Inline Hockey Storms Back to Roccarasso where the Junior Women Bring the Thunder to the World Skate Games!

The peaceful resort of Roccarasso in Italy, nestled in the heart of the Abruzzo in Italy, is normally a quiet touristic spot in the centre of this historic land.  This weekend, the heavens opened up and the sky poured open a torrent of dramatic theatre, all centred on the Pala Bolino, the arena for tis display.  But the storm was not just the weather in the apinine mountains, but the tornado brought by the world of Inline Hockey, returning to Roccarasso again for the opening of the World Inline Hockey Championships.  A major part of the World Skate Games 2024 being held across venues all over Italy,

The Inline Hockey Championships is being contested across 4 categories, including Junior and Senior Men and Women’s competition.  The first rumble of thunder was heard from the Junior Women, who brought 10 international sides to compete for the coveted World Cup.  Newly developing organisations, such as China, Chile and India came to challenge the superstars of the sport, such as the USA and Spain.  The pressure was on all week, with some familiar flags appearing at the top of the tables in the two pools of competition.  Spain, Great Britain and Chinese Taipei led group A, where the Spanish dominated overall across the opening round robin matches.  In Pool B, it became hard to see past the twisters from tornado alley, team USA.  But Namibia and the hosts Italy played hard to hold on into the playoffs.  The Semifinals raised the temperature and the level of play, starting with USA v Italy.  Despite valiant efforts from the home players, the Americans were on top and in control from the beginning.  Lillian Winckler scored after 12 minutes of desperate defending from the Italians.   Sara Carrion had to sit for penalties twice in the first half while the Americans swarmed the Italian net.  At the half there was still only one goal difference, but the brave Azzurri could hold on no longer in the second, and the goals started coming in rapidly, First from Jeays Matz, and then Emerson Finke.  Winckler scored again as tiredness began to affect the Italians, who were not always on the back foot, but seemed to be unable to ever test the amazing stars and stripes.  In the last throw of the dice, Italy pulled the keeper to try and make some consolation, but this just served up a plate of apple pie for the team captain, Sara Carrion, sealing the 5-0 result in the empty net.  In the next semifinal, the emerging powerhouse of inline hockey, Namibia, would face the widely recognised superstars Spain.  In this semifinal also there was a clear direction of travel, but the Namibian strength in defence and somewhat more open play allowed them to hold on until very late in the 1st half before the whirling sandstorm of Blanca Lopez put the first goal past Namibian Keeper Bates.  In a flash of lightning the next one went in off Lucia Moreno, and the atmosphere suddenly changed as they went to the half.  The break was not enough to refocus the shining stars from Africa, and Ruiz began the second half for Spain very positively with the third goal.  She soon scored again, and once the fatigue began to set in, Lopez scored her second to seal the second 5-0 result, and setting us up for the perfect storm between the mighty USA and Imperious Iberia.  

The next day brought us the dream final for Jr Women, and both teams looked all but unbeatable going into the eye of the hurricane.  From the very start of the match, and throughout the Spanish women dominated the possession, and dictated the pace.  The clear point of difference was the confidence they displayed on the puck, and their ability to change direction with control and finesse.  The normally tenacious Americans, unused to chasing the puck, felt pressure right away.  In the moments they could exercise their own exceptional pace, they were often matched wheel to wheel, which seemed to disrupt their formidable blitz attack.  It wasn’t long before Itxaso Markige opened the scoring, followed shortly by Lucia Moreno.  USA rightly called a timeout at 10:47 to try and batten down the hatches.  Both sides brought some physical presence to the game, which must have seemed a viable strategy for the Yanks to impose themselves back into contention.  After exchanging penalties, the sheer bravado of the Spanish opened up yet more opportunities, leading to Tamara Vaidean closing out the half with another goal for Spain.  Coming out to a 3-0 deficit was not a part of the American game plan, and they did start the half brightly, But Spain were equal to the pressure and quickly countered, and when they did it was to deadly effect.  Sofia Delgado scoring a beautifully set up 4th for the team in the Maroon and gold jerseys.  It was only left to team captain Sara Carrion to make a spectacular effort to lift team USA, but it was not enough and there was not nearly enough time left to exploit.  As tiredness and emotion crept into the game it broke down a little, leading to a few tough calls from the officials, who would always prefer to let the athletes play.  With injuries and penalties closing out the match, the work had been done earlier and at the final whistle the Spanish team came off the bench like the wind off the Sierra in celebration of their masterclass of stylish inline hockey.  The rains may have come to some here in Roccaraso during this ultimate world Inline Championship, but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the competition, which has offered us all a spectacle of sport to behold in the opening event of this Inline World Championships.  Next up are the Senior Women, followed by Jr and Sr Men all through September.  If this opening finals weekend is anything to go by, prepare yourselves for a flood of entertainment.  

Competition continues throughout September, with Semifinals and Finals featuring live commentary exclusively on World Skate TV.  Check the World Skate Inline Hockey pages for the full results and all the detailed statistics for the competition. 

World Skate welcomes you to the 2024 Games!