Before the 2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey

Ready to fight

The 21st World Championships of Roller Hockey start tonight at the Salvador Bonilla de Rosario stadium, in Argentina. With 5000 seats, there is room enough for all the local fans. Decked out with orange at last, the stadium was only recently picked to host the 2015 edition.

Which country and which host city?

Initially, Brazil had stood as candidate for the organization of the worlds, before giving way to Argentina for economic reasons. But in the country of Messi and soccer, the first choice was Mendoza, a city at the foot of the Andes, 1000 km west from Buenos Aires. Rosario is also west of Buenos Aires, 3 hours away from the Argentinean capital, that has over a million of inhabitants. The organization had to adapt to the new challenge. Argentina is no novice at it: It had already hosted the 2014 Worlds of Speed Skating.

Less participants

The many changes over the last months haven’t made the preparation and the coming of the nations easier. Only 33 teams take part this year, versus 64 at the 2014 Worlds in Toulouse, France. The most notable absence is that of Canada, a major nation in the discipline, which hasn’t registered any teams this year. But good news are also to be noted: Macau will participate for the first time, and Finland is back in the Women’s category after 3 years of absence.

Junior Men’s

3 titles will be played during the 2 weeks of competition. There won’t be any Junior Women’s for lack of registered teams. On the Junior Men’s side, the performance of the Czechs is eagerly awaited after their surprise defeat against France in semi-finals last year. They had been undefeated for 5 editions and had to yield in front of the crowd and the will to win of the French in a home game. Talking about the French, they are still seen as outsiders and count on keeping the title.
Behind, the USA and Colombia seem to be better able for the final Top-4, even if in this category the teams’ levels vary a lot according to the generations.

Senior Women’s

In the Senior Women’s category, the USA, double title holders, are seen as the great favorite. The Spanish, Junior World Champion and Bronze medallist last year, will be their direct competition. We will have to wait for the first games to discover the level of the other teams, especially that of the Czech Republic, the only nation to have seized the title in 2008 and 2010 against North America.

Senior Men’s

Last but not least, in the key category, the USA don’t seem to be armed enough to keep their title. ‘NARCH’, the biggest roller hockey competition, unfolds at the same dates in the USA. So that the great brands of the discipline keep their players for that event. This situation also explains the absence of Canada, Sweden, Russia, and lately Poland. It opens the way to the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland and Italy. Behind, Latvia, Spain and Colombia complete the top seed. These nations will spare no effort to stay in the top seed and, why not, reach the quarter finals. The Argentineans start at home in the low seed but may be a spoilsport, just like in 2011 when they had joined the top seed.

The first games will be played this Sunday evening after the opening ceremony, with Argentina-France for the Juniors and USA-Finland for the Women’s.

The games should be streamed live on rollersports.tv. Make sure you have taken into account the time difference!

Junior Men’s Groups

Group A

• Argentina
• Mexico
• Spain
• Colombia
• France

Group B

• Italy
• Switzerland
• USA
• Czech Republic

Senior Women’s Groups

Group A

• Finland
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Italy
• USA

Group B

• Mexico
• India
• Czech Republic
• Spain

Senior Men’s Groups

Group A

• Poland
• Italy
• Spain
• USA

Group B

• Latvia
• Czech Republic
• Switzerland
• France

Group C

• Macau
• India
• Colombia
• Brazil

Group D

• Venezuela
• Mexico
• Chile
• Argentina

Useful Links

– Our page on the 2015 World Championships of Roller Hockey
– Follow the live results on Rsportz

16:00-16:45