This year saw the first official world beach ultimate club championship, held from the 14th to the 19th of October in Portimão, Portugal in the lovely twenty degree heat.
Beach ultimate is a rapidly growing sport, rising in popularity all over the world. Over thirty countries and five continents were represented at this world championship, with roughly two thousand athletes competing in this tournament across the three divisions and 118 teams.
Teams qualified for this event based on their National Beach Ultimate Championships, with the winners of these past events automatically qualifying for the tournament.
Throughout the tournament, more than one thousand games of ultimate were played, each game lasting 45 minutes or until one team reaches 13 points. The matches took place on a pitch measuring 75 by 25 meters, with each end zone stretching 15 meters in width.
Ultimate is a self refereed sport requiring players uphold the "spirit of the game" with each other; maintaining fair play, limiting contact, foul infractions, and respecting opponents. This spirit is essential to maintaining the integrity of the game.
The open division was the most anticipated, with Humiliswag from America entering as the first seed and expected winners of the tournament, while Jetset Open from Belgium entered as the seventh seed.
Their finals match was one of the best game of ultimate I have ever seen. Both teams fought hard for their places throughout the tournament, with Jetset only losing one game over the entire tournament and Humiliswag losing two. Jetset exceeded all expectations, climbing from the seventh seed to secure a first place finish, a truly phenomenal performance from the Belgian squad.
The finals match was very tightly contested, with the game statistics being very even. Only one break more from Jetset allowed them to come through with the win, with Humiliswag suffering one additional turnover then Jetset.
The Jetset team played some of the best offence in the entire tournament, complimented by a formidable defence, where no one player was afraid to commit to their decisions. In my opinion, they made the best play in recent ultimate times, with a huge deep shot, followed by a greatest, caught by a layout into a score. This put them into a 10-9 lead, before Humiliswag scored quickly after.
This put the game into universe point, where the first team to reach 11 would take victory over the entire tournament. Jetset pulled ahead in this final point, claiming the title of world champions.
The finals game is free to watch on YouTube, and I would highly recommend that you go and watch it, especially as it is only forty five minutes long.
