The 2016 World Footbag Championships Net Finals from Pro Kicker on Vimeo.
Trnava is a small city in Slovakia and thus having the mayor on the organizing comittee makes everything a little bit easier. Like having the finals gym for free, the university residences for a good price, the cafeteria available for the free meals provided every day of the tournament etc... What is doesn't provide is spectators, the dissapointing point from this whole adventure is that almost nobody from Trnava came to see us play. Besides that the organizing crew did a wonderful job of scheduling, feeding us and letting us play in the best conditions possible.
Here's a recap of the finals
Women singles net finals
Competitors:Piia Tantarimäki from Finland - Club Footbag Finland vs Geneviève Bousquet from Montreal, Canada - Club Aki Québec
Format Best of 5 games to 15 points, rallye scoring
Piia Tantarimäki faced Geneviève Bousquet in a rematch from their 2014 finals in Paris but this time the outcome was quite different. Piia played solid and she didn't have to do anything fancy as Geneviève tossed the game away all by herself. Gen is a great champion and she proved it later when she won doubles with Maude Landreville but I've never seen her so stressed out and lacking any ounce of confidence. She played poorly, that happens and Piia made sure that she couldn't get any of that confidence back at any point in the match.
Tantarimäki wins: 15-13 15-13 15-6
Open singles net finals
Competitors:Walt Houston, Memphis, USA - Club Memphis Footworks vs
Tuomas Kärki, Helsinki, Finland - Club Footbag Finland.
Format Best of 5 games to 15 points, rallye scoring
It's always fun to see two singles specialists, don't get me wrong Walt and Tuomas are also great doubles players, getting at it. These two are in a special category where only Karim Daouk could be included at this time. Karim couldn't make it this year so he could not defend his 2015 title but the two others had a great show to offer. They spiked and dug a lot and that was a lot of fun to watch. Kärki was the tournament director for net so it might have taken some energy out of him but nonetheless Walt Houston played a fantastic match. He has a big serve and scored some important points with it, registering the only ace of the match. Also as he smashes with the left foot it's a little harder to read for his opponent as most players spike from the right. Overall some quality play from both players a few points in the third set might have made the difference.
Houston wins in 4 exciting sets 15-10 13-15 15-13 15-12
Women doubles net finals
Competitors:Geneviève Bousquet + Maude Landreville both from Montreal, Canada - Club Aki Québec vs Piia Tantarimäki from Finland - Club Footbag Finland + Lena Mlakar from Kranj, Slovenia - Club Footbag Kranj
Format: Best of 3 to 15 points, side out scoring
I always like to see the women play and this was a good match. Piia and Lena played a little too conservatively but it wasn't enough to beat great championsh like Maude and Geneviève. This time it was Maude that seemed to be under a lot of mental pressure, although she had a great finish, and Geneviève was rock solid. The Montreal girls were in control for most of game 1 but they trailed in the score in game 2 for a good part of the set. They took a well choosen time out and came back stronger to finish the job. This match lacked some offensive punch as the women can smash more and better than what we've seen but still as it was close the entertainment value was good enough.
Bousquet and Landreville win 15-12 15-12
Mixed doubles net finals
Competitors:Florian Götze + Kerstin Anhuth from Frankfurt, Germany - Club Frankfurt Footbag e.v. vs Arthur Ledain from Paris, France - Club RNH + Lena Mlakar from Kranj, Slovenia - Club Footbag Kranj
Format: Best of 3 to 15 points, side out scoring
The 2014 and 2015 champions from Finland went down to Ledain and Mlakar and the table was set for a great duel between them and the germans. Florian Götze is probably the best doubles player alive and Kerstin has quite a few titles of her own and they showed why. I found that Arthur was a little off in that match although he realized the most spectacular moves. Flo and Kerstin played tight and made very few unforced errors to wrap a well deserved title althought Arthur and the Lena the little dynamo from Kranj offered a good resistance, especially in the second game.
Germany wins it by 15-9 15-12
Open doubles net finals
Competitors:Florian Götze from Frankfurt, Germany - Club Frankfurt Footbag e.v. + Arthur Ledain from Paris, France - Club RNH vs Janne Uusitalo + Matti Pohjola respectively from Helsinki and Turku, Finland - Club Footbag Finland
Format: Best of 3 to 15 points, side out scoring
Florian Götze went on to win his 9th doubles title in 11 years with hiccups only in 2008 and 2014 since his domination started in 2006, I hope that the Footbag Hall of Fame admins will pay attention this time when I'll nominate him. With the help of the most spectacular player of the moment, Arhtur Ledain, Florian took care of a very good finnish team. Although Janne and Matti made more errors than their usual excellent standard, I don't see how they could have beat that awesome combination of power, defence and great setting. Götze is one of the most consistent spikers of all times so the ball is always in the opponents court not in the net or out and Arthur spice up the show with Sun Backs and Roll Spikes, some of the most spectacular moves ever seen on a footbag court. You can see a roll spike in the opening and closing sequences of the trailer. Although they took a serious beating in the second game, the finns kept the score tight for a long time in the first game that went on for 70 plays. I just wished that the organizers would have thought about having court management people to dry it after every play that Arthur landed in sweat, it was taking too much time between the plays while he was towelling it dry by himself. Overall, some great plays, very spectacular spiking by Arthur, well worth watching the game in the condensed version that Pro Kicker so beautifully crafts.
Frankfurt + Paris win the title in two sets 15-9 15-1
If you want to see the complete matches don't forget that they are available on demand on Vimeo/ProKicker
The results of the Footbag Net competition:
Open Singles Net:
1. Walt Houston (USA)
2. Tuomas Kärki (Finland)
3. Arthur Ledain (France)
4. Jean-Francois Lemieux (France)
5. Benjamin Alston (USA)
6. Wiktor Debski (Poland)
7. Wojciech Jamski (Poland)
8. François Pelletier (Canada)
9. Sébastien Maillet (France)
10. Tammo Rockel (Germany)
11. Benjamin Kanske (Germany)
12. Pavel Hejra (Czech Republic)
13. Jakub Grabarczyk (Poland)
14. Camilo Rodriguez (Switzerland)
15. Rosen Kyrta (Bulgaria)
16. Grischa Tellenbach (Switzerland)
17. Damian Budzik (Poland)
18. Marcin Staroñ (Poland)
19. Steve Kuntze (Germany)
20. Santeri Karvinen (Finland)
21. Justin Sexton (Finland)
22. Robin Püchel (Germany)
23. Maciej Samborowski (Poland)
24. Tuomas Riisalo (Finland)
25. Grega Morel (Slovenia)
26. Pawel Rozek (Poland)
27. Quentin Isackson (France)
28. Felix Ostwaldt (Germany)
29. David Rambaud (France)
30. Timothée Lerolle (France)
31. Julien Coblence (France)
32. Barthélémy Meridjen (France)
33. Michal Rog (Poland)
34. Jari John (Germany)
35. Jean-Marie Letort (France)
36. Boris Ollivier (France)
37. Guillaume Degat (France)
Open Doubles Net:
1. Florian Goetze (Germany) / Arthur Ledain (France)
2. Matti Pohjola / Janne Uusitalo (Finland)
3. Walt Houston / Benjamin Alston (USA)
4. Grischa Tellenbach (Switzerland) / Sébastien Maillet (France)
5. Emmanuel Bouchard / Luke Legault (Canada)
6. Chris Löw (Deutschland) / Yassin Khateeb (Germany)
7. Wiktor Debski / Wojciech Jamski (Poland)
8. François Pelletier (Canada) / Jean-Francois Lemieux (France)
9. Tuomas Kärki / Jyri Ilama (Finland)
10. Yves Archambault (Canada) / Jakub Grabarczyk (Poland)
11. Andreas Wolff / Eurik Lindner (Germany)
12. Stefan Nold / Alex Bartsch (Germany)
13. Rosen Kyrta / Radoslav Rusev (Bulgaria)
14. David Rambaud (France) / Marilyn Demuy (Canada)
15. Tammo Rockel (Germany) / Justin Sexton (Finland)
16. Felix Ostwaldt (Germany) / Quentin Isackson (France)
17. Tuan Vu (USA) / Maciej Samborowski (Poland)
18. Camilo Rodriguez (Switzerland) / Grega Morel (Slovenia)
19. Damian Budzik / Marcin Staroñ (Poland)
20. Tino Holzmann / Benjamin Kanske (Germany)
21. Santeri Karvinen / Tuomas Riisalo (Finland)
22. Robin Püchel / Steve Kuntze (Germany)
23. Michal Rog / Pawel Rozek (Poland)
24. Timothée Lerolle / Barthélémy Meridjen (France)
25. Jari John / Janis Thal (Germany)
26. Julien Coblence / Jean-Marie Letort (France)
27. Ilkka Malin (Finland) / Boris Ollivier (France)
Women's Singles Net:
1. Piia Tantarimäki (Finland)
2. Geneviève Bousquet (Canada)
3. Maude Landreville (Canada)
4. Kerstin Anhuth (Germany)
5. Heike Koller (Germany)
6. Emmanuelle Vincendeau (France)
7. Marilyn Demuy (Canada)
8. Lena Mlakar (Slovenia)
9. Plamena Ivanova (Bulgaria)
10. Audrey Tumelin (France)
11. Tanja Abt (Germany)
12. Shirine Daouk (Switzerland)
Women's Doubles Net:
1. Maude Landreville / Geneviève Bousquet (Canada)
2. Lena Mlakar (Slovenia) / Piia Tantarimäki (Finland)
3. Shirine Daouk (Switzerland) / Kerstin Anhuth (Germany)
4. Heike Koller (Germany) / Plamena Ivanova (Bulgaria)
5. Tanja Abt (Germany) / Audrey Tumelin (France)
6. Emmanuelle Vincendeau (France) / Marilyn Demuy (Canada)
Open Mixed Doubles Net:
1. Florian Goetze / Kerstin Anhuth (Germany)
2. Lena Mlakar (Slovenia) / Arthur Ledain (France)
3. Marilyn Demuy (Canada) / Yassin Khateeb (Germany)
4. Matti Pohjola / Piia Tantarimäki (Finland)
5. Luke Legault / Geneviève Bousquet (Canada)
6. Andreas Wolff (Germany) / Maude Landreville (Canada)
7. Jyri Ilama (Finland) / Shirine Daouk (Switzerland)
8. Jean-Francois Lemieux / Emmanuelle Vincendeau (France)
9. Radoslav Rusev / Plamena Ivanova (Bulgaria)
10. Eurik Lindner / Tanja Abt (Germany)
11. Heike Koller / Felix Ostwaldt (Germany)
12. Grischa Tellenbach (Switzerland) / Audrey Tumelin (France)
Master Singles Net:
1. Tuan Vu (USA)
2. Michal Rog (Poland)
3. Quentin Isackson (France)
4. Rosen Kyrta (Bulgaria)
5. Pavel Hejra (Czech Republic)
6. Jim Hankins (USA)
8. Justin Sexton (Finland)
8. Jean-Marie Letort (France)
9. Tanja Abt (Germany)
10. Boris Ollivier (France)
11. Ilkka Malin (Finland)
Master Doubles Net:
1. Matti Pohjola (Finland) / Tuan Vu (USA)
2. Rosen Kyrta (Bulgaria) / Quentin Isackson (France)
3. Tuomas Kärki (Finland) / Tanja Abt (Germany)
4. Eurik Lindner / Alex Bartsch (Germany)
5. Boris Ollivier / Jean-Marie Letort (France)
5. Michal Rog (Poland) / Justin Sexton (Finland)
7. Ilkka Malin (Finland) / Jim Hankins (USA)
Official page of the tournament: http://www.footbag.org/worlds2016/
I personnally wrote a blog page for the duration of the tournament
you can find the posts on: yevez.com
I personnally wrote a blog page for the duration of the tournament
you can find the posts on: yevez.com
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