The competition opened with all the emotion and passion we expected from the Argentine hosts, and the stands were filled with support for all the games, and especially for the Host teams, who could feel the love from their fans, and it showed on their faces as the national anthem rang out on day one here at the games. In the Jr Mens division, where the competition is wide open, the opening games give us the first inclination of the finals to come. Argentina delighted the locals with an early Perez goal right off the mark, but Namibia came back early in the second off Zeferinu. After the tripping penalty for the Argentine 24 Ignacio Romero, Namibian 45 Simpson potted the puck to take them ahead, and this led to Namibia dominating the rest of the game scoring two more for a 4-1 victory. Brazil turned out for a strong performance in their match v Columbia, shutting out their near neighbours 3-0. The French team, backed by one of the world's most organised inline structure, proved to be overwhelming for the Korean team. They will need to find a way to regroup after facing 16 unanswered. Final result 16-0. In an upset to the form book, Chinese Taipei performed outstandingly agains another strongly favourite team Italy. Yen Chen Tung and Cheng You Kuo both sharing 3 each in their opening match. Only Lazzari and Rocco found the back of the net for a final score of 8-2 in a busy match for the referees. The final two big hitters of the day were expected to put their own markers down, but their opponents made it very hard for them. Team Czechia only bettering the hosts Argentina by one goal, final score 2-1, both later in the second half after trailing for quite a while, offering hope to the fans for an exciting upset in the first round. Then to finish off the day, the Brazilians held on well to face the might of the USA. Brazil taking early advantage of the Silhan penalty, Bertolla found the mark. Refs were busy for a lot of the first half, but the Americans are dangerous even when short handed, and Austin Soboslay sealed the first half win. The writing was on the words from there as Taylor, Phillips and Stanbrough all found their spots and wrapped up day one for the Junior Men, final 1-5.
In the senior Women’s, there were emotional scenes as the Argentine side stood proudly while their adoring fans sang the national song for them. They opened their book with an exhibition of scoring against the very new and emerging Uruguay side, who played with determination and pride even at this early stage of their development. 20-0 is a tough scoreline to read, but both sides accounted themselves well according to their level. In the second match of the day for the hosts, Spain proved too much for them. Spain looked very well drilled and organised, even against some argentines very handy with the stick and puck. The clever Spanish overcame and take their win 4-0. This was the same as their result earlier against their other South American opponents on day 1, the Columbians. Gonzales scoring two in this match and emerging as a key player to watch for the Iberian powerhouse that everyone fears to play. Team Canada had a tough match to open their tournament against an Italian side with great potential. Bisi scoring within minutes of the first face-off. Canada did come back, with two goals in the first half from Both and Kedra. And the first half would settle the score for that game 2-1. Team USA, with so much expectation and talent behind them did not struggle as much against Mexico, and raced ahead 7-0. But do not despair for Mexico, because this match could have been a much greater difference against the multiple gold medalists. They had a chance to display their potential when playing Brazil, who like Uruguay are in the early stages of their development path. A 19-0 result will satisfy the Mexicans that they can progress well here, and show the Brazilians what they need to do to do the same. Of course everyone was waiting to see the current champions, France take to the rink and mark their intentions to hold onto their gold. They performed in typical style, with speed, organisation, talent and strength. They beat Columbia 8-0. Without doubt, the most anticipated match of the day did not disappoint. The two powerhouses of hockey faced each other in an attritional battle of equal talent across the board. They went at each other for the full time, and only overtime would make the small difference and record this vital round robin game. None other that the great Alison Era scored the first before anyone could blink off the face-off. And it took all the rest of the first half before Amanda Perkins could level and send the Canadians back to their bench with hope for a win. The intense battle continued for the rest of the match, with nothing in it. Canadians failed to capitalise when Veharanta and Era both sat for minors, and both teams looked fatigued and desperate in overtime, leaving USA number 6, Laura Verahanta to make one almighty effort in a masterclass of stick handling and skating to score the OT goal. What a match to enjoy, and it's only day one! The action continues tomorrow and the rest of the week. Follow along on World Skate TV live, and Worldskate.rsportz for all the results.
Words by Pete Wirt
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Photo of the first day
Schedule & Results
World Championship Junior Men - Monday 24th October 2022
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 8:00 - Namibia x Argentina = 4-1
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 8:00 - Colombia x Brazil = 0-3
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 14:30 - France x Korea = 16-0
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 14:30 - Chinese Taipei x Italy = 8-2
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 16:00 - Argentina x Czech Rep. = 1-2
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 16:00 - Brazil x USA = 1-5
Standing Group A: 3 points: Namibia (1GP), Czech Rep (1GP), France (1GP) - 0 points: Korea (1GP), Argentina (2GP)
Standing Group B: 3 points: Brazil (2GP), USA (1GP), Chinese Taipei (1GP) - 0 points: Colombia (1GP) Italy (1GP)
World Championship Senior Women - Monday 24th October 2022
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 9:30 - Italy x Canada = 1-2
Pav. Europe - Gr.A - 9:30 - USA x Mexico = 7-0
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 11:00 - Argentina x Uruguay = 20-0
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 11:00 - Colombia x Spain = 0-4
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 17:30 - Canada x USA = 1-2 (after OT)
Pav. Europe - Gr.A - 17:30 - Mexico x Brazil = 19-0
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 19:00 - Spain x Argentina = 4-0
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 19:00 - France x Colombia = 8-0
Standing Group A: 5 points: USA (2GP) - 4 points: Canada (2GP) - 3 points: Mexico (2GP) - 0 points: Italy (1GP), Brazil (1GP)
Standing Group B: 6 points: Spain (2GP) - 3 points: France (1GP), Argentina (2 GP) - 0 points: Uruguay (1GP), Colombia (2GP)
Today's fixtures
World Championship Junior Men - Tuesday 25th October 2022
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 8:00 - Italy x Brazil
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 8:00 - Chinese Taipei x USA
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 9:30 - Czech Rep. x Korea
Pav. Europe - Gr.A - 9:30 - Namibia x France
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 16:00 - USA x Italy - LIVE streaming www.worldskategames.tv
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 16:00 - Colombia x Chinese Taipei
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 17:30 - Korea x Argentina - LIVE streaming www.worldskategames.tv
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 17:30 - France x Czech Rep.
World Championship Senior Women - Tuesday 25th October 2022
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 11:00 - Italy x Brazil
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 11:00 - Uruguay x Spain
Pav. Africa - Gr.B - 14:30 - Colombia x Argentina - LIVE streaming www.worldskategames.tv
Pav. Europe - Gr.A - 14:30 - Canada x Mexico
Pav. Africa - Gr.A - 19:00 - Brazil x USA
Pav. Europe - Gr.B - 19:00 - France x Uruguary