standout Jorja Miller also on fire on her test debut at openside flanker. Canada earlier also finished the tournament unbeaten after putting sixth-ranked Australia to the sword 45-7 with a clinical performance at Brisbane's Lang Park. The powerful Canadian pack quickly dented the confidence Australia had built up after beating the U.S. 27-19 in Canberra last week as they signalled they will be no pushovers in England in August and September. "Obviously we would have loved to get that win against New Zealand last weekend, but we had to move on," said Canada captain Alex Tessier. "Overall I was very proud of the girls today. It was a decent win. We put a lot of points on the board." New Zealand, who have won six of the nine previous Women's World Cups but are ranked third in the world behind World Cup hosts England and Canada, next play Australia for a second time this year in Wellington on July 12. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Petrer Rutherford)
The Star
24-05-2025
- The Star
Ice hockey-Swiss end Denmark fairytale 7-0 to reach world championship final
Ice Hockey - IIHF World Championships - Semi Final - Switzerland v Denmark - Avicii Arena, Johanneshov, Sweden - May 24, 2025 General view after the match Magnus Lejhall/TT News Agency via REUTERS STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Switzerland secured a 7-0 victory to bring Denmark's fairytale run to an end on Saturday and reach the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship final against the United States. Just 48 hours after the Danes made ice hockey history by defeating powerhouse Canada, the Swiss ruthlessly ended their dreams with a precision performance. Nino Niederreiter, Switzerland's highest-profile hockey export thanks to his NHL career with the Winnipeg Jets, scored twice in a devastating first-period onslaught that saw the Swiss establish a 3–0 lead, with Ken Jager also scoring. Switzerland's offensive barrage continued when Denis Malgin scored a fourth with a moment of individual brilliance, netting his first goal of the tournament after 2:22 in the second period. Sandro Schmid — recovering from taking a puck to the face in the first period — got the fifth, while Damien Riat and Tyler Moy also found the net as Denmark's hopes evaporated. Switzerland will face Team USA in Sunday's final after the Americans hammered Sweden 6-2 earlier on Saturday. Denmark will play fellow co-hosts Sweden for the bronze medal. (Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris)
The Star
24-05-2025
- The Star
Ice hockey-McCarron stakes claim for world championship gold as US down Sweden
Ice Hockey - IIHF World Championships - Semi Finals - Sweden v United States - Avicii Arena, Johanneshov, Sweden - May 24, 2025 Brady Skjei of the U.S. shakes hands with Sweden's William Nylander after the match Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Towering American forward Michael McCarron was happy to finally shrug off the underdog tag as Team USA slammed six goals past Sweden to book their berth in the final of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world championship on Sunday, when they will meet either Switzerland or Denmark. With many of their biggest NHL stars traditionally skipping the tournament, the United States have not won gold at the tournament since 1933 and last made the final in 1950, but McCarron said his squad showed in their 6-2 win over Sweden that they were good enough to win this time around. "We have a really good team, we have a group of NHL players as well -- they (the Swedes) might have bigger names but we're all playing the same league," he told Reuters following Saturday's victory over co-hosts Sweden, who were favourites to win gold after Canada suffered a shock elimination at the hands of Denmark on Thursday. McCarron's huge physical presence in front of goal was indicative of how the Americans approached the game, battling the slick stick-work of the Swedes with speedy skating and relentless aggression. "We try to play from below the goal-line and create a lot of offence that way, and I think we did that. We created a lot of offence from below the goal line, we put pucks behind their D and fore check hard and win a lot of pucks back that way," McCarron explained. "We had a good game, we played 55 minutes of really good hockey. We had a little bit of a wall there in the third but, you know, they were going to come out hard, and we were able to turn it around after a short little lack of puck play for us. That was really good." The 30-year-old from Michigan said that, with the final just over 24 hours away, there would be little time to reflect on history. "(Making the final), that's pretty cool. I don't know what took so long for us to get back to a gold-medal game. I think it was 1950 for the last one, something like that, so it feels good," he said. "I mean, it's a quick turnaround. We're going to enjoy this for a quick little bit and go to sleep thinking about whoever wins tonight, get ready for those guys. So it feels great but, like I said, we still have one more step to go." (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
