The New Zealand men’s, women’s and mixed open grade teams have gone unbeaten in their first matches in the 2019 Touch World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
The Kiwi women made a very strong start, managing to keep a clean sheet on day one of the open competition. They beat host nation Malaysia 14-0, and then accounted for The Netherlands 20-0.
The men’s side won their first two matches comfortably, beating the Philippines 10-4 in the morning session and then whipping The Netherlands 22-1 in the afternoon.
The mixed side was just as dominant, thrashing Chinese Taipei 19-0 and then Malaysia 20-0. All three teams now top Pool B of their grades, with arch-nemesis Australia’s sides all topping the remaining Pool A.
The 119 teams from around the world have also had to battle the warm and humid local weather. Temperatures have reached the mid-30’s each afternoon.
The tournament, which runs until May 4, is being held in Malaysia for the first time. The playoffs are scheduled for Saturday, with the gold medal matches for the open grades to take place around 7pm in the evening, NZ time.
Full results from day two:
OPEN MEN
NZ 10 v Philippines 4
NZ 22 v Netherlands 1
OPEN WOMEN
NZ 14 v Malaysia 0
NZ 20 v Netherlands 0
OPEN MIXED
NZ 12 v Singapore 0
NZ 12 v Papua New Guinea 2
27 WOMEN
NZ 12 v France 0
NZ 16 v South Africa 2
35 WOMEN
NZ 7 v Europe 2
NZ 3 v England 1
30 MIXED
NZ 13 v Singapore 0
NZ 4 v Australia 11
35 MEN
NZ 12 v USA 3
40 MEN
NZ 22 v Ireland 1
NZ 12 v England 2
45 MEN
NZ 15 v England 1
NZ 4 v Australia 8
50 MEN
NZ 12 v Great Britain 0
NZ 4 v Australia 8