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Lars Hamer

China made a significant improvement on their previous finish at the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship by beating Ireland on Friday to secure ninth place.
Making their second appearance at the tournament, China had narrowly missed out on a spot in the quarter-finals after finishing third in Pool A, but proved to be best of the rest as they completed their placing games by seeing off the Irish 16-11 at Hong Kong Football Club.
Home team Hong Kong lost their 15th place play-off against New Zealand 16-9 at Shek Kip Mei Sports Centre.
They had begun the event hoping to record their highest finish by placing above 12th, but their mainland Chinese counterparts did just that, improving on the 14th position they took at the last edition five years ago in Canada.
“We came to this tournament to prove something and show the world how China lacrosse actually play,” Teagan Ng, Friday’s player of the match, said.

“I think we accomplished that. We said it right from the start that we wanted to make history, and we did. Me and the whole team are super-proud of ourselves, and I think we put the work in, and it paid off.”
Victory over Ireland made it two from two for China in the placing matches, after a 14-8 win over the Haudenosaunee at Shek Kip Mei on Wednesday.
Friday’s fixture was a close affair, with China leading 5-3 after the first quarter before asserting their dominance in the second, which they had the better of with six goals to one in reply.
Ng scored her sixth of eight goals in the match to take the score to 11-4, seconds after Ireland’s goalkeeper Naoise Howley took a shot right in the face.
Ireland came roaring back in the third quarter, putting five past China goalkeeper Jody Chu, whose teammates scored two of their own. By then trailing 13-9, Ireland could not sustain their recovery, the final quarter ending all-square at 3-3.
“Everyone did their part, and we fought as hard as we could, and I think it showed,” Ng said. “Even with the back-and-forth, where we went up then they got a run, we fought till the very end, and that’s why we won.”
Hong Kong’s players already knew they were below the 12th place they managed in 2019. Ireland had beaten them in the group stage and, like China, were heading in the other direction. Their 10th place, up from 19th last time in their first appearance, represented the biggest improvement of all the teams.
The tournament comes to an end at Mong Kok Stadium on Saturday, starting with Australia taking on Japan in the third-place match.
After that, Canada take on favourites and world No 1 side the United States in the final, in a repeat of the 2015 and 2019 versions.
The Canadians came out on top in the former, landing their sole title at this level, but the Americans have lifted the trophy five times out of the seven editions held.
The defending champions have produced some show-stopping performances in Hong Kong, such as the 33-0 win over Germany in their first game and a 33-1 victory over four-time finalists Australia in the semi-finals.


World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: US confirm status as world’s best in one-sided final

World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: China prove ‘best of the rest’, Hong Kong falter

China-US divide bridged as adopted kids play lacrosse for motherland – thanks to Instagram

World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: Japan complete double over England to reach semis

Lacrosse

China’s Teagan Ng in action against Ireland at the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship in Hong Kong. Photo: HKCLA

Ireland’s Mimi Painting tries to get past Cindy Jia of China on Friday. Photo: HKCLA

Kit Pingyu Zanelli (right) in action for China at the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship. Photo: HKCLA

Kit Pingyu Zanelli representing China at the world U20 championship in Hong Kong. Photo: HKCLA

Sara Junlan Curley (right), another of the four spotted in North America and now playing for China. Photo: HKCLA

China’s players gather for a team talk at the world U20 championship at Hong Kong Football Club. Photo: HKCLA

Megan Kitagawa (front row, third from right) with her teammates after Japan reached the semi-finals for the first time. Photo: HKCLA

Megan Kitagawa (in white) in action against Hong Kong in the group stage. Photo: HKCLA

World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship: China prove ‘best of the rest’, Hong Kong falter

Ninth place improves on China’s 2019 debut, but Hong Kong lose again