The WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate (WCBU), in association with BULA, concluded on Saturday, June 24 with the USA showing its continued dominance, taking gold in the Mixed gender and Men’s divisions. Russia overcame the USA in a stunning come-from-behind victory -- winning the final four points of the Women’s Division final -- to take the women’s title 11-10. The USA also swept all four divisions of Masters’ Division play. The USA had taken gold in all but the Mixed Division in the WFDF 2015 World Beach Ultimate Championships. The week-long event, which opened on Sunday, June 18 on the beautiful beaches of Royan, France featured nearly 1,800 players from 39 countries on 127 teams in 9 divisions. The 30-person broadcast team livestreamed more than 120 games across three showcase fields over the course of the week, which is the most games live broadcast for one event by WFDF.
"It was an incredible week of competition and spirited play on the beaches of Royan," commented WFDF President Robert "Nob" Rauch. "As the largest world championship of Beach Ultimate ever, our tournament host Fédération Flying Disc France led by FFDF President Franck Leygues and Tournament Director Amandine Constant surpassed all expectations in the level of organization and amenities despite this being their first world championship event. It was great to see how the local community embraced the event which made it even more enjoyable for the athletes. Beach Ultimate is growing quickly and this is now one of the most popular championships on our event calendar."
In addition to awarding medals to the top three finalists in each division, WFDF also provides a separate medal for Spirit of the Game, highlighting a core tenet of Ultimate. Players are expected to self officiate by making their own foul, line and violation calls during the game. The Spirit award in each division is calculated based on scores awarded by the opposing team after each game over the course of the entire championship.
The finals results across all 8 divisions are:
Mixed
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Germany
Spirit: New Zealand
Women’s
1. Russia
2. USA
3. Great Britain
Spirit: Austria
Men’s
1. USA
2. Great Britain
3. France
Spirit: New Zealand
Mixed Masters
1. USA
2. Canada
3. France
Spirit: Japan
Women’s Masters
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Australia
Spirit: Australia
Men’s Masters
1. USA
2. France
3. Canada
Spirit: India
Grandmaster Men
1. USA
2. Great Britain
3. Canada
Spirit: Spain
Great Grandmaster Men
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Austria
Spirit: Great Britain
The opening and closing ceremonies featured the Vice-President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee Jean-Pierre Mougin, and local dignities including 1st Counciller Patrick Marengo and Vice President of Charente Maritime Department Marie-Pierre Quentin, among others.
Royan was the fifth edition of the WCBU, with the previous event hosted in Dubai, UAE in 2015, which consisted of over 1,000 athletes on 71 teams representing 24 nations. The first WCBU was held in 2004 in Portugal, followed by Brazil (2007) and Italy (2011). This year’s event featured three newly approved WFDF national federations, Turkey, Guam and Malaysia. Also of note, the Great Grand Masters Division Beach Ultimate Championship event for athletes 48 years of age and older was held separately in Praia do Meco, near the village of Aldeia do Meco, south of Lisbon, Portugal, due to space constraints.
WFDF has previously stated that the WCBU 2017 will serve as the qualifying event for the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games which has been announced by the Association of National Olympic Committees to be hosted in San Diego in October 2019.
For more information, please contact:
Volker BernardiExecutive
DirectorWorld Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)
Tel: +49 (0) 6138 / 90 20 868
Email: volker.bernardi@wfdf.orgWeb: www.wfdf.org
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