Great Britain defeated by Japan in final group stage match at The World Games 2025

Great Britain fell to a second defeat in two days after their final group stage match against Japan finished 15-10 at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China earlier today.

The ever-dependable Liv Wimppenny scored four goals for GB but was unable to stop her side falling to defeat against an outstanding Japan side.

GB went into the game knowing victory would see them progress to the semi-final stage of the competition and they started with intent, going two goals ahead after two minutes through Cece Green and Wimpenny.

Japan hit back and levelled things up through Shihome Hosoume and Negai Nakazawa and in the final minute of the first quarter Wimpenny and Atsuko Oda scored to make it 3-3.

The second quarter began in a similar vein for GB with Emmas Oakley and Savage scoring to put their team 5-3 ahead and looking like the team in relative control.

When playing sixes, no one ever truly has control, however, and, with six minutes to go in the second quarter, Japan regrouped to score four without reply from Monika Jones (x2), Chisa Kobayashi, and Kokoro Nakazawa to put their team in the driving seat heading into the third at 7-5.

Another goal early in the third for Japan thanks to K Nakazawa saw them pull three goals ahead before Wimpenny hit her second of the match to make the score 8-6.

This was followed by three goals in four minutes from Japan and Nene Kawai, Jones, and Miho Sakurai, leaving GB with a lot to do going into the fourth, despite a final minute goal from Lottie Robertson to keep her team within four.

Another two goals for Japan through Oda and Jones early in the fourth felt like the killer blow for GB but they rallied and Wimpenny’s fourth goal and another from Minty Loxton gave them a fighting chance with a couple of minutes left on the clock.

But it was too little too late and some clinical finishing from the opposition saw Japan score another two through K Nakazawa and Jones before Chess Gray rounded things off for GB with less than a minute to go in the game.

The result means GB miss out on a place in the semi-finals of the competition and ultimately a top four finish, leaving them to battle it out with Czechia at 3:30am (UK) tomorrow (Sunday 10 August) in the fifth place game.

Elsewhere in Group A, Canada claimed a 25-0 shutout victory against hosts China to win the group and head to the semi-finals with huge momentum; they’ll take on Australia in their semi-final match tomorrow with Japan playing USA.

Follow all the latest from The World Games HERE.

Great Britain 10-15 Japan (3-3, 2-4, 2-4, 3-4)

Great Britain scorers | Liv Wimpenny (4G, 2A), Cece Green (1G, 1A), Emma Oakley (1G, 1A), Chess Gray (1G, 1A), Lottie Robertson (1G, 1A), Emma Savage (1G), Minty Loxton (1G).

Goalie save % | Dylan Whittington 46.43% (13/28).

Clinical Canada clinch Group A victory over Great Britain

Great Britain fell to a narrow 14-10 second day defeat to the world’s number one team Canada at The World Games 2025 earlier today.

Cece Green bagged four goals as her Great Britain team largely matched Canada throughout the 32-minute match but an outstanding third quarter from the opposition eventually saw GB lose for the first time in their second Group A match.

Great Britain started with a bang and found themselves a goal to the good after Lauren Hart netted within two minutes.

Such is the nature of Sixes Lacrosse, however, Canada found themselves back in the game and then 2-1 ahead just a minute later after goals from Erica Evans and Dylana Williams.

With less than four minutes left in the first quarter, Chess Gray scored to get GB back level at 2-2 but Canada had the last laugh after Annabel Child put her team in front with 21 seconds to go.

The second quarter was another back and forth battle with Canada initially pulling two goals ahead through Maddy Baxter before Minty Loxton and Green hit back for GB.

The momentum never truly seemed to swing in GB’s favour and they were always chasing the game: Evans putting Canada 5-4 ahead, Liv Wimpenny equalising for GB, and Nicole Perroni ensuring Canada went in at half-time 6-5 up.

Throughout the history of lacrosse, games have been won and lost in the third quarter and this game was no different.

Gray scored her second to equalise for GB in the first 40 seconds but that was about as good as it got for her side in the third.

Goals from Evans, Baxter, Jordan Dean, and Williams saw Canada pull four goals ahead going into the fourth quarter, leaving GB with a huge hill to climb.

Green and Loxton gave GB some hope, scoring their seventh and eighth goals either side of Canada’s 11th of the game from Evans but three quick-fire goals from Perroni (x2) and Child for Canada effectively ended the contest with four minutes left in the game.

To their credit, Great Britain continued to push right to the final whistle and scored two final goals through Green to finish the match in the ascendancy.

Elsewhere in Group A on day two, Japan, who Great Britain will take on tomorrow, defeated China 18-3.

Today’s results mean Canada currently top Group A with Great Britain in second, ahead of Japan in third on goal difference.

Great Britain will take on Japan in a Group A crunch match at 7:30am (UK) tomorrow (Saturday 9 August) with a semi-final place on the line.

Follow all the latest from The World Games HERE.

Great Britain 10-14 Canada (2-3, 3-3, 1-4, 4-4)

Great Britain scorers | Cece Green (4G), Liv Wimpenny (1G, 2A), Emma Savage (3A), Chess Gray (2G), Minty Loxton (2G), Lauren Hart (1G, 1A), Anna Neville (1A), Lottie Robertson (1A).

Goalie save % | Dylan Whittington 45.45% (5/11), Emilie Chandler 27.27% (3/11).

Opening day joy for Great Britain against China at The World Games 2025

Great Britain started their The World Games 2025 campaign off with a bang as they defeated hosts China 24-2 in their opening game of Group A.

Lottie Robertson, Liv Wimpenny, and Emma Savage were the stand-out players, scoring 15 goals between them, as their team eased their way into the competition in Chengdu on day one.

Great Britain started with huge intensity and direction and sped into a 3-0 lead with just over two minutes gone on the clock after goals from Wimpenny, Robertson, and Anna Neville.

This was merely a sign of things to come for China as GB ended the first quarter with seven more goals to see them head into the second with a 10-goal lead.

Great Britain eased slightly in the second quarter but still managed to put five past Becky Yang in the China goal courtesy of Emma Oakley, Cece Green, Wimpenny, and Savage (x2).

In the third, China opened their The World Games 2025 account after Angela Zou netted past Emilie Chandler in the GB goal but this wasn’t a hint at a second half China comeback as Neville hit back within eight seconds.

Further goals from Hart, Wimpenny, and Loxton saw GB take a 19-1 lead into the final eight-minute quarter.

As in the third quarter, China scored the first goal of the fourth through Lee Chen which again seemed to kickstart GB as they replied with goals from Green, Wimpenny, Robertson, and Savage (x2) to seal a 24-2 victory.

It’s worth noting Great Britain’s two goalies Dylan Whittington and Emilie Chandler, who between them saved 12 of China’s 14 shots seeing them finish with a respective 100% and 78% save record.

Elsewhere in Group A on opening day, Canada beat Japan 20-5 meaning Great Britain sit in top spot on goal difference after game-day one.

Great Britain will take on second-placed Canada at 2am (UK) tomorrow (Friday 8 August) and you can follow all the latest from The World Games HERE.

China 2-24 Great Britain (0-10, 0-5, 1-4, 1-5)

Great Britain scorers | Lottie Robertson (5G, 3A), Liv Wimpenny (5G, 1A), Emily Gray (1G, 5A), Emma Savage (5G), Cece Green (2G, 3A), Lauren Hart (1G, 4A), Minty Loxton (2G, 1A), Anna Neville (2G), Emma Oakley (1G, 1A).

Goalie save % | Dylan Whittington 100% (5/5), Emilie Chandler 77.78% (7/9) .

10 English players selected as part of British Lacrosse's World Games squad

10 English players have been selected as part of British Lacrosse’s squad heading to Chengdu, China in August for The World Games 2025.

Some of England’s brightest stars will join with British Lacrosse in two months, including 2024 Euros winners Emilie Chandler, Emily Gray, Cece Green, Minty Loxton, Anna Neville, Emma Oakley, Emma Savage, Dylan Whittington, and Liv Wimpenny.

Lauren Hart, who featured for England at the Home Internationals Series earlier this year, has also been selected and means English players make up over 83% of the squad.

Taking place from 7-11 August, the lacrosse competition will see eight teams, including Great Britain, China, USA, Canada, Australia, Czechia, Japan, and Ireland, battle it out to be crowned the 2025 title-winners.

The tournament features the Olympic sixes version of the sport that will be on show at LA28 in just three years’ time.

For more information about British Lacrosse, click HERE, and for more information about The World Games, click HERE.

British Lacrosse Squad

Emilie Chandler
Chess Gray
Emily Gray
Cece Green
Lauren Hart
Minty Loxton
Anna Neville
Emma Oakley
Lottie Robertson
Emma Savage
Dylan Whittington
Liv Wimpenny

Competition schedule for The World Games 2025 released

The competition schedule for the upcoming The World Games in Chengdu, China has been confirmed with the lacrosse competition taking place from Thursday 7 to Monday 11 August.

The first three days of the lacrosse tournament (Thursday-Saturday) will see teams play preliminary games before a series of placement games and semi-final matches on Sunday.

Monday will see the two medal matches played with the bronze medal match followed by the final where the 2025 champions will be crowned.

Every game will take place on the Chengdu No. 7 High School Eastern Campus Athletics Field in the city’s Sichuan province.

The World Games in 2025 is the third time lacrosse has been featured after 2017 and 2022; 2017 showcased a 10-a-side women’s competition before switching to a six-a-side tournament in 2022 and adding a men’s invitational event alongside the women’s one.

2025 will see a singular women’s competition once again playing the sixes version of lacrosse that will be featured at the LA28 Olympic Games in three years’ time.

In the two previous editions of The World Games, Great Britain women have finished fourth, losing out on both occasions to Australia in the bronze medal match.

In 2022, Great Britain men also finished fourth after a narrow defeat to Japan in the third-place match.

This year’s tournament will pit eight of the best teams in world against each other including Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, China, Czechia, and Japan.

To view the full schedule for The World Games 2025, head to their website HERE and for all things British Lacrosse, click HERE.

Ireland and Czechia join GB as final World Games 2025 places secured

Ireland and Czechia secured their places at The World Games 2025 with semi-final wins at the 2025 EuroLax Sixes Cup in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal over the weekend.

With USA, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain having already qualified for the Games by finishing in the top four at the 2022 competition, China qualifying as hosts, and Japan as the Pan-Asia regional qualifiers, there were just two spots up for grabs as 12 European teams came together for the EuroLax Sixes Cup.

And after six days of competition, Ireland confirmed their place at August’s World Games by defeating Israel in an over-time thriller that finished 11-10 while Czechia booked their spot with a huge 15-5 win over Germany.

Ireland claimed the 2025 EuroLax trophy with a tight 12-11 win against Czechia but the big prize was already won with both teams heading Chengdu, China to take part in The World Games from 7-11 August.

Czechia will make their second appearance at The World Games after competing in the sixes competition in 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Ireland will make their debut in the event after a strong year for its various women’s teams, participating in the European Women’s Lacrosse Championship, the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship and the World Lacrosse Women’s Box Championship.

Great Britain will feature in the competition for the third time after finishing fourth in both 2017 and 2022.

For more information about The World Games 2025, click HERE.

World Games 2022 Schedule Revealed

The full schedule has been released for next year’s The World Games, taking place in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

There will be 34 sports taking part at next year’s 11th edition of the Games across six different categories: Artistic & Dance Sport, Ball Sports, Martial Arts, Precision Sports, Strength Sports, and Trend Sports.

Lacrosse will be in the Ball Sports category and both women’s and men’s six-a-side versions of the game will be featured.

This comes after women’s lacrosse made its World Games debut at the 2017 edition of the competition.

At that Games, Great Britain women finished fourth behind winners USA, runners-up Canada, and bronze medal winners Australia.

Men’s lacrosse will make its World Games debut next year, initially taking part as an invitational sport.

The World Games was first staged in 1981 and is meant to highlight those sports that do not compete at the Olympic Games.

Many sports, such as badminton, beach volleyball, and triathlon have all been World Games events but have since been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games and so no longer compete.

The 2022 Games are due to start on 7 July and will run for ten days until 17 July with the men’s lacrosse competition running from 8 to 12 July and the women’s tournament from 12 to 16 July.

Check out the full lacrosse schedule HERE and the whole World Games 2022 schedule HERE.