Wonderful Copenhagen 2008 - Roundup

A roundup from Mattias, the tournament organiser.

Friends!

The sixth edition of Wonderful Copenhagen Ultimate was concluded Sunday afternoon. 3 days of excellent weather, soft pitches, funky dj’s and intense ultimate came to an end Sunday afternoon with a couple of upsets!

After last years final I praised Skogs as the best Swedish team I had ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a few. The 2008 edition of Skogs looked even stronger. Return of strong Swedish handler Michael Hanski from retirement and a surprising pick up in defense super star Nasser Vogel M'Bae (former Ultimate Vibration, Clapham) improved to an already strong 20-piece roster. Strong enough to again take Skogs to the final after wins over KFUM Örebro in the quarter final and Andorra (UK Open defense) in the semi.

The final was to be a rematch of an already great WCU08-game: Lictenstein (UK Open Offense) beat Skogs in the Friday pool play, and they went head to head again in the final.

It was evident that the UK teams came better prepared to WCU than the Scandinavian teams. Skogs offense couldn’t cope with the UK defense – hard man-to-man or zone. And once the UK offense got fired up, they simply ran away from the Swedes.

Both games had similar character. UK coming out strong and gaining a 3-4 point lead early in the game. The teams then traded points before Skogs defense slowly, slowly gained momentum and worked the team back in the game.

The advantage early in the game was enough for Lichtenstein in the pool play. But it got very close in the final. UK’s relative small squad clearly suffered, and Skogs clinically took advantage of the UK mistakes. 13-11 to UK became 14-14 and sudden death to win WCU.

Final point, UK on offense. And the offense did what the offense is supposed to: score under pressure. A good setup isolated one player on the semi-deep for an easy score. Final score: 15-14.

Congratulations to Lichtenstein for an excellent tournament and a spot on the moon.

Skogs were also runner-ups in the Spirit Award. But since winners Kielstock already left for Germany, Skogs were presented with the award. Earlier this year Italian Londoner Daniel Dui took initiative to celebrate one of WCU’s great – Kuki. From now the spirit award is the Kuki Sprit Award. Daniel played with Kuki in The WCU All Stars 2004-2006, and it was in the spirit and memory of Kuki that Daniel presented WCU and Skogs with this trophy. We all miss Kuki, and this is a fantastic way to remember him. Thank you Daniel.

As always, WCU serves as the melting pot of Euro ultimate. This year 22 teams entered, and with Worlds in Vancouver coming up in august WCU was an excellent opportunity to check on the pre-season progress and preparations. Three national teams entered WCU: The Italian National team, Inside Rakete aka German National Team, and Lichtenstein and Andorra – or rather UK offense and UK defense. They all got what they came for – hard and interesting games. Local heroes Ragnarok finished third after a sweet win over Andorra (UK Open Defense), Viksjöfors (SWE) finally managed to enter top 8 with a win over local rivals KFUM Örebro for 5th spot. On the disappointing side were the Finns. Coming directly from the winter, the Finns suffered from the early date. None of the teams matched expectations; no3 seed Kahukopla missed out on quarters, and neither Sipoo or Helsinki managed to advance from the lower pools. Lucky for you that WCU09 is set for 8-10 of May!

Complete results are coming up on www.wcu.dk.

But please check out blockstack.tv - excellent podcast from the tournament with interviews, field action and funky shots of toxic twins Steve and Tom camping out in the hostel bed...

>From the whole WCU organization: Thanks to all the teams and players. Great ultimate, great spirit. You are all welcome back in 2009.


Cheers

Mattias Ahlgren
Wonderful Copenhagen Ultimate
www.wcu.dk

Results

Final standings

1. Lichtenstein (GB O)
2. Skogs Ultimate
3. Ragnarok
4. Andorra (GB D)
5. Viksjöfors IF
6. KFUM Örebro
7. Inside Rakete (Germany Open)
8. Italia
9. Sipoo Odd Stars
10. Cota Rica
11. Karhukopla
12. Helsinki Ultimate
13. Tooting Tigers
14. Kielstock
15. Cambo Cakes
16. Tørring
17. WCU Staff
18. Århus
19. Stockholm Syndromes
20. Lookfly Outernationals
21. KFK
22. Cph DJ's

Sprit scores

94.43% KielStock (DE)
91.29% Skogs Ultimate (SE)
88.00% København Frisbee Klub (DK)
87.64% Helsinki Ultimate (FI)
87.45% Lookfly Outernationals (All over)
87.14% Ragnarok (DE)
86.64% Disc Jockeys KBH (DK)
86.61% Liechtenstein (GB1)
85.50% Karhukopla (FI)
85.43% Cota Rica (IT)
84.92% Sipoo Odd Stars (FI)
82.14% Tooting Tigers (UK)
81.57% Viksjöfors IF (SE)
80.57% Tørring DiscControl (DK)
79.13% Inside Rakete (DE)
76.50% Italian National Team (IT)
76.33% Stockholm Syndromes (SE)
75.00% Andorra (GB)
75.00% Aarhus Ultimate (DK)
74.83% WCU Staff Team (DK)
74.29% Cambo Cakes (NL)
69.86% KFUM Örebro Frisbee (SE)

Picture by Tom Styles.