Lisa, Baptiste, Quentin won in Rouen
Schmetterling (Lisa, Baptiste, Quentin) won the Rouen Fire tournament last weekend.
After the prestigious tournament in January, Rouen organized another tournament in the second half of the year. 16 Flinta captains were invited to put together a team from all registered players.
There were players from France, Austria, Germany, England, Belgium, USA, Spain, Switzerland and Italy.
On Friday, everyone met at the local self-help workshop run by players from Rouen, then went to a bar. Saturday the games started at 9 am. The morning and afternoon groups played 5 games each. In the evening, everyone went to the legendary bar, which is also visited during the Ephiphanie tournament. There was a dinner, games and drinks.
On Sunday there was a big double elimination with all teams. There were some surprises in the first rounds. For example, Mya, Punch and Tommy, who were probably already counted among the top teams in advance, were eliminated from the tournament relatively early. By late afternoon, there were only 4 teams left. In the Winners Bracket Final, Schmetterling played against Spectrum (Dev, Levin, Tomas). The two teams played a vivid match with 6 goals before the score was tied 3-3 at the end of regular time. Scoring monster Bouchard then scored again to send his team into the grand final.
In the Loosers Bracket, Fyreball (Patos, Quentin, Quentin) played against Lascars Go (Margot, Woods, Yann). Both teams had previously eliminated strong teams from the tournament and were now playing for the podium. Fyreball was too strong offensively and defensively and did not allow more than one goal, while they scored three times themselves and won. After a short break, Fyreball then played against Spectrum. The teams had not met before, with Spectrum going into the game as favorites. They lived up to this role by winning 3:0 and fighting their way back into the final.
The final really got underway after the start phase and a broken chain from Thomas. After Spectrum took a 1-0 lead with three minutes to play, Schmetterling played more 3up and scored twice. 10 seconds before the end, Baptiste converted a long ball from Bouchard to make the final score 3:1. Bouchard thus defended his title after winning in Rouen in January.
Max, who did a lot of the organizing with Laura, said the following about the weekend in an interview with BPN: “Laura and I had a great time organizing this tournament. The idea I had at first was to find a way to show what Bikepolo is to us. It has to be competitive (cause its a sport) but the important things are the people, the community, the love and friendship we make along the way. With the help of Laura, we tried to offer a safe and fun space for all the players. Inviting 16 FLINTA captains was a way of providing a solution to the question “are you ok with ‘mandagory mixed’ ?” to which I answer “no, cause I don’t like ‘mandatory’ it doesn’t teach people, it just forces them”. Saying just “no” is easy; you have to try different solution, that’s why we did this invitational. That way it’s not “mandatory mandatory” AND most of all, FLINTA players are not pokemon cards people call “because this tournament is mixed so I need you”. Finally, we think all the players played the game. The spirit/vibe was just perfect. The captains were amazing and drafted such good and even team, that was incredible. We really loved it. We’re already thinking about a second edition.”
The award for the best outfit went to “Sabotage” for a very ingenious team kit. Best team spirit went to “Bella Rey”. The MVP award went to Justine, who not only scored a lot but also played a very good tournament in general. Vazzi received the award for most improved. Margot was honored as Best Goaly. All prizes were handmade by Laura, brilliant!
As usual, the elimination was streamed on YouTube by Down Over and can be watched here.
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Rouen Fire Winners History:
2024: Lisa, Baptiste, Quentin