2019 IKF World Korfball Championship

The 11th IKF World Korfball Championship was held in August 2019 in Durban, South Africa and won by the Netherlands. The International Korfball Federation awarded the hosting rights for the tournament to South Africa on 7 November 2015, ahead of the bid by New Zealand.^[2]

2019 IKF World Korfball Championship

Tournament details
Host country	South Africa
Dates	1–10 August
Teams	20
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Netherlands (10th title)
Runners-up	Belgium
Third place	Chinese Taipei
Fourth place	China
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s)	Jing Zhao (39 goals)[1]
← 2015 2023 → All statistics correct as of 8 September 2018.

In October 2016, the number of teams participating was increased from 16 to 20. The four extra places were awarded to the Americas (1), Africa (1) and Asia & Oceania (2). The Americas are now allotted 2 spots, Africa 2 spots, Europe 10 spots, and Asia and Oceania 6 spots (with a minimum of 1 for Oceania).^[3] Due to withdrawals, in the end there will only be 1 team participating from the Americas and Africa (each), leading to 11 for Europe and 7 for Asia & Oceania.

This tournament also acted as the qualification tournament for the World Games 2022, with eight teams qualifying for the World Games. The IKF aimed to have teams from up to four continents present at the World Games, therefore the top eight finishing nations qualified, with the exception that when a team finished in the top eleven as the highest finishing team from a top four continent not already having a qualifier, then this team would have qualified instead of the last placed team from an already qualified continent. This de facto meant that the top five finishers were always certain of qualification, while the outcome for the teams in places six through eight depended on the continent of origin of teams up to place eleven. Additionally, Catalonia was ineligible for qualification as the World Games are contested by national instead of regional teams.^[4]

Teams

Qualification

In February 2019, the IKF announced that both  Dominican Republic and  Zimbabwe withdrew from the tournament despite both having qualified for the first time ever. First reserve of the Americas ( Brazil) was unable to step in and ultimately the first reserves of Europe ( Slovakia) and Asia ( Macau) were invited and accepted the invitation.^[5]

Team	Date of qualification	Method of qualification	Finals appearance	Previous appearance	IKF Ranking[nb 1]
Australia	2 August 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship 3rd place	10th	2015	10
Belgium	15 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	11th	2015	03
Catalonia	15 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	09th	2015	12
China	1 August 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship runners-up	04th	2015	04
Chinese Taipei	31 July 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship winners	09th	2015	02
Czech Republic	16 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	06th	2015	07
England	15 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	11th[A]	2015	06
Germany	14 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	11th[B]	2015	05
Hong Kong	1 August 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship 4th place	03rd	2015	11
Hungary	16 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	04th	2015	09
Ireland	18 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball B-Championship top-2 finish	01st	–	20
Japan	3 August 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship 5th place	02nd	1999	24
Macau	14 February 2019	Invited[5]	01st	–	30
Netherlands	14 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	11th	2015	01
New Zealand	3 August 2018	2018 Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship 6th place	01st	–	16
Poland	18 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball B-Championship top-2 finish	06th	2015	13
Portugal	15 October 2018	2018 IKF European Korfball A-Championship top-8 finish	09th	2015	08
Slovakia	14 February 2019	Invited[5]	03rd	2003	17
South Africa	7 November 2015	Host country	07th	2015	15
Suriname	3 March 2018	2018 Pan-American Korfball Championship champions	01st	–	21

2. ^
   includes participations of  Great Britain until 2003.
1. ^
   includes participations of  Germany from 1978 to 1987.

Draw

For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the IKF World Korfball Ranking of December 2018. Pot 1 contained the best five teams (which were automatically assigned to pools A through E), pot 2 contained the next best five teams, and so on for pots 3 and 4, with the exception of Suriname which was placed into pot 3 instead of 4 as the IKF specified that each continental champion would at least be positioned in pot 3.^[6] Finally, it is not allowed to have four European, three Asian or two Oceanian countries in the same pool. In case this happens during the draw, the relevant country will change position with the country drawn after. In case this is not possible, the change will be made with the country that has been drawn before.

The draw took place on 20 April 2019.^[7]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Netherlands (1, CH Europe)  Chinese Taipei (2, CH Asia-Oceania)  Belgium (3)  China (4)  Germany (5)	England (6)  Czech Republic (7)  Portugal (8)  Hungary (9)  Australia (10)	Hong Kong (11)  Catalonia (12)  Poland (13)  South Africa (15, CH Africa)  Suriname (21, CH Pan-America)	New Zealand (16)  Slovakia (17)  Ireland (20)  Japan (24)  Macau (30)

Group stage

Competing countries will be divided into five groups of four teams (groups A to E). Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin basis, with the top three teams of each group and the best fourth-placed team advancing to the knockout stage.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	0	99	22	+77	9	Round of 16
2	Czech Republic	3	2	0	0	1	47	48	−1	6
3	Catalonia	3	1	0	0	2	39	65	−26	3
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	0	3	29	79	−50	0	Finals for 17th–20th places

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

Netherlands  v  New Zealand

1 August 2019 11:00

Netherlands	41 – 5	New Zealand
	Report

Referee: Wing Hung Lee

Czech Republic  v  Catalonia

1 August 2019 12:45

Czech Republic	17 – 14	Catalonia
	Report

Referee: Ugurtan Akbulut

Czech Republic  v  New Zealand

2 August 2019 12:00

Czech Republic	23 – 11	New Zealand
	Report

Referee: Dan Lin Huang

Netherlands  v  Catalonia

2 August 2019 13:45

Netherlands	35 – 10	Catalonia
	Report

Referee: Pardeep Dahiya

Catalonia  v  New Zealand

3 August 2019 12:00

Catalonia	15 – 13	New Zealand
	Report

Referee: Steve Jones

Netherlands  v  Czech Republic

3 August 2019 13:45

Netherlands	23 – 7	Czech Republic
	Report

Referee: Miguel Wensma

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chinese Taipei	3	3	0	0	0	92	37	+55	9	Round of 16
2	Poland	3	2	0	0	1	44	67	−23	6
3	Australia	3	1	0	0	2	55	71	−16	3
4	Ireland	3	0	0	0	3	47	63	−16	0

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

Chinese Taipei  v  Ireland

1 August 2019 10:00

Chinese Taipei	27 – 14	Ireland
	Report

Referee: Peter Van Der Terp

Australia  v  Poland

1 August 2019 11:45

Australia	19 – 21	Poland
	Report

Referee: Carlos Faria

Australia  v  Ireland

2 August 2019 12:00

Australia	22 – 20	Ireland
	Report

Referee: Lukas Pazourek

Chinese Taipei  v  Poland

2 August 2019 13:45

Chinese Taipei	35 – 9	Poland
	Report

Referee: Tina Van Grimberge

Chinese Taipei  v  Australia

3 August 2019 12:00

Chinese Taipei	30 - 14	Australia
	Report

Referee: Pardeep Dahiya

Poland  v  Ireland

3 August 2019 13:45

Poland	14 – 13	Ireland
	Report

Referee: Lukas Filip

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	3	3	0	0	0	99	32	+67	9	Round of 16
2	England	3	2	0	0	1	67	54	+13	6
3	Slovakia	3	1	0	0	2	40	74	−34	3
4	Hong Kong	3	0	0	0	3	40	86	−46	0	Finals for 17th–20th places

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

Belgium  v  Slovakia

1 August 2019 14:30

Belgium	34 – 12	Slovakia
	Report

Referee: Steve Jones

England  v  Hong Kong

1 August 2019 20:00

England	30 – 17	Hong Kong
	Report

Referee: Lukas Pazourek

England  v  Slovakia

2 August 2019 15:30

England	24 – 10	Slovakia
	Report

Referee: Luke Rosie

Belgium  v  Hong Kong

2 August 2019 17:15

Belgium	38 – 7	Hong Kong
	Report

Referee: Ugurtan Akbulut

Belgium  v  England

3 August 2019 19:00

Belgium	27 – 13	England
	Report

Referee: Carlos Faria

Hong Kong  v  Slovakia

3 August 2019 19:00

Hong Kong	16 – 18	Slovakia
	Report

Referee: Peter Van Der Terp

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China	3	2	1	0	0	92	52	+40	8	Round of 16
2	Suriname	3	2	0	1	0	77	37	+40	7
3	Hungary	3	1	0	0	2	72	55	+17	3
4	Macau	3	0	0	0	3	14	111	−97	0	Finals for 17th–20th places

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

China  v  Macau

1 August 2019 13:30

China	42 – 8	Macau
	Report

Referee: Pardeep Dahiya

Hungary  v  Suriname

1 August 2019 18:15

Hungary	12 – 24	Suriname
	Report

Referee: Lukas Filip

Hungary  v  Macau

2 August 2019 17:15

Hungary	36 – 2	Macau
	Report

Referee: Carlos Faria

China  v  Suriname

2 August 2019 19:00

China	21 – 20	Suriname
	Report

Referee: Miguel Wensma

Suriname  v  Macau

3 August 2019 15:30

Suriname	33 – 4	Macau
	Report

Referee: Dan Lin Huang

China  v  Hungary

3 August 2019 17:15

China	29 – 24	Hungary
	Report

Referee: Ugurtan Akbulut

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	3	3	0	0	0	83	22	+61	9	Round of 16
2	Germany	3	2	0	0	1	76	32	+44	6
3	Japan	3	1	0	0	2	39	80	−41	3
4	South Africa	3	0	0	0	3	20	84	−64	0	Finals for 17th–20th places

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

South Africa  v  Portugal

1 August 2019 17:30

South Africa	4 – 36	Portugal
	Report

Referee: Dan Lin Huang

Germany  v  Japan

1 August 2019 19:15

Germany	37 – 12	Japan
	Report

Referee: Luke Rosie

Portugal  v  Japan

2 August 2019 15:30

Portugal	33 – 8	Japan
	Report

Referee: Peter Van Der Terp

South Africa  v  Germany

2 August 2019 19:00

South Africa	6 – 29	Germany
	Report

Referee: Steve Jones

Germany  v  Portugal

3 August 2019 15:30

Germany	10 – 14	Portugal
	Report

Referee: Tina Van Grimberge

South Africa  v  Japan

3 August 2019 17:15

South Africa	10 – 19	Japan
	Report

Referee: Wing Hung Lee

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Ireland	3	0	0	0	3	47	63	−16	0	Knockout stage
2	C	Hong Kong	3	0	0	0	3	40	86	−46	0	Finals for 17th–20th places
3	A	New Zealand	3	0	0	0	3	25	78	−53	0
4	E	South Africa	3	0	0	0	3	20	84	−64	0
5	D	Macau	3	0	0	0	3	14	111	−97	0

First match(es) will be played: 1 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Netherlands  v  Ireland

5 August 2019 15:30

Netherlands	34 - 7	Ireland
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 2, Durban Referee: Dan Lin Huang

Poland  v  Germany

5 August 2019 15:30

Poland	9 - 22	Germany
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 1, Durban Referee: Lukas Pazourek

China  v  Slovakia

5 August 2019 17:15

China	31 - 9	Slovakia
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 2, Durban Referee: Tina Van Grimberge

Portugal  v  Catalonia

5 August 2019 19:00

Portugal	15 - 11	Catalonia
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 1, Durban Referee: Luke Rosie

Chinese Taipei  v  Japan

5 August 2019 13:45

Chinese Taipei	42 - 22	Japan
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 2, Durban Referee: Ugurtan Akbulut

England  v  Suriname

5 August 2019 17:15

England	18 - 22	Suriname
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 1, Durban Referee: Lukas Filip

Belgium  v  Hungary

5 August 2019 13:45

Belgium	26 - 7	Hungary
	Report$

Westville Campus Hall 1, Durban Referee: Wing Hung Lee

Czech Republic  v  Australia

5 August 2019 19:00

Czech Republic	27 - 15	Australia
	Report

Westville Campus Hall 2, Durban Referee: Steve Jones

Quarter-finals

	Fifth place					Consolation semifinals					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
											Netherlands		25
											Germany		9
						Germany		18								Netherlands		27
						Portugal		15								China		12
											China		25
											Portugal		21
	Germany		16																		Netherlands		31
	Suriname		8																		Belgium		18
											Chinese Taipei		20
											Suriname		18
	Seventh place					Suriname		18								Chinese Taipei		19			Third place
						Czech Republic		5								Belgium		20
	Portugal		16								Belgium		27								China		16
	Czech Republic		17								Czech Republic		10								Chinese Taipei		25

Finals for 9th–16th places

	13th place match					13th – 16th place play-offs					9th – 16th place play-offs					9th – 12th place play-offs					9th place match
											Ireland		12
											Poland		16
						Ireland		14								Poland		14
						Slovakia		18								Catalonia		15
											Slovakia		8
											Catalonia		25
	Slovakia		20																		Catalonia		15
	Australia		19																		England		19
											Japan		6
											England		25
	15th place match					Japan		13								England		20			11th place match
						Australia		21								Hungary		18
	Ireland		18								Hungary		22								Poland		21
	Japan		19								Australia		15								Hungary		13

Finals for 17th–20th places

Round-robin stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hong Kong	3	3	0	0	57	37	+20	9	Ranking match 17th-18th
2	New Zealand	3	2	0	1	61	43	+18	6
3	South Africa	3	0	1	2	40	53	−13	1	Ranking match 19th-20th
4	Macau	3	0	1	2	31	56	−25	1

Updated to match(es) played on 8 August 2019. Source: ^[6][7]

South Africa  v  Hong Kong

5 August 2019 12:00

South Africa	11 – 16	Hong Kong
	Report

Referee: Miguel Wensma (BEL)

New Zealand  v  Macau

5 August 2019 12:00

New Zealand	21 – 8	Macau
	Report

Referee: Peter Van Der Terp (NED)

Hong Kong  v  Macau

6 August 2019 12:00

Hong Kong	19 – 7	Macau
	Report

Referee: Lukas Filip (CZE)

South Africa  v  New Zealand

6 August 2019 12:00

South Africa	13 – 21	New Zealand
	Report

Referee: Lukas Pazourek (CZE)

New Zealand  v  Hong Kong

7 August 2019 12:00

New Zealand	19 – 22	Hong Kong
	Report

Referee: Tina Van Grimberge (BEL)

South Africa  v  Macau

8 August 2019 12:00

South Africa	16 – 16[nb 2]	Macau
	Report

Referee: Wing Hung Lee (HKG)

19th-20th place match

South Africa  v  Macau

9 August 2019 12:00

South Africa	23 – 9	Macau
	Report

Referee: Pardeep Dahiya (IND)

17th-18th place match

Hong Kong  v  New Zealand

10 August 2019 09:00

Hong Kong	21 – 19	New Zealand
	Report

Venue

Two venues are used to host all games this championship. Both are located on the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Final standings

Key

	Qualified for the 2022 World Games

Rank	Team
	Netherlands
	Belgium
	Chinese Taipei
4	China
5	Germany
6	Suriname
7	Czech Republic
8	Portugal
9	England
10	Catalonia
11	Poland
12	Hungary
13	Slovakia
14	Australia
15	Japan
16	Ireland
17	Hong Kong
18	New Zealand
19	South Africa
20	Macau

See also

• Korfball World Championship
• International Korfball Federation

Notes

1. The rankings are shown as of December 2018. These are the rankings used for the final draw.
2. At the final whistle the scores were even and when referee Lee invited the teams to play a golden goal period as per the rules of the tournament, they mutually declined, opting instead to save themselves for the 19th-20th place game to be played the very next day in which both teams would meet again.