NationStates Jolt Archive

Signup and roster thread (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108656)

Here it is. I'll get the first day's results out at about 9pm GMT. In the meantime, enjoy the groups:

Group A:
Cockbill Street (2)
Sliponia (3)
The Lowland Clans (9 - generic newcomer rank)
NEWI Cefn Druids (9)
Alex the Tall (9)
Timway (9)

Group B:
Rejistania (1)
KOR3A (8 )
The Belmore Family (9)
White Dwarf (9)
Bariloche (9)
Kroomdrai (9)

Schedule of Group Games:

[code:1:130e520c4f]Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5
1 v 2 1 v 3 1 v 4 1 v 5 1 v 6
3 v 4 2 v 5 2 v 6 2 v 4 2 v 3
5 v 6 4 v 6 3 v 5 3 v 6 4 v 5[/code:1:130e520c4f]

Group Stage: 2 groups of 6 teams, best two in each group progress to the knock-out stage.

Knock-outs: Semi-finals, third-place play-off and final. All will be one-off games this year. Group A winner is drawn against runner-up in Group B.

Play-offs: The other teams play-off for ranks. Third placed team in Group A play third-placed in Group B, and so on.

TBF to face off champs in group stage

<RP to come>

Group B:
Rejistania (1)
KOR3A (8 )
The Belmore Family (9)
White Dwarf (9)
Bariloche (9)
KOR3A (9)


Just thought I should point this out.

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Do it twice, Orange-Whites!
Handball grew extremly popular, since the Orange-Whites won the last world cup. Now, the Orange-Whites come into the cup as the favorites, not just in their group, but also in the whole competition, since they are ranked 1st. Coach Juu Junu doesn't like this idea: "Of course, it is better than being the worst team in the competition, but, you know, everyone wants to beat the favorite, so everyone will be extremly motivated in the matches against us."

The staff of the KaMaRi Update wishes the Orange-Whites good luck!

Red Nacional de Comunicaciones de la Comunidad de Bariloche:

News Sports Flash

Vamos, Bariloche todavía!:

The people was especting a show like no other before in the History of Bariloche sports, and they got one alright. In the first round of the NationStates II Handball Championship our national team was to measure against Kroomdrai. Despite the tie at 25, the guys really put their best effort and left a happy face on everyone in Bariloche following the game.

Being a newcomer to World sports Bariloche may not have experience or all the training that would need to become world champions but the coach Pablo Cano stated that: "all the boys get better and better with every match, I'm grateful that we won't face Rejistania until the fourth round, we still have a chance of finding our best teamwork strategies and beating the current champions, that would be a glorious day for all our community".

During the match and back at home all the cheers went for Luis Cabrera, that with only 18 years and great talent became the high-scorer of Bariloche with 10 of the 25 goals. With the humility all best sportsman have he stated: "... I could not score if my team would not play as well as they do, I'm just another gear in this machine...". All the players from the bench except Fernández entered at one time or the other but Cabrera played the whole match and showed some exceptional moves that left the kroomdraian defense in the floor, it was not enough to win the game but seen this kind of game will get the other players morale sky-high and we hope for better results in the following games.

The entusiasm of all barilochenses is still high and they are waiting to see a better performance in the next game, although they are realistic and know only a miracle could get the team to the finals or even the semis.

From the Na~ovi National:

Goalfest against KOR3A
The Orange-Whites started their second world cup appearance by trashing KOR3A 41-15. Many defensive errors by the KOR3Ans and a rejistanian offense, that played better than ever, decided the match. Lyku Syku was not challenged often in the first minutes, since the rejistanians defended like world champions and some misled KOR3An crosses gave the Orange-Whites several chances for counter attacks. Especially Ju'he and Isra'he were at the right place at the right time. Soon the score was 7-0. At the end of the first half, it was 23-6. In the second half, the KOR3Ans did improve, but they had not the slightest chance to equalize. Sulny'he and Isra'he showed their class several times by throwing the ball unholdable for the KOR3An keeper. In the last minutes, the Orange-Whites became far too thoughtless and allowed 3 goals, but that could not change the result: Rejistania won their first matchin their second cup highly.

NEWI NEWS

GRIFFINS VICTORIOUS IN FIRST EVER MATCH
Harry Richards reports on The Lowland Clans 23 NEWI Cefn Druids 32

A commanding performance in their first ever international handball match saw the Griffins of NEWI Cefn Druids ease past the Stars of The Lowland Clans by a margin of nine points.

Replacement goalkeeper Ryan Langton was on form in the first half, keeping a fiery Stars offence out time after time. In fact, the Stars were unlucky to find themselves 12-11 behind at half time.

However, the Griffins offence shone in teh second half. Rhys and Trevor, the Chapman Brothers, were dominant, and by the 43rd minute had opened up a 24-17 lead which was to prove too much for the valiant stars to come back from.

In the end, Rhys Chapman ended up with fifteen goals, while his younger brother chipped in with nine in what will go down as a memorable start to the Griffins' campaign. However, the Stars will need to improve their game if they are to stand a chance against a Cockbill Street team who were runners-up last time around.

http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~rhornick/kbsnews.gif
Ted Park: ...And we're back from commercials. Now over to Johnny in Sports.
<Camera switches>
Johnny: In the international handball championships, Team KOR3A today suffered a large setback, with a major loss to the reigning champions, Rejistan.
<Graphic displayed>
http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~rhornick/teamkor3a.gif
Johnny: Team KOR3A fought valiantly, but ultimately was outclassed by the Rejistanians. Rejistanian captain Syku led his team to take a 7-0 lead in the first minutes of the game and the KOR3Ans were unable to mount a comeback. The one bright spot was that in the final minutes of the game captain Tae-Eun Ha led a 3-0 rally for TEAM KOR3A, but this was too little, too late. Let's all wish TEAM KOR3A better luck in their next outing against
Bariloche. For KBS Sports, I'm Johnny Lee, back to you Ted & Esther.
<Camera switches>
Esther Kim: Thanks John, and now in other news...

OOC: Hey, I'm ranked 7th, not 8th. Can you fix this before the next match? Maybe I will have a shot at winning that one! Thanks! :)

Squad:
18 Lee, Kun-Hee (GK)
29 Kim, Young-Sam (CR)
06 Choi, Soon-Yong (RW)
02 Lee, Chul-Soo (LW)
31 Flexengasher, Hans (LB)
55 Ha, Tae-Eun (C) *Captain
11 McBashy, Willie (RB)

Bench:
12 Chung, Tae-Bak (GK)
66 Park, Jung-Hien (CR)
99 Park, Dan-Young (RW)
83 Kim, Hyun-Siek (LW)
72 Von Smashengräben, Siegfried (LB)
17 Hee, Red-Yun (C)
97 Polley, Edward (RB)

http://netfiles.uiuc.edu/rhornick/www/jersey.gif

Daily Examiner
KOR3A's #1 Print News Source

Sports
KOR3AN Triumph over Bariloche
Blues win 2nd handball match 20-17
Jan 4, 2004 --
KOR3AN handball fans cheered today as the whistle sounded at the end of what proved to be a rousing match between our beloved TEAM KOR3A and the rookie Barilochensens. The team, looking resplendent in their bright blue uniforms, got off to a rocky start in the first half, with Barilochense phenom Luis Cabrera scoring a team-leading 3 goals in the first five minutes of play and 7 goals overall. But the KOR3ANS found their opponents' strengths and reacted fiercely, reducing the 3-point deficit to a tie at the end of the first half. The excitement in the crowd was electric over halftime, with fans from both sides waiting for their teams to come back on the courts and play. The crowd stayed mostly on their feet for the entirety of the second half, cheering on their heroes. The KOR3AN defense, led by Hans Flexengasher, were able with some rough play to reduce Cabrera and the rest of the Barilochen team's offensive effectiveness. Tae-Eun Ha, KOR3AN captain, scored a remarkable four goals in the second half to make seven overall, tying Cabrera, and the KOR3AN circle offense was victorious in a 20-17 win. Coach A. Xun Kou said "We fought hard and we won, but these rookies put up a very good fight and I don't envy the team that has to play them next. Although we lost our first match against the Rejistanis we still think we can and will make it into the knock-outs. Be the Blues!"

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Orange-Whites win second match
After a very high victory against KOR3A, the Orange-Whites now played against the team from 'The Belmore Family'. While the belmorian soccer team would surely trash the rejistanian team, the Orange-Whites defeated the Belmorian handball team by 22-14. Isra'he archieved the first goals for the Orange-Whites. the very offensive, fast and also sucessfull match was not the match for the Belmorians, at half-time, they were trailing 13-5. but the Belmorians kept fighting, the score became 20-10. At this time, the Orange-Whites again fell back into the 'we have already won' mood. Even if Sulny'he and Kiha Ly scored again, the last minutes showed a dominating Belmorian team.

The result:
Rejistania: 22
The Belmore Family: 14

OK then, we'll win the next match

There is very little time left for The Belmore Family to qualify for the finals now, needing all of the next 3 matches to be wins. The latest loss was to Rejistania, where a on-fire Isra'he helped Rejis to a 13-5 half-time lead. But we battled on taking the score to 20-10 with 10 minutes to go. But Rejis had won now, they just laid baxk as they saw 4 more goals go in.

FINAL SCORE
REJISTANIA 22

THE BELMORE FMAILY 14

Red Nacional de Comunicaciones de la Comunidad de Bariloche:

News Sports Flash

Vamos que podemos!:

After the great match KOR3A presented our guys left the stadium with their heart broken. They did all they could, but the talent of our team was no match to the experience of the oponents.

We will have a hard time trying to qualify to the playoffs but not all is lost. The next match is against the also newcomers "The Belmore Family" and we are almost sure the team work and our star Luis will prevail.

Red Nacional de Comunicaciones de la Comunidad de Bariloche:

News Sports Flash

Barilo', Barilo', Barilo'!:

Finally, our boys did it! That was one exciting match! People is partying all over the streets in San Carlos de Bariloche and the rest of the nation after the even played match with the Belmore Family.

After the first 10 minutes Cabrera had scored nothing less than: 5 GOALS!. Our team had minor set back when a shot hit our goalkeeper Juan Gutiérrez and left him with a bloody nose, after the incident our substitute Juan Fernández seemed a little exceeded by the match's rythm. The Belmore Family tied a few minutes away from the end of the game, but Fernández raized up to the circumstances and after a few spectacular stops he allowed our team to counterattack several times and score 3 goals that made the game finish in our favor by 31 to 28.

The team regained confidence, and even if Gutiérrez seems to be able to play the next match, Pablo Cano stated that Fernández will remain the goalkeeper until the end of the groups-round (probably the end of the cup for our team). This was a major surprise, although Gutiérrez took it well since him and Fernández are close friends being in the same club team at home (the San Carlos' Nahuelitos), and it's a great opportunitty for Fernández to show what he is really made of facing the Champions.

Rejistania will present an incredibly hard game to our team, and even if no one expects a favorable result, everyone is confident our performance in this cup will be remembered, since everyone will fight every ball as the first one of the cup. We'll expect a better participation in the next one, but already happiness is spreding in our nation's sportmen and women, and our world-class sports will surely have a rise in the next few years.

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Dwarfs are a big challenge!
The match of the White Dwarfs ended in a close 27-21 victory. If the match against Bariloche doesn't go totally wrong, this has already secured the qualification for the Orange-Whites. The White Dwarfs had the better start and after a few minutes, the Orange-Whites were trailing 0-4. This shock made them come to a better form. Sulny'he and Isra'he showed their class again as they changed the trailing into a lead. Half-time result was 13-11. The second half started better for the Orange-Whites, perhaps because Juu Junu got really angry during half-time and annouced that the players have to walk home in case they wouldn't qualify for the second round. The Orange-Whites could slowly increase their lead. A few minutes before the end, Coach Juu Junu substituted the top-players Hada Isra and Kada Sulny for the Ly-twins. At this time, the score was 24-19. The two Ly's played not that impressive, but the substitution prevented the typical abysmal play at the end of the match. The match ended 27-21.

The result:
Rejistania: 27
White Dwarf: 21

Daily Examiner
KOR3A's #1 Print News Source

Sports

Handball Team Squeaks By
Blues continue winning streak
TEAM KOR3A was able to pull out a 23-22 win in a real heart-pounder of a match yesterday as they continued their march to the knock-out stage of NationStates Handball Championship II. The game against Kromdraai was filled with suspense, the Kromdraainians responding to each KOR3AN goal with a goal of their own from the very first minutes of play all the way until the last. Luckily, KOR3AN captain Ha was able to score a buzzer-beating goal, throwing the KOR3AN fans into ecstasy and Team Kromdraai into a sulk. Coach Kou was visibly excited, and in the post-game chatter he voiced his optimism for making it into the knock-outs. "I think we have a great bunch of guys who made today's victory happen and they will continue to make victories happen. I don't think we have to worry about going home early." The Blues certainly have made things happen on the court, and it's clear KOR3AN fans are getting excited about placing highly in this tournament.

NEWI NEWS

GRIFFINS' PERFORMANCES ON THE SLIDE
Harry Richards with further reports from the Handball World Cup.

The NEWI Cefn Druids Griffins failed to capitalise on their fantastic start to the Handball World Cup.

After a commanding performance in their opening game, the Griffins could only manage a draw against Timway in a tight, flowing match that ended in a 26-26 draw, a fair result considering the performances put on by both teams.

Even by half time, with the score at 11-11, it was clear that this match was to be an absolute stormer, and as the defences tired, the goals flew in and the lead switched sides no less than seven times in the last fifteen minutes alone.

Druids top scorer in the match was Trevor Chapman with 11 goals.

After the unbeaten start made by the Griffins, they took on the team in their group with the highest ranking, Cockbill Street.

Though nobody was expecting much from the Griffins, they kept in touch with their opponents through a thrilling first half, keeping the score to 10-9 to Cockbill Street at half time.

However, Trevor Alton saw that his team was tiring, which showed as the second half progressed. Cockbill Street dominated, as Chris Masriner and Andy Healy ran rings around the shattered Griffins defence. In the 43rd minute, with the score at 20-14, Alton decided that enough was enough, and replaced the entire defence. But it was to no avail, as the more experienced side came out with a comfortable 26-18 victory.

The Griffins' next game is another tough one against Sliponia, where defeat would scupper all hope of a place in the semi-finals.

A win..... at last!


A close match saw TBF put there rather late, but pleasing win over Kroomdrai in the Handball World Cup. The win was thanks to Paul Davies whose 23 goals gave TBF a decisive victory.

The first half was the biggest scorer with both teams playing end-to-end handball with goals flying in either side. Most of these goals however were due to the lack of ability from both keeper, neither of them making more than 6 saves in the entire half. The teams went in at the break at 20-18. The second half was much more sedentary however with TBF contoling the game to a fine point with Paul Davies scoring another 9 goals to seal a great victory.

FINAL SCORE

THE BELMORE FAMILY 29

KROOMDRAI 18

http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~rhornick/kbsnews.gif
Esther Ha: ...and that concludes our investigative report on dirty restaurants. Remember, when you eat Chinese you don't really know what's in the pot stickers. And now for sports coverage with Johnny Lee.
<Camera switches>
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Johnny: TEAM KOR3A embarrassed themselves today with a loss to newcomer White Dwarf in the NationStates Handball Championships qualifying rounds. What should have been another check mark on the road to victory turned out to be a disappointing setback. The Blues appeared strong in the first half and entered the break with a 14-11 lead. But after halftime, the defense began to fall apart.
<Clip footage>
Johnny: Von Smashengräben and McBashy were unable to keep up with the speedy White Dwarves and seemed tired. When the White Dwarves took a 21-19 lead, scoring ten goals in the time it took the KOR3AN offense to score five, Coach Kou called in a substitution, taking out Von Smashengräben and McBashy and putting in Polley and Flexengasher. This pair was able to keep up better but the damage had been done. The Blues were only able to go goal-for-goal with the Dwarves and ended up with a letdown 27-29 loss. Coach Kou, clearly disappointed, declined interviews after the game. I wouldn't want to be in the team's shoes right now, 'cause I'm sure they're being worked hard on the practice courts. Hopefully that practice will have a beneficial effect and the Blues will take their next game out against The Belmore Family. If they pull that off their prospects for knock-out qualification are still good but if not things will be a little dicey. I'm Johnny Lee, reminding you to "Be The Blues!" Back to you, guys...
<Camera switches>
Ted Park: Thanks John, now for the latest in entertainment with Siskel Choi Ebert...

From the Na~ovi National:

Orange-Whites win fourth game in a row
The Orange-Whites have defeated Bariloche with a narrow 25-20 victory. Currently, the Orange-Whites are on top of the group table with 8 points and a GD of +45. Despite this amazing result, Juu Junu was not satified with the performance of the team: "If we meet Cockbill-Street and play like this, we would surely lose!" Luckily, Bariloche had not the class to capitalise the errors of the Orange-Whites that much. But they capitalised some defensive errors good enough to take the lead in the first minutes. Goalie Syku'he didn't look good during this part of the game. The Orange-Whites were trailing soon 1-5. Juu Junu asked for a time-out, in which, the fans could hear many insulting words by Junu'he in the different languages of the players. This worked, the Orange-Whites improved and the halftime-result was only 10-12. The second half was dominated by the Orange-Whites. They finally attacked like they used to, equalized and at the end of the match, lead 25-20.

Ankh-Morpork Inquirer
Cockbill Street Department

C-mail Issue Apology
Nobody Knew There Was A Handball Tournament Going On Next Door

A competing newspaper, the Ankh-Morpork C-mail, have today issued an official apology. They have said that their handball correspondent was drunk whilst deliberating, and that they could therefore not print reports from the tournament. The Cockbill Street team is reputed to have won all five of their matches in style, and now proceed to a tough semi-final against the KOR3Ans.

The last match against Timway was irrelevant, but the Streeters proved their worth again as they won by 10 goals - a spectacular effort indeed. However, for some strange reason, the key players weren't rested for the semi-final against KOR3A. Perhaps the manager thought confidence was more important than condition?

The favourites, Rejistania, have fought bravely in the other group, winning all five of the matches and in style at that. After their initial 41-15 whipping of KOR3A, they have continued to stroll group B, and now face Sliponia in the semi-finals.

Schedule of the tournament:

Monday 12 January: Semi-finals: Cockbill Street v KOR3A
Rejistania v Sliponia

Wednesday 14 January: Play-offs.

NEWI NEWS

GRIFFINS SET FOR TOP SIX FINISH

Mixed results for the NEWI Cefn Druids handball team at the World Cup have led to the team eventually finishing third in their group.

The Griffins’ fourth opponents were a much more superior Sliponia side. This superiority showed on the day, as a fluent performance by them mixed in with some terrible Griffins attacking play meant that Sliponia came out as comfortable 31-17 winners.

However, the Griffins’ seemed like a completely different team in their final group stage match against Alex The Tall. In a real end-to-end encounter that entertained the entire crowd, Trevor Cannon put on an excellent performance on the wing, chipping in with nine goals, including a dramatic winner in the dying seconds, as the Griffins scraped through to a 30-29 victory.

The result gave the Griffins a record of 2-1-2, scoring 123 goals while conceding 135. The results were enough, though, to take the Griffins into a play-off for fifth place against White Dwarf.

The Daily Examiner
KOR3A's #1 Print News Source

Sports

National Handball Team: To The Semi-Finals!
Blues finish group play with a 34-26 win over TBF
After a loss and a close match, some local pundits claimed TEAM KOR3A was falling apart and was overrated. The Blues did their best to prove these pessimist critics wrong yesterday with exemplar play against The Belmore Family. During the first half, the team was in top form, knocking out 20 goals at an amazing pace. The Belmore Family and TEAM KOR3A both came out of the break having substituted most of their starting squads, obviously to save something for the knockouts for KOR3A and for inter-group playoffs for TBF. In the second half, TBF put up a better performance against the KOR3ANS, scoring an equal 14 goals. The fans and players were visibly excited at the completion of the match, knowing that this means KOR3A has secured at least a 4th-place finish in the tournament. The competition from here on out will be extremely tough, with a semi-final match against an undefeated Cockbill Street. If our Blues win that match, they will proceed to play the winner of the Rejistania-Sliponia match for the NationStates Handball Championship. If they lose, they'll go on to a consolation 3rd-place matchup against the loser of the Rejistania-Sliponia game. Coach Allen Kou was guarded in his assessment of the situation. "We think we have a good chance but we know that Cockbill Street is an excellent team. Ultimately it will come down to their experience and finesse against our rough-and-tumble game and in a match with such a disparity between the types of play it's anyone's guess what might happen. Either way, we feel like we go home winners from this tournament, having made it this far. That's all for now, I've got to get some sleep." We at the Examiner hope our hometown heroes are sleeping well and wish them luck in the coming days.

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Orange-Whites remain undefeated against Kromdraai
The Orange-Whites won the last game in group stage against Kromdraai 33-20. The Orange-Whites showed, that their errors in the match against Bariloche were only a bad day. In this match, they showed, that they were clearly the better team. With 10 points and a GD of +58, the Orange-Whites dominate the table of group B. Kada Sulny and Hada Isra scored the first goals in this match. The Kromdraaians often made defensive errors or lost the ball while trying to attack. The half-time result was 19-8. Unfortunatly, a fast ball hit goalie Syku'he in the face and so Junu'he replaced him by Ha~e Lata~n. For him, it was the first international match. Lata~n'he was not as good as Syku'he, too many koromdraaian balls found the goal.
Coach Juu Junu was pleased with the fact that the Orange-Whites were not defeated by a minnow as he feared before the start of the tournament and hopes, that the winning streak continues in the semis against Sliponia

The result:
Rejistania: 33
Kromdraai: 20

The Daily Examiner
KOR3A's #1 Print News Source

Sports

Winners!
Blues win semi-final match 26-25 over Cockbill Street
The KOR3AN national team, coming into the Second NationStates Handball Championship ranked 7th, has done amazingly well thus far, losing only to first-ranked Rejistania and newcomer White Dwarf. Yet no one, not even head coach Allen X. Kou, expected TEAM KOR3A to make it this far. "I thought we would probably make it to the semi-finals but come in 4th place," said Kou. After yesterday's thrilling 26-25 victory over Cockbill Street, the team is now guaranteed at least 2nd place. The handball match did not start off looking well for TEAM KOR3A, with Cockbill Street leading by three at the half. But something in Kou's locker room pep-talk must have spurred the Blues to do better. The second half got off to a bang with captain Tae-Eun Ha scoring a goal quickly and the team converting a defensive stop to another goal by Ha. This drew the KOR3ANS to within one and seemed to shake Cockbill Street, who had previously been quite confident in their abilities. The KOR3ANS played evenly with Cockbill Street for minutes until a Cockbill Street player missed a pass and KOR3A turned the interception into a goal. From the moment KOR3A drew the match to a tie to the last seconds of the game, Cockbill Street seemed upset. But even upset Cockbill Street players proved to be very good players indeed and KOR3A was only able to gain one goal on Cockbill Street in the final moments of the game. This down-to-the-wire match became an upset victory as the buzzer sounded; KOR3A advancing to the finals. The Rejistania-Sliponia game was a similar upset victory, with the champion Rejis falling to the underdog Sliponians. Cockbill Street will face Rejistania in the 3rd-place playoff and TEAM KOR3A will face Sliponia in the finals today. Be the Blues!

From the Na~ovi National:

Orange-Whites lose semifinal
The Orange-Whites have lost their match against Sliponia in the most stupid way possible. If there were any injuries or any simple reason, the loss would be understandable, but that was not the case. The teams perfomance simply decreased during the cup till it came to this downfall in the match against Sliponia. It remains unclear, if Juu Junu will take the consequences of this loss and resigns or if the RejisHBA fires him. At half time, everything looked okay when the Orange-Whites were leading 12-10, but the Sliponians were simply the better team and converted the score to a four goals lead for them. The Orange-Whites will now play Cockbill Street in the third-place-playoff. Let's hope, that they don't play that embarrasing again.


OOC: The Na~ovi National is a paper with *very* biased informations.

Ankh-Morpork Inquirer

Disgrace
What Is The World Coming To?

The handball team failed again. We are getting used to it by now, of course, after that horrible showing against Rejistania last season. But this time, it was simply not good enough. Against the KOR3Ans, who just avoided the wooden spoon last season, the team performed well under par. Our opponents have grown in skill since that 15-41 loss against Rejistania, but that does not excuse today's performance. Chris Mariner, the only player who was up to standard with his eight goals, said after the match that "It was a tough one, and of course we are very disappointed to lose such an important game. But our opponents did very well, and we have not disgraced ourselves". Well, those were his words.

Now awaits the third place play-off, or moral final as it has been dubbed, against Rejistania. We would like to add that we are already boycotting this match, in protest of the team's performance.

OOC: The Inquirer beats News of the World when it comes to biased sports coverage.

Ankh-Morpork Inquirer

Disgrace
What Is The World Coming To?

Oh dear. Double posts as well. And not realising it.

Not the Wooden Spoon for Belmore!

The Belmore Family has atlast gained some pide by not finishing last in the HBWC. TBF are expected to host the event next year where perhaps we might perform a bit better.

(OOC: by popular demand in the #wcc channel)
From the Na~ovi National:

Glorious victory for Junu'he's team
The Orange-Blues have again proven their class by archieving a never-endangered victory against host Cockbill Street in the third-place playoff (also known as 'vinali tikira'). The Orange-Whites played like in their first match against KOR3A: fast, zestfull and skilled. The Orange-Whites were the dominating team from the beginning of the match. Minutes after the beginning of the match, the score was 4-0 for team Junu'he. This only improved until half-time, when they were leading 19-6. The second half was also an example of great skill and good tactics. Juu Junu made the right substitutions at the right time when he changed in the Ly'he twins for Sulny'he and Isra'he, since they confused the Streetians so much, that they often marked the wrong person. (In case you never saw them: they look exactly alike.) Junu'he is surely the best coach, the Orange-Whites ever had. Even the decline in the last minutes, when the team conceded four goals was no danger for a clear and high victory!

NationStates Handball Championship III Signup (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=113182)

The Daily Examiner
KOR3A's #1 Print News Source

Sports

The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Defeat
Bittersweet second-place finish for Blues
Nobody can deny that TEAM KOR3A did not have its work cut out for it entering NSHC II. Ranked seventh in a field of tough contenders, things didn't look bright for the Blues. And after being handed a 15 to 41 point loss by the Rejistanians, even some of the most vociferous fans of the KOR3AN players were questioning their chances. TEAM KOR3A bounced back, though, and well in the remainder of group play, losing only to the novices of the White Dwarves. Still, merely playing well is not playing well enough to succeed in the playoffs, and KOR3A had to make things come together. With the exemplar coaching of Allen X. Kou and the leadership of captain Tae-Eun Ha, things came together. KOR3A showed Cockbill Street it could play with the big boys in a hard-fought semifinal match that ended with our proud players up by one point. Similarly, Sliponia beat favored Rejistania, saving KOR3A from having to face the powerhouse Rejistanian offense in the finals match. Things looked very bright indeed for this otherwise rag-tag bunch of players. But it was not to be. A battle for supremacy ended with Sliponia on top by one, and KOR3A had the right to be dejected. Instead, though, KOR3AN fans poured out in droves for the homecoming of the national team. Wearing their brightest blues, fans were jubilant at the team's parade through the streets. Why not be happy? A second-place finish, coming in with a seventh-place ranking, frankly to the KOR3ANS sounded like a great improvement! TEAM KOR3A is celebrating but trying to stay in shape for the return of international handball play with NSHC III not far off.