Getting close to double digit days on our adventure, and we couldn’t have asked for a better one today. Having a good win always makes for a good day, and today was no exception.

The day started much the same as yesterday, with an early training session. In fact, we had the first session of the day, earlier than yesterday, which was actually a bonus, as it meant we had a break between the end of training and catching the bus to our match, unlike yesterday. Having the first training of the day also means you can sneak in a bit extra training, as the gym is empty when you arrive. Training today was once again largely focused on shooting, with many little shooting games being hotly contested. While we don’t play for anything (unlike the Belgians, who appear to play for hula hoops…long story), nobody likes losing, and there were a few “animated discussions” regarding who actually won. At the end of the day though, I think its fair to say the shooting training paid off, as the results of this afternoons match suggest.

The match was once again in Ghent, a 50 minute bus trip away from our hotel in Antwerp, as all of our pool matches are. We again had the first match of the day, against Brazil, and again arrived extremely early for our match. Once we eventually started warming up, I think everyone started feeling pretty good. The line-up was changed a bit from last match, with Bethan and Josh P getting their first senior start. The match itself was a good hit-out, and resulted in a fairly comfortable win. I think we played a lot better than we did against Belgium, regardless of the standard of opposition. The things we can control seemed, and felt, better, and we shot pretty well, especially in the first half. It was fantastic to get the result we did, and we can now turn our attention towards the big game tomorrow.

Tomorrow promises to be a huge day for our tournament. Given the results so far in our pool (and the expected result of the Belgium-Brasil game tomorrow) whoever wins out of us and Russia will finish in the top 8. We have a later game, which is a positive, as it allows us a more relaxed morning, and a later training time. It promises to be an exciting game. Don’t forget, all the match info is available on the National Teams page, which includes live streams. For everything else, remember to keep checking the Facebook page to keep up to date.