Eight of the 20 teams competing at the IFAF Asia-Oceania Flag Football Championships remain unbeaten after a thrilling opening day of action at the EV Arena Shah Alam in Malaysia, including four of the eleven nations in the men’s competition.

Japan and Australia both have 2-0 records to lead Group A, while there’s also a two-way tie in Group B where New Zealand and Thailand stand at 2-0.

Japan’s men scored the first points of the continental tournament in the men’s bracket in racing to a 14-point lead over Singapore during a 35-point shutout as quarterback Rintaro Mori threw for four touchdowns. Kosei Ito had three scoring grabs and Ryosuke Matsuo reeled in two in Japan’s 45-13 win over India.

Australia were the day’s top scorers with 88 total points and conceded only one touchdown. Bartholomew Foley threw four touchdowns and Matthew Krul three in a 50-7 win over Kuwait, while Matthew Barbara led the receivers with three scoring grabs and Aaron Howard came up with a pick-six. In a 38-6 victory over Singapore, Barbara again led the way with Howard, Luke Edwards and Fletcher Dignam also on the scoresheet.

In Group B, New Zealand had too much firepower for Korea in a 34-13 win as receiver Mitch Bateman produced some highlight reel plays including two touchdown grabs from quarterback Jono Entwistle. Jack Preston found the end zone twice and Anthony Stevens reeled in one from Jackson Te Huki as the New Zealanders occasionally utilized passing styles borrowed from their nation’s popular sport of rugby to great effect.

Thailand beat Malaysia and Indonesia to match New Zealand’s record and the two teams meet in their final group game at 2.30pm on Saturday live on the showpiece field live IFAF.TV.

Darius Chirasanta caught four touchdowns as Thailand beat Malaysia 49-34. Raul Ghazali reeled in three scoring grabs in the hosts’ losing effort and caught three more from quarterback Taufiq Mohd Fauzi as Malaysia bounced back to beat Korea 33-21. Unbeaten Thailand’s second win was a close 34-26 victory over Indonesia as quarterback Phithaya Saranloet threw for five touchdowns.

Recovering from an opening loss to Australia, Kuwait beat the Philippines 43-6 and sit above them in the standings with both teams posting a 1-1 record.

Group A Results: JPN 35 SGP 0, IND 19 PHI 21, AUS 50 KUW 7, IND 13 JPN 45, AUS 38 SGP 6, KUW 43 PHI 6

Group A Standings Australia 2-0 Japan 2-0 Kuwait 1-1 Philippines 1-1 India 0-2 Singapore 0-2

Group B Results: KOR 13 NZL 34, MAS 34 THA 49, INA 26 NZL 32, KOR 21 MAS 33, INA 26 THA 34

Group B Standings New Zealand 2-0 Thailand 2-0 Malaysia 1-1 Indonesia 0-2 Korea 0-2 Photo @sgflagfootball