Games went largely to seed on the first day of play as top seeds cruised to large wins -- mostly
July 11, 2026 by Aidan Thomas in Recap
Twenty games kicked off the World Junior Ultimate Championships in Logroño, Spain on Saturday. Across three divisions, things got off to a relatively calm start with only one upset by seed and just one game being played to double game point – and only two games being decided by two or fewer points. The USA Open Team started off smoothly with a win, while their mixed and women’s division compatriots will wait until Sunday to take the field for the first time.
Women’s Division
The women’s division didn’t bring us any upsets by seed, but it did bring us the best game of the day between no.5 New Zealand and no.12 Great Britain. Great Britain battled back from being down 10-6 to force double game point after notching consecutive breaks to tie the score at 11-11. However, they couldn’t get the final break, as New Zealand held on for a 12-11 win with Carenza Elley linking up with Bianca Philip for the game-sealing score. Philip’s goal capped an impressive two-goal, two-assist effort that was among New Zealand’s leaders, while Charlotte Woolf led Great Britain with the same statline. Lilah Cooke led both teams with four assists for the New Zealand squad.
Elsewhere in the division, no.3 France let up just one goal in two games, smothering Spain 13-0 and Great Britain 13-1. Top-seeded Italy added to Spain’s tough day at the office with a 13-0 win as well. Sixth-seeded Japan waltzed to a 13-3 victory over Germany, and no.7 Czech Republic opened up a 7-2 lead and cruised to an 11-7 win over Colombia that was never close.
Cooke and Italy’s Elisa Manni led the division with four assists per game (Ella Maillard of France has the overall lead with five assists in two games). Mariana Alzate Alvarez of Colombia and Jana Záluská of Czech Republic were the only players with five scoring contributions (goals plus assists) in a single game.
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Second-seeded USA jump into action on Sunday when they take on no.14 Sweden. Fourth-seeded Canada get a Sweden/Germany doubleheader, and no.5 New Zealand will look to recover from the near upset when they take on Colombia. Italy, Spain, and France will not take the field tomorrow.
Mixed Division
Chalk reigned supreme in the mixed division, with no major close games to speak of. Only three of the top five seeds were in action, but no.2 Canada handled no.6 Colombia 13-4 on stream, no.4 Singapore doubled up no.13 Hong Kong 12-6, and no.5 France cruised past no.12 Austria 13-5, also on stream. Seventh-seed Switzerland (13-9 over no.10 China) and no.8 Australia (13-2 over no.14 Ireland) were the other winners in the earlier slots. All games were virtually over by halftime, with the eventual winners up by at least four across every match.
All that is, but the nightcap game between no.9 Mexico and no.11 Spain. Mexico’s defense came out firing and notched three first-half breaks, earning a 7-4 halftime advantage over Spain. The Spanish side came out with a new ferocity in the second half, clawing back two of those breaks en route to a 3-1 run that brought them within 8-7. However, Spain still needed two more breaks to pull the opening-round comeback, and they never got one. At 12-11, they forced Mexico into a long and messy O-line point, but after over eight minutes, the Mexican offense got it done, Charles Izel recording his seventh score with the game-winning assist.
Izel was the mixed division leader in goals (5) and total contributions (7) as part of Mexico’s late win. Teammate Roberto Díaz is not far behind with a two goal, four assist statline. Díaz was one of four players to wrack up four assists in a single game, joined by Singapore’s Kiat Loon Chong, Spain’s Joel Christoph Kayser de Dios, and China’s Huaiqian Hu.
The other top-five teams, top-seeded USA and no.3 Hungary, get into action tomorrow. USA will play both a streamed match against China and Hong Kong to open their tournament, while Hungary battle Spain and Australia. Singapore vs. Switzerland represents the day’s lone clash between two top-seven seeds.
Open Division
Blowouts were the name of the game in the open division on Saturday, with no game closer than 13-6. The top five seeds — USA, Italy, Canada, Germany and Japan — were all in action, and none of them seemingly broke a sweat. USA dismantled no.11 Singapore 13-4,1 Italy throttled no.17 South Africa 13-3, Canada overwhelmed no.8 New Zealand 13-5, Germany blanked no.19 Spain 13-0, and Japan blitzed no.15 Finland 13-1. Ninth-seeded Czech Republic (13-0 over no.18 Netherlands) and no.10 Columbia (13-0 over no.16 Ireland) were also blowout winners.
There was one singular upset by seed, as no.14 Israel outclassed no.12 Great Britain in the opening round of play. This one had a little more intrigue, as Great Britain broke first on their first opportunity to go up 2-0, a lead they maintained in the early going. However, Israel’s pressure was real and Britain were forced into some grinding, long holds. Their first hold took 3 minutes and 40 seconds of game time, their second was a whopping 7 minutes and 40 seconds, and their third clocked in at 5:40.
The pressure eventually overwhelmed the Great Britain squad, and Israel, after closing within 4-3 on their third straight hold, ripped off four straight breaks to take half a 7-4. Eyal Nissanov scored twice in the surge, and Guy Halfon notched a pair of assists.
From a statistical perspective, Itamar Ron Kaplun (Israel), and Colombian teammates Tomas Lopez Hoyos and Juan Jose Ochoa Chaverra led the division with five total scores in their first game. Hoyos tied for the assist lead with Singapore’s Kun Da Lu at four, while Japan’s Sohei Udo led the division with four goals.
Sunday should feature some more intriguing games. Sixth-seeded France gets into action against Colombia2 and then Germany, while no.1 USA and no.5 Japan face off, live on Ultiworld at 12 p.m. local time.
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