Elodie, Johanna and Lisa won in Bern
“Ruckus” (Elo, Jo, Lisa) won the Hells Belles in Bern last weekend.
At this edition of the Hells BellXs, which takes place in a different city in Europe every year, 16 teams played on Friday and Saturday in the Swiss city of Bern. While the weather was quite good on Friday, it rained quite a lot on Saturday.
The surroundings of the court in Bern are incredibly beautiful and there was delicious food twice a day.
On Friday, 5 games were played in a Swiss Round. This was followed by a double elimination on Saturday. The results from the preliminary round were relatively mixed, with no team winning every game. On Saturday afternoon, only a few teams were left while the tension was rising.
In the Winners Bracket final, “Ruckus” played against “OUR BALL” (Ladina, Patos, Elena). When the game started it wasn’t raining, but shortly before the golden goal the storm started. The golden goal lasted about 20 minutes while the players tried to score the decisive goal in the pouring rain. In the end Lisa was able to score with a big shot and bring her team into the final with a score of 2:1
In the Loosers Bracket, the Swiss team with support from Rouen played against “watch me dance” (Manu, Raph, Gitti). The team led by Berlin polo legend Gitti had played a great tournament up to that point and secured at least a podium place with this match. The offense of “OUR BALL” was too strong and so they won the game 3:1
In the Grand Final, “Ruckus” played against “OUR BALL”. Elena and Ladina played very good passes and had many chances. Nevertheless, the offense of Ruckus was very strong, they were able to score two goals. After 15 minutes, “Ruckus” won the final 2:1 and were crowned winners after coming third last year.
Johanna said the following about the weekend: „As always, Bern put on an amazing vibe and a well organized tournament. They even ordered an apocalypse for one of our golden goals😉. And I am beyond happy and thankful to be part of a team that allowed me to come back after all my injuries.“
Quimey was voted MVP. Best Rookie was Rachel, who has been playing since September and is therefore incredibly good.
Saturday’s games was streamed by DownOverBikepolo and can be watched on YT.
Winners History:
2011/London: Valley, Leslie, Seabass
2012/ London: Jo, Nik, Erin
2013/Barcelona: Jo, Elena, Angie
2014/ Geneva: Anna, Danielle, Johanna
2015/Toulouse: Elena, Lisa, Liga
2016/ Vienna: Elena, Lisa, Liga
2017/ Lyon: Sam, Jacki, Melanie
2018/ Glasgow: Elodie, Johanna, Danielle
2019/ Barao: Nele, Kathi, Nath
2023/ Hamburg: Eliska,Mya, Nele
2024/ Bern: Elodie, Lisa, Johanna