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THE first round of the under-18 men's and women's indoor hockey national championship started at the Silverdome in Launceston, with seven teams in both the men's and the women's competition.
The Tasmanian men started their campaign strongly with a commanding 10-3 win over South Australia. South Australia scored first with Jared Pena finding the back of the net in the fifth minute off a penalty corner. This saw South Australia take momentum and apply the pressure to Tasmania's backline.
Jordan Dart broke this pressure for Tasmania in the 10th minute with a well finished field goal. Sam Rosetto, Evan Davies, Jai Walker Kidd and Josh Beltz all contributed to Tasmania's goal tally.
Also in the men's competition Queensland and Western Australia played out a hard-fought draw. It was the day for draws for Queensland with the side also drawing 3-all with a solid New South Wales side in their second match of the day.
In the first round of the women's under-18 competition New South Wales had two very commanding wins over their rivals. First a 7-1 defeat of South Australia and a 5-1 win over Victoria. Queensland also defeated Victoria in its second match of the day 3-2 with Victoria's Olivia Colasurdo putting in a solid effort in front of goals scoring multiple times for her side.
Day 2 continues tomorrow with the first game starting at 8am, the Tasmanian girls take on Western Australia at 10am, the Tasmanian boys take on the ACT at 11am.
