UWH World Age Group 2026 : Daily Recap 1

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This Saturday, July 18, marked the opening day of the 7th CMAS World Youth Underwater Hockey Championships (U19 and U24). The event is being held at the Olympic Swimming Pool in Gebze and has brought together 12 nations from five continents: Türkiye, France, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Colombia, Argentina, the Netherlands, China, Great Britain, the USA, and South Africa.

U19 Men

In the U19 Men’s competition, two teams finished the day at the top of the group stage: the hosting nation, Türkiye, and Great Britain. Both sides won all of their matches easily, with victories by at least three goals.

Despite playing less games than the other teams, the reigning champions and runners-up also made a strong start. New Zealand cruised to an 8-0 win over the USA, while France dominated Poland with a 15-0 victory. Australia, usually considered one of the favourites in this category, had a disappointing opening day, losing to Turkey before being held to a draw by Colombia. Meanwhile, South Africa ends Day 1 at the bottom of the standings after losing both of its matches.

U19 Women

Turkey made an excellent start to the U19 Women’s tournament, edging Australia 2-1 before suffering a heavy 7-0 defeat to Colombia later in the day. Colombia now sits at the top of the standings after also beating New Zealand. However, they have the same amount of points than France after the opening day.

On their side the French squad also won both of its matches, defeating South Africa and Great Britain. Unfortunately, South Africa lost both of its games, while Great Britain also finished the day without a win after losing its second match to New Zealand.

U24 Men

Moving on to the U24 competition, Turkey’s men’s team opened its tournament with two defeats.

Australia and South Africa, the two teams that defeated Turkey, share the top spot after Day 1. France and Colombia have identical records, each finishing the day with one win and one loss. The Netherlands and the USA each played just one game and lost it, leaving them in the bottom two places. New Zealand also played only one game but came away with a victory over Argentina.

U24 Women

In the U24 Women’s competition, Australia got off to a flying start by crushing the USA 14-0. New Zealand followed Australia’s path with a dominant 10-0 victory over Great Britain. Argentina also made a strong statement, defeating the USA 9-0 and leaving the Americans with a difficult start to the tournament.

Only five matches were played in this category on the opening day. France lost its only game to South Africa, while Colombia was held to a draw by Turkey.