06-12-2022, 01:58
It was tough enough up until yesterday, but it got worse today for the home teams.
Ireland lost both their games, 2-9 versus Netherlands and 4-6 against Latvia, to finish a disappointing 5th in Group B. Poland lost their remaining game to join the also-rans..
Wales beat India by 9-5 to finish 5th in Group A, sharing a 2 win/4 loss record with Ireland.
Tomorrow's play-off games at 10am are Austria v China, Netherlands v Finland, New Zealand v Turkiye, France v Spain. There are further play-off games at 3pm (please bear with me here), where the 4 winners from the earlier games will play again (the A-Road), with the 2 winners qualifying for the main event in April. Also at 3pm, the 4 losers from the earlier games will play (the B-Road) and the 2 winners from the B-Road will play the 2 losers from the A-Road on Wednesday at 10am. The 2 winners from these games will also qualify for the main event.
I do apologise if you find this difficult to follow. As an advocate of the principle that if a team is knocked out of a knock-out tournament, then they are out - it's simple. But no, the powers-that-be have got it into their tiny little minds that that scenario is not good enough and that they've got to make it more complicated. If the losers want to play for a Diddy Cup, that's OK with me, but they should not be given the chance to progress in the competition.
Ireland lost both their games, 2-9 versus Netherlands and 4-6 against Latvia, to finish a disappointing 5th in Group B. Poland lost their remaining game to join the also-rans..
Wales beat India by 9-5 to finish 5th in Group A, sharing a 2 win/4 loss record with Ireland.
Tomorrow's play-off games at 10am are Austria v China, Netherlands v Finland, New Zealand v Turkiye, France v Spain. There are further play-off games at 3pm (please bear with me here), where the 4 winners from the earlier games will play again (the A-Road), with the 2 winners qualifying for the main event in April. Also at 3pm, the 4 losers from the earlier games will play (the B-Road) and the 2 winners from the B-Road will play the 2 losers from the A-Road on Wednesday at 10am. The 2 winners from these games will also qualify for the main event.
I do apologise if you find this difficult to follow. As an advocate of the principle that if a team is knocked out of a knock-out tournament, then they are out - it's simple. But no, the powers-that-be have got it into their tiny little minds that that scenario is not good enough and that they've got to make it more complicated. If the losers want to play for a Diddy Cup, that's OK with me, but they should not be given the chance to progress in the competition.
Cabbage is still good for you