At the not too long ago concluded Asia Oceanic Ultimate and Guts Club Championship (AOUGCC) held in Manila, Philippines, Airbenders, a Bengaluru-based Ultimate Frisbee membership, was once the only real representation from India within the males's division and finished 13th out of 22 groups — the easiest ever finish through an Indian membership.
Ultimate Frisbee is an athletic, fast-growing, blended gender recreation played with a frisbee on a near-football sized box. The Bengaluru crew basically plays within the blended division (through which each genders play in combination), however for this tournament, they went as a males's crew. Speaking about their preparation and taking part in a new division, the membership's coach, Dhatri HV, says, "For AOUGCC, India was awarded two bids (slots) by the World Flying Disc Federation, one in mixed and one in men's. Ultimate Players Association of India, the governing body of the sport in India, awarded the mixed bid to Airborne, a highly-rated Chennai-based team, and we were given the men's. In preparation for the tournament, apart from weekly practices and fitness sessions, we had four weekend training camps — one each month from May till August, where we conducted drills, strategies, scrimmages and team bonding activities."
At the four-day tournament, Airbenders, with a squad dimension of 18 gamers, competed towards membership groups from other international locations equivalent to Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and China. Giving a summary of the crew's performance, membership captain Ajith Soundararajan says, "Out of the eight games we played, we won four games — against two Filipino teams and one each from Singapore and China, scoring an average of 10 goals every game. This is the second edition of AOUGCC that Indian clubs have taken part in, and none of the others have managed more than two wins. So we went hoping to win at least two games and ended up winning four with a 50% win ratio, the highest by any Indian club so far. That makes us very proud of our achievements."
Airbenders added any other feather to their cap through finishing because the 3rd most-spirited crew within the males's division. Explaining the concept of Spirit of the Game (SotG), vice-captain Vinayak Puthran says, "In Ultimate Frisbee, a lot of emphasis is on SotG, which basically means respecting your opponents and playing fair with a positive attitude. That is why even at such international tournaments, there are no referees or umpires, and it is up to the players to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship and play with the rules. Teams are rated for their fair-mindedness and spirit by their opponents, and to have finished third is a great source of joy for us."
Nomadic Tribe, a Japanese membership crew, gained the boys's division, and Singaporean crew Crackerjacks Crush finished runners-up. Young Blood from Philippines were adjudged essentially the most spirited crew.
Ultimate Frisbee is an athletic, fast-growing, blended gender recreation played with a frisbee on a near-football sized box. The Bengaluru crew basically plays within the blended division (through which each genders play in combination), however for this tournament, they went as a males's crew. Speaking about their preparation and taking part in a new division, the membership's coach, Dhatri HV, says, "For AOUGCC, India was awarded two bids (slots) by the World Flying Disc Federation, one in mixed and one in men's. Ultimate Players Association of India, the governing body of the sport in India, awarded the mixed bid to Airborne, a highly-rated Chennai-based team, and we were given the men's. In preparation for the tournament, apart from weekly practices and fitness sessions, we had four weekend training camps — one each month from May till August, where we conducted drills, strategies, scrimmages and team bonding activities."
At the four-day tournament, Airbenders, with a squad dimension of 18 gamers, competed towards membership groups from other international locations equivalent to Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and China. Giving a summary of the crew's performance, membership captain Ajith Soundararajan says, "Out of the eight games we played, we won four games — against two Filipino teams and one each from Singapore and China, scoring an average of 10 goals every game. This is the second edition of AOUGCC that Indian clubs have taken part in, and none of the others have managed more than two wins. So we went hoping to win at least two games and ended up winning four with a 50% win ratio, the highest by any Indian club so far. That makes us very proud of our achievements."
Airbenders added any other feather to their cap through finishing because the 3rd most-spirited crew within the males's division. Explaining the concept of Spirit of the Game (SotG), vice-captain Vinayak Puthran says, "In Ultimate Frisbee, a lot of emphasis is on SotG, which basically means respecting your opponents and playing fair with a positive attitude. That is why even at such international tournaments, there are no referees or umpires, and it is up to the players to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship and play with the rules. Teams are rated for their fair-mindedness and spirit by their opponents, and to have finished third is a great source of joy for us."
Nomadic Tribe, a Japanese membership crew, gained the boys's division, and Singaporean crew Crackerjacks Crush finished runners-up. Young Blood from Philippines were adjudged essentially the most spirited crew.
Bengaluru’s ultimate frisbee team has best ever finish by an indian club at Asia-Oceania event
![Bengaluru’s ultimate frisbee team has best ever finish by an indian club at Asia-Oceania event]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
October 24, 2017
Rating:
