Day One

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Reporting by Lauren Chambers, Michael Iacovella & Heidi Kalmari

Master’s Division

Today’s games saw match-ups between the 2^nd and 3^rd seeds, Great Britain and Canada as well as the U.S.A vs. Japan, Germany vs. Australia and Finland vs. Sweden, among others. The G.B. – Canada game was a close match to start, but after a four-point run the Canadians pulled ahead and kept the lead until the end, winning 17-11. The Finland-Sweden game was close as it ended 17-15 in favor of the Swedes. The United States did well, winning both their games with a total of 21 points scored against them. Germany looked strong as well, with only 15 points scored against them. Today’s exciting games include U.S.A vs. Canada and Great Britain vs. Germany.

Open Division

In Pool A, Great Britain and Japan remain undefeated, though Denmark posed the most serious threat with a 3-point loss to the Japanese.  Finland and Australia enjoyed the morning off, and coasted to easy victories later in the day over Lithuania and Italy.  Canada and Germany surged to the top of their pool, with Germany firing on all cylinders in their upset of Sweden.  The game to watch today is USA vs. Australia.  The Aussies completed a US tour just before Worlds, defeating every American team they faced – most by a sizable margin.  Sweden vs. Canada should also make for a great battle to watch.

Junior Women

As expected, the North American girls are ruling in this division. The heavy rain tired the Swedish team as they played against the U.S. team. The game was still tight after 30 minutes of play, 3-2, but as the sun came out so did the US girls – they kicked into high gear and out-ran the Swedes, 17-2.  It was a rough day for the British, as Canada and the U.S. left G.B. without a single score.  Finland and Japan beat Australia without difficulty and Sweden got their "kom igen tjejer" play working when they defeated Japan in their second game. Expect Finland, Japan and Sweden to offer the most serious challenges to Canada and U.S.A.

Japan (left) goes for the ‘D’ against South Africa in the Junior Open division
on Sunday. Final score: Japan 15, South Africa 12.

Junior Open

Team Canada showed their dominance early in their surprisingly easy victory over Sweden.  USA, Great Britain and Germany all remain undefeated, with Sweden and Finland as serious challengers in today’s play.  First-time participants South Africa came close to a first win in a close match with Japan, who looked anemic in their shutout by Great Britain.  The game to watch today is USA vs. Great Britain.  And beware: look out for the singing South Africans in the Spirit competition!

Mixed Division

Top-seeded USA had no difficulty in today’s play, easily defeating Belarus and Finland.  Germany -- the victor in a fierce battle today with Finland – will offer a serious challenge to the USA today in the first round.  The Germans are looking strong, due in part to some key defections from the Women’s team.  Czech Republic is off to a strong start with decisive wins over Spain and Sweden. Scores reflect an even easier day for Canada, who outscored opponents 34-5.  New Zealand narrowly defeated hemispherical rival Australia, 15-14.  Great Britain and Japan are both undefeated, and will square up this afternoon in what should be an exciting clash in playing styles.