World Championship Power Ranking

Stregspiller Chris O'Reilly, News Leave a Comment

Image

World Championship Power Ranking


January 18, 2019




By Chris Oโ€™Reilly

Weโ€™re halfway through the championship and only 12 teams remain in the race for the semi-finals in Hamburg and beyond.

The final day of preliminary matches answered a number of important questions, but the odd surprising result has posed even more.

Comparing the level of teams from four very different groups is tricky to do, but Iโ€™ve given it a shot, by ranking the top 12 sides based on their performances over the past eight days.

12. Tunisia
With their squad decimated, they did extremely well to get to the main round – coach Toni Gerona and his men deserve a lot of credit. With matches against injury-stricken opponents and a north African derby on the horizon, Tunisia wonโ€™t be going through this main round unnoticed.

11. Egypt
This side is building towards a home World Championship in two yearsโ€™ time and there is a lot to look forward to. Davidย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  Davisโ€™ men bounced back tremendously from the defeat to Qatar and the performances against Sweden and Hungary proveย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  they belong at this level.

10. Iceland
An impressive come-from-behind victory against the Macedonians showed us there is a lot to like about this Iceland team.ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  They switched off on too many occasions throughout the tournament so far and may be exposed in Cologne, but should theyย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  pull it together for 60 minutes and Aron Palmarsson is inspired by a return to the LANXESS arena, we could have aย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย surprise or two on our hands.

09. Brazil
Impressive wins against Russia and Serbia secured Brazilโ€™s progression from the โ€œgroup of deathโ€ and have made them myย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  top-ranked non-European side. Gutsy performances coupled with a number of classy players makes them a dangerousย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  opponent in the main round, but we have also seen them completely dismantled by Germany.

08. Hungary
Taking just one point into the main round will hurt, but they didnโ€™t deserve anything more from that draw against Egypt.ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย Mate Lekai did wonders against Sweden with second and third choice back court players around him. If Mikler can findย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย form in goal and Zsolt Balogh returns fully fit, Hungary will be dangerous in the main round

07. Spain
Jordi Ribera still has a lot to figure out, particularly in the left back position. Wings have been deadly so far, but theย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  matches against Japan and Croatia show that things can go south very easily with this team. Itโ€™s not their first rodeo andย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  there is still time to turn things around, but it needs to happen immediately with the clash against France on Saturday aย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  must-win.

06. Norway
Having disposed of underwhelming opponents in the opening four matches, the first real test came on Thursday againstย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย Denmark and they did not pass it. The question of the ability of Norwayโ€™s goalkeepers and wings to deliver bigย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย performances in big games reared its head again against Denmark, while Sagosen cannot afford to have anotherย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย performance like that if Norway are to stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

05. Germany
The co-hosts have performed better than I expected so far and at times have shown they can deliver in all areas of theย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  court. Nevertheless, defense remains they key for Germany and they have the tools to shut down any opposition alongsideย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  Andreas Wolff, who has been exceptional in goal. Christian Prokop appears to have full control over his team at thisย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  championship and with home advantage Germany can go further.

04. France
Despite winning a tough group, this France team has flattered to deceive in the preliminary round. However, they haveย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย navigated through these campaigns more than any other team and know when to peak. The additions of Nikola Karabaticย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย and Melvyn Richardson add excitement and potential to a team which can do better.

03. Croatia
Perhaps the only surprise group winner and they did it in impressive fashion. The commanding victory over Spain sends aย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย warning sign out to the rest of the competition and the back court of Cindric, Duvnjak, Karacic and Stepancic is as good asย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย anything else this championship has to offer, but can they keep it going.

02. Sweden
It wasnโ€™t always as smooth as expected, but Sweden move into the main round with maximum points and plenty ofย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย confidence. Counter attacking, individual brilliance and all-star performances from Andreas Palicka have been enough soย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย far, while the team as a whole has a lot more to offer. How they compensate for Jim Gottfidssonโ€™s injury is the bigย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย question mark hanging over Sweden now.

01. Denmark
Tore through everyone in the preliminary round and passed their first major test against Norway with flying colours.ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย Injuries to Toft (ending his tournament) and Mortensen are cause for concern, but at the moment the likes of Niklasย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย  ย Landin, Rasmus Lauge and Mikkel Hansen make it impossible to look beyond the Danes in first place.

News Forum Archives:

Podcasts:



« back to view more

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.