Welcome to the penultimate daily roundup post from Portimao, where almost all of the medals have now been decided. The four finals happening tomorrow are now the only things left for beach Ultimate fans to wonder about. Let’s take a moment to go over what happened today and what the final standings are looking like. Maya, we’ve started with mixed a lot so let’s change course a bit – what happened with the women’s division today?
Latvia snatch bronze
Today in the women’s division, Russia were victorious over Denmark for a second time in two days. After a difficult start to the tournament Russia have managed to pull through to the finals which showed stunning determination. In the other semi-final Latvia lost to the Spanish,9-12. The Spaniard’s athleticism punished the Latvians at the end of what had been quite an equal game until the 5-point mark.
Latvia went on to, surprisingly, take the bronze medal from Denmark. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see who is going to take home gold in this division. How was the men’s division Sean?
Photo by Illia Shypunov
Spain clinch much-deserved bronze medals
In the men’s division, the Spanish defeated Poland in the third-place game to secure bronze medals. It was over as a contest relatively early, with the Spanish jumping out to a 5-1 lead and never allowed the Poles back within four points. Elsewhere, Sweden defeated Denmark to finish fifth, and Ireland topped Germany for seventh.
The final will see the as-yet undefeated Great Britain take on Russia, who are looking to complete a sweep of men’s, women’s and mixed tomorrow. Speaking of mixed, tell us about it Maya.
Portugal miss out on medal in mixed
Today was a tough but rewarding day for those who topped the mixed division. This morning Russia triumphed over Britain in the semi-finals, winning 13-5 whilst Germany beat Portugal by a closer margin, 8-5. This put Russia and Germany through to the final on Saturday where they will have a rematch of their close game earlier in this tournament. Russia won on Tuesday; let’s see if they can make it happen again.
Photo by Illia Shypunov
Britain and Portugal faced another game after their semis this afternoon with Britain successful in taking the bronze medal out of Portugal’s reach, beating them 10-8. The score line during this game was almost level the entire time but GB just about managed to stop the game from going to universe. How were the men’s masters games today Sean?
France finish third, final yet to come
It was a reasonably quiet day for the men’s masters as the finalists had the day off here too. France took the bronze medal in a very clinical performance against Czech Republic, winning 12-8, while Germany took fifth over Russia and Great Britain took seventh over Ireland.
The final tomorrow will see the Spanish try to defeat the favoured Swedes, who have had a day off to rest their legs. That could be crucial given Sweden’s smaller squad. How were the women’s masters Maya?
Spain come from behind in epic win
The final of the women’s masters division was in-keeping with the rest of the tournament, with the game going to universe point. Spain were down 6-7 at one point but went on a 3-1 run at the most important part of the game, taking the win 9-8 in the end. Sweden defeated GB for the bronze medal, 10-5. What happened in the mixed masters’ division Sean?
Germans take home mixed masters gold
The mixed masters’ division also came to a close today, with Germany facing Spain in the final. The Germans raced ahead early on, taking a 7-2 lead with some clinical D line offence. They managed the game from there and traded out for a 10-5 victory, an impressive win over Spain who had upset tournament favourites France in the other semi-final. France took bronze comfortable over Great Britain, with Finland, Russia, the Netherlands and Currier Island rounding out the top eight.
The great grandmasters saw an upset in the final didn’t they Maya?
Photo by Robert Engelbrecht
Upset win sees Sweden take gold
In this division, Sweden took Gold, the Dutch took silver whilst Germany took bronze. Interestingly these results didn’t reflect the final pool standings. Had they reflected the pool results, the Netherlands would have taken Gold and Sweden silver. This goes to show the importance of mental and physical stamina; some teams can hold out better than others. Let’s finish with the grandmasters – who came out on top there Sean?
Great Britain live up to favourites tag
All week we’ve been asking whether anyone could push GB, and today we found out the answer; no, not really. Spain put up a good fight in the final, pushing GB into some uncharacteristic mistakes from the D line, but in the end the GB O line was unimpeachable. Only one turn all game, from a slightly ill-advised hammer from Si Hill which they later earned back, allowed Great Britain to put all their efforts into getting breaks of the Spanish offence. A 13-7 scoreline was the best any team has done against GB this week – at least until they play Sweden tomorrow.
The rest of the top eight saw Germany take bronze over Switzerland, Sweden take fifth over Finland and France top Italy for seventh.
Tomorrow is the last day of the tournament with four huge games to come – keep checking out live.ebuc2019.org for the latest updates and coverage!
Featured photo by Illia Shypunov
