So, if my understanding of the 2008 UKUA Open Tour is correct, 11 of the top 14 (less Great Barry, BUF and Joe Britain) of Tour 0 join the 5 pre-Qualified teams to form the A Tour, the next 16 start in the B Tour, and everyone else starts in the new C Tour. After each Tour, promotion & relegation will occur. It looks like it's going to be another interesting year in UK Ultimate!
Some of the Tour 0 final placings are a bit of a surprise (to me) - obviously I've not been paying enough attention!? I reckon that it's Trumour time! Let's start at the top: Brighton won their pool, then got a bit of short-sharp-shock in their crossover (3v12) against GB Masters, so took the slightly more circuitous route to the final, where they avenged their earlier defeat; GB Masters have started out by giving the impression that they're not as old or slow as their opposition might hope. It remains to be seen just how slow and old they really are and how much cunning they can add to the mix to make up for that, during the rest of Tour; The first 'upset' on the grapevine was news of Great Barry defeating Clapham 2 in pool play. Great Barry then marched steadily onwards and upward until their semi-final against GB Masters. Sadly, we'll not be seeing Great Barry in the Open Tour again in 2008, though you will see their faces playing with other clubs; BUF = (Oxford) Brookes Ultimate Frisbee. Who are they and where did they spring from!?. What are they up to? Their story appears to be that they started seeded 22 and headed up from there. Hindered en route by Brighton and Bristol they followed the unconventional but apparently highly effective method of defeating Discuits 1 in PreQuarters to take the no1 spot, before succumbing once more to Brighton in semis. Is there more than that? Devon 1, seeded 17 but rising to place 5th, it seems that they have been recruiting and/or training hard over the winter. They'll be starting in the top 8 at Tour 1, mixing it with the 'big guns'. It'll be interesting to see how they fare! Bristol Plastic Factory 1 held seeding (including defeating GB Masters in pool play) throughout the tournament until their final, where they defeated Limited Release 1. They'll be working hard on cracking the top8 during Tour 1; Limited Release 1 may have had somewhat of a rollercoaster of a ride... I deduce that they were defeated by Devon 1 in pool play, stayed in contention through the crossover rounds, were defeated by GB Masters in QuarterFinals and then won their semi and lost their final... all to place one higher than originally seeded! Discuits 1 retained their no1 seeding until they met BUF, then took a tumble to 16 (Sunday mornings can be nasty, can't they!). After that, they finished as high as they could. I'd imagine that these guys will be working on their Sunday morning preparation and not be too happy if they haven't made it back into the top 8 by the end of Tour 1; EMO appear to be hanging in there; Sheffield Steal appear to have justified the mid-Saturday mutterings that they are looking stronger this year; Blue Arse Flies appear to have taken a tumble from their original seeding - and a larger one than expected from missing Merrick whilst he's on 'National Service' with GB Masters. Completing the A Tour line up... Clapham 2. These lads will have identified things they need to work on, and I'm sure that we'll see them working their way back up through the rankings, though who they'll displace on the way is surely open to many a point of view! Starting top of the B Tour: Fusion West, who were defeated by GB Masters in the 3v14 PreQuarter - I deduce that Fusion then won their quarters and semis before losing out to Clapham 2 in the A/B Tour 'Game to Go'. These boys (and their incredibly smart kit!) will be like caged animals in the B Tour at Tour 1, waiting to be released back upon the A Tour at Tour 2. Reasonably reliable eyewitnesses report that the final point of the Game To Go was scored by Clapham as a result of a dropped pull - or more precisely, a Clapham pull that hit a briefly inattentive, not to mention unfortunate, Fusion player before dropping to the ground. Apparently Harvey is claiming a block! If you read all of this, well done. Please don't take it as gospel - it's mostly vaguely educated guesswork, combining the original seedings, randomly overheard results and final placings. If you're disappointed that I didn't write anything useful, or about anyone else, then please feel free to hit delete and forget all about it! At this point, it's be good if someone more attentive, and with more useful information, could write something about the rest of the results... I'd be blagging more than I already have... --- Wayne 'Wrecker' Retter GB Masters #2 ----------------------------------------- Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed
