Another piece of the pool play puzzle has fallen into place on Day 2, beneath a grey sky and at times biblical rains. English ‘Summer.’ More rounds of games at the World U24 Ultimate Championships have produced some shock results, complex pathways to finals, and unfortunately, another heart-wrenching day in the office for team Australia. More on that shortly.
If you want to look at the cold hard data and stats yourself, visit this page on the tournament website. Some live streams are available through Ultiworld’s YouTube, but for the full cartel you’ll need a subscription. Tournament packages start from $16.99, you can see the full schedule here.
Mixed
With four pools of four, the Mixed division has completed its opening round of pool play and will be moving into crossovers on Day 3. There’s been some notable upsets of pre-tournament seeding, with GB stealing the pole position in Pool B off of Japan, while the USA and Canada looked fairly unruffled in the opening days of competition. Also a great result for our friends across the ditch to finish 2nd in Pool A! New Zealand are set up nicely headed into crossovers.
Pool A:
Pool B:
Pool C:
Pool D:
Bluebottles
Another day, another universe point loss for our Bluebottles. The Bottles were out for blood against South Africa, bringing an elite level of pressure to the game’s opening stages. They raced ahead to a 4-1 lead, with the Australian women torching every match up - I’m told Tash Langsdon’s defender was so hopelessly lost trying to keep up with her that she ‘needed a map.’ South Africa worked their way back into the contest through a really tight and well-drilled zone look, making good use of the swirling conditions and ultimately taking half 8-6.
Gabe Eady, Gong Superstar, brought the energy and the hype after the break. He helped the bottles surge out of half to make it 9-9, and now that the deep shots seemed to be connecting, the Bottles were able to pull away 14-12. In the three long and painful points that followed, the Bluebottles weren’t able to punch it in, losing the contest 15-14.
In their afternoon clash against Singapore, the Bottles went toe to toe with the 3 seed and the pool leaders. Abdul Siddique and Tash Langdon played big in the first half, dominating the skies. It was 3-3, then 9-9, and Eric Ly was apparently looking like a ‘visionary’ with some of the throws he was producing. Singapore play an agile, wily style of offence, and were able to pull away to 13-10. Despite clawing back some points to make it 14-12, a scoreline the Bottles have become well acquainted with, Singapore held their nerve to win 15-12.
The Bluebottles have every right to feel hard done by, having a goal difference of only five points after three losses. But my spies in the field tell me that, through their hardships, they’re having lots of fun. Taking it in stride. Loving their team. That’s not easy - it’s a testament to the character of the playing group and the coaches, and it’ll hold them in good stead come the crossovers.
They’ve got Chinese Taipei and Colombia tomorrow, and Hong Kong on Day 4. Let’s go Bottles.
Women’s
The two-pool system remains a bit of fun, doesn’t it? We seem to be heading headlong into some sketchy complicated ties, and really only Japan and the USA seem a cut above the rest. Purely based on score lines and vibes, it seems like Pool A is many degrees stronger than Pool B, and final placings may prove important as we head towards the final rounds of pool play. Still two days of that left to go!
Pool A:
Pool B:
Stingrays
The Stingrays faced off with Germany in their morning game, and as predicted had a pretty evenly matched, stylistically similar clash. There was a grand total of three breaks, two going the way of the Germans, and the rest of the points were O-lines trading. Germany’s Ava Mueller is one of the best throwers in the division, probably in the tournament, maybe the whole world, and she threw seven goals in the form of upwind flick hucks. While the Stingrays weren’t able to really nullify Mueller, they were getting plenty of turnovers on D. This has been a consistent theme for the Rays, who are applying high level pressure and have plenty of block getters on the roster - Elysia Chua got a fair few in this game. On the O side of things, Angela Pidgeon’s humongous catching window continues to be a vital asset, with plenty of big layout grabs to keep the disc alive.
In their afternoon game against Ireland, the Rays had another fairly slow start, through a period of long, grindy points. Reyer Carpenter and of course Lucy Deller stood up and showed great composure with the disc to bust through the Irish zone in difficult conditions, and the Stingrays took half 8-5. Evidently sick of playing in the torrential rain and gusting wind, the Stingrays decided to absolutely dominate the second half to get out of there sooner. A huge run of points made the final score 15-7.
The Stingrays are a self-confessed vibe-based team, and they really brought the energy and the fun to the Ireland game. They’re getting plenty of turnovers, making excellent use of the conditions and their athleticism. The mark of a great team is converting those chances - it’s maybe the hardest thing to do at the International level, but all of a sudden, one day, defensive offence just clicks. That day will be Day 3.
The Stingrays play China tomorrow, on the livestream, at 6pm AEST. Let’s go Stingrays.
Opens
Speaking of chaotic pools, these Opens ones are strange and scary. With many more games still to be played, and a sense that maybe anyone could be anyone else in any given game, the final top four placings are anyone’s guess. It’s one of the more stressful divisions going around, that’s for sure.
Pool A:
Pool B:
Goannas
The Goannas opened their game against Ireland with a Callahan, which as we all know was rated #1 on WFDF’s Most Fun Ways To Start A Game poll. Nice one, Tiernan. The Irish tried to send out a strange and aggressive zone look, but obviously hadn’t heard of or seen Jono and Lucien play zone offence together. Yeesh. Soon both teams were playing high athleticism, high impact match defence, real physical stuff. Goeys took half 8-6, and then the heavens opened all the way up. Through the deluge, the Goeys rounded out the game with a five point run to finish 15-8. A strong win for a strong side.
The game against Canada was as loud, energetic and physical as you might expect. Canada were huck happy and able to connect most of the time, blowing out to a 3-0 lead that the Aussies hadn’t clawed back by half (Canada took it 8-5). Damon Prendergast was everywhere throughout this first half, just as potent in the deep space as he was around the disc. Though the Goeys scored twice out of half, they weren’t able to generate much clean momentum in the second period of play. There was not a single turnover-free hold in the second half, with multiple points over five minutes (including back to back nine and ten minute whoppers), and Canada did enough to punch it in each time. You’d have to suspect that the final score, 13-8, doesn’t really reflect the closeness or grittiness of the contest.
With plenty of pool play still to go, the Goeys are going to have to win some crunch moments to get themselves up the ladder. But they know they can! They’ve got all the tools and all the energy.
The Goannas play New Zealand and Japan tomorrow. An electric Day 3 schedule. Let’s go Goeys!
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Thank you so much to my spies in the field, Tom Kinsella, Lucy Deller and Curtis Ly for giving me the inside scoop.