Last night, whilst most teams partied the night away, eight teams had an early night in preparation for the for their final games. As the teams set up their lines in the sand today, the sun was shining, and the pressure was on. Among both the physical and mental battles that took place, here’s what happened:
Mixed- Russia starts the day with a win
The disc skills from the Russians demonstrated in this game were incredible. Hucks hung perfectly and Russia rarely turned over. The Germans ran hard and fast but could not faze the Russians as they had the last time they faced each other. This time around, Russia won 13-4, taking home the first gold medal of the day.
Master Men’s- Swedish stamina wins them the game.
The gold medal rested in the Swedes’ hands from the beginning of this game. Despite the Swedes having an unusually small squad of eleven players, the Spanish simply could not match the Swedish stamina in what were some intensely long and at times, frustrating points. When the game ended, the Swedish had seized gold, winning 11-6.
Women’s- Russia reels in another gold
The Russian women came out strong this morning. They knew the Spanish favoured a quick offence; they like their passes made within the first few seconds of stall counts. Russia, on defence, managed to completely stunt this flow. Spain put up a respectable fight, with some particularly great endzone blocks and bids, but couldn’t quite compete against the Russian athletes. The game finished 11-6 and Russia collected its second gold medal.
Photo by Iliya Shypunov
Men’s- Russians makes a comeback, but they’re too late
At the beginning of this final, it looked as if Great Britain were going to crush Russia. GB achieved 6-1 seventeen minutes into the game. After this point however, Russia began to make a comeback, aided greatly by cutter Mikhail Khudobin, who scored four points. They managed to bring the score to 10-8 but Great Britain weren’t planning on releasing the title spot. Dominic Clarke, Hayden Slaughter and Ashley Yeo scored Great Britain’s final points over their opponents, bagging Britain the gold medal 13-9.
Photo taken by Iliya Shypunov
Direkte uredigeret fra kamera
Top individual Statistics from the tournament
• Christian Hoppe from Germany topped the ‘most goals in a game’ table twice, scoring seven goals against the Dutch and six against Spain.
• French great grandmaster Loïc Langlois assisted an astonishing nine points in one game. He also has the most total points in a game as a result of this.
• The Swiss grandmaster pair Johan Ålund and Albin Wiberg clearly make a smashing team, racking up nineteen points between themselves.
This brings us to the bittersweet end of what has been a tremendous tournament here in Portimao. The European Beach Ultimate Championships 2019 would not have been possible without the work of the Tournament Organising Committee, WFDF, BULA and the amazing volunteers who have given their time to create a wonderful tournament. So, a big thank you to all of these hardworking people. We hope you’ve enjoyed the coverage on the website, the streams, the highlight videos and every other bit of content that’s come your way, and that the beach scene in Portimao and around the world are inspired to grow by these championships. We look forward to seeing everyone at the World Championships in 2021!
Maya Israel
