Great Britain beat China to claim fifth place at The World Games in Chengdu, while Japan bounced back from two playoff  defeats to beat Italy 33-0 and finish seventh overall.

Great Britain raced out to 19-point lead as quarterback Jess Allen targeted her favorite receivers with Hannah Elliott reeling in a pair of touchdowns and Emily Kemp grabbing one. China struck back as quarterback Haolin Feng sought out the hosts’ exciting receiver Wenze Lin for a touchdown to trail by 12 points at halftime.

Lin herself threw a touchdown to Yanran Wu to pull within a score of the European champions, but the Allen to Kemp connection proved reliable again and a two-point pass to Grace Conway edged Great Britain 27-13 ahead. Kate Bruinvels got in on the act with her first touchdown of the tournament as GB built an unassailable lead.

Japan finished in seventh place thanks to a shutout of Italy. The Asia-Oceania champions and bronze medal winner at the 2024 IFAF World Championships is ranked third in the world but suffered a quarterfinals defeat to Great Britain and then lost to China in the consolation round.

Japan ended The World Game on a high note as quarterback Chihiro Iwata threw for five touchdowns, finding Moe Miyake, Yuri Nakahata and Yurika Omi for first half scores to open a commanding 20-0 lead at the interval. Akari Uematsu caught two second half touchdowns to complete the win.