The story of the day really revolves around ‘new arrivals’ and in particular both New Zealand Under 21 teams. Men’s Team leader for New Zealand Wim Barendsen: “Day 1 has gone exceptionally well for both Under 21 teams who are here at the world’s for the first time. The Under 21 Men are really happy as they have qualified to the next round and into the top 8 so we are really happy to be making an impact. Our senior Men had one loss but are still in the ‘group of death’ – Men’s group D so we hope things go well tomorrow”.

Senior Men

• Group A - Reigning world champions France open with a solid 5-0 win over Great Britain.
• Group B - Germany and Netherlands both playing themselves into the tournament with two wins. Sweden certainly gave Germany a game but ultimately lost 4-2. Japan appear to be struggling in the group but have played the two strongest.
• Group C - Perhaps the game of the tournament so far was Brazil v Singapore with loud Brazilian support but ultimately Singapore coming out winners 6-5. Italy and Spain both performing strongly in the group.
• Group D - Regarded by many as the first round 'group of death' this remains as close as expected with the group still wide open. Denmark and Switzerland drew 2-2 making things even more tense. Poland opened with a loss to Switzerland but replied with a strong 5-2 win against New Zealand.

Senior Women

• Group A - Italy and Great Britain both performing well. Singapore beat Japan 3-1 in the Asian match up.
• Group B - Poland opened with a win against Spain 6-1 but lost heavily late in the day to one of the favorites Germany.
• Group C - Chinese Taipei and Netherlands open with one win each and no great surprises in this group so far.
• Group D - Australia storm into the tournament with a 20-3 win against the USA and a 7-1 win against Denmark.

Under 21 Men

• Group A - Germany win 15-2 against Russia and Denmark 12-0 against Czech Republic. Early stages in this group.
• Group B - New Zealand edge Poland 4-3 in a close game with France dominating Belgium 11-0. Later in the day New Zealand and Belgium were tied 6-6 with 4 minutes to play. For the first time the grand stand came alive with horns and the chants of “Let’s go Kiwi” with New-Zealand coming out winners by 7-6. This game was refereed by Ambrosetti and Korber. After the game, despite losing, Belgium congratulated the referees on their performance.
• Group C – Great Britain and Netherlands both look strong in this group.
• Group D – Game of the day in this group was Spain-Italy, with Spain just winning 2-1 in a very close game. Namibia experienced their first European opposition against Spain losing 14-3.

Under 21 Women

With all 7 teams in one group goal difference may be important. Germany stamped their authority on the group winning 24-0 against Japan with Great Britain and France also winning. Still a long way to go for the top four to be decided.

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