Day Two Morning Recap
The wind picked up for the morning of day two, giving teams an extra challenge as the pools continued to take shape in Birmingham.
The first round featured predominantly Mixed division games. Italy were very impressive in a 15-4 victory over the Netherlands, while Switzerland saw off a battling Panama in a 13-11 game that was tight throughout. Canada continued their winning start as they overcame Singapore 15-10, while Hungary and China played out an intense 11-9 Hungarian victory. Colombia won strongly, beating Hong Kong, China 15-3, and with Poland defeating Mexico 14-10 the Poles and Colombians will take the field this afternoon knowing the victor will emerge at the top of pool C. France bounced back from defeat yesterday with a 15-6 win over Latvia, with USA backing up yesterday’s victory by beating Austria 15-8. The one Women’s division game pitted Italy against Australia, with Italy picking up a 15-8 victory.
Canada celebrate a layout score against Japan. Photo by Graham Shellswell.
The Open and Women’s divisions had the spotlight in the next round. In the Women’s division, France were nearly faultless in a 15-0 triumph over Ireland, with New Zealand also winning strongly by besting Singapore 15-3. Canada and Japan, jostling for power pool positions in pool B, locked horns with the Canadians winning 15-9 after weathering a Japanese comeback out of half. There were big wins in the Open division for Canada, Belgium, and Italy, Canada beating Ireland 15-1, Belgium beating China 15-4, and Italy overcoming Germany 15-7. France pulled away from Switzerland in the second half of their game with a 15-9 final score, while Colombia were able to turn an 8-6 halftime deficit into a 14-11 victory over Australia. The game of the tournament so far featured a thoroughly engrossing back-and-forth matchup between Japan and New Zealand, with Japan holding to snatch a Universe Point win, 14-13, after breaking to take half 8-7.
The first pool stage wraps up this afternoon in the Mixed division before moving on to power pools tomorrow, with the Women’s and Open divisions continuing their pool play games.
Link photo by Tom Kiddle. Tournament photography team also includes Likkan Chung and Carl Mardell.