Spartans Bring Mekong Cup to Singapore

May 24-25, 2014

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

See summary below if you so desire.

This year’s Mekong Cup, the third edition of the tournament, was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after two years in Bangkok. The Mekong Cup is a “developmental” tournament, focussing on the improvement of local players and clubs. It always promises competitive games for teams that may not have the experience to be competitive in the region’s higher echelon competitions. This year was no exception. There were some great battles and exciting team performances.

 

Thursday

The weekend began on Thursday as the prohibitive favorites, the Warriors, gathered to watch the 1979 movie based on their run to the Mekong Cup championship. During the movie the team collected quotes later used to intimidate their opponents such as chicken cackles and threats to shove baseball bats up asses and turn opponents into popsicles.

 

Friday

The festivities continued Friday at we hosted what has become a tradition in Phnom Penh, the pre-tourney boat party. The players and guests withstood rain, heavy at times, to shotgun beers and watch fireworks. The night continued at Blue Dog, then a bunch of other places I don’t quite remember.

 

Saturday

Pool play began without me as my body decided to sleep in a bit due to bad decisions the night before. But I only missed a few points so no biggie.

One pool finished with Carebears from Malaysia on top. Carebears upset the overall number one seed Thailand (aka Bang Mai Chiang Kok) and held on in a tight battle against Warriors to claim the top spot.

The overall number two seed, Orphans from Cambodia (and elsewhere), held on to win the other pool, notably dominating SWA, our first ever all Cambodian team, in the first of our all-Cambodia matches. In another notable match from this pool, Ho Chi Minh City-based HHH defeated SWA by one point in SWA’s first ever game.

In crossover games, Warriors lost to SWA in our second all-Cambodia matchup. Though an upset on paper, this was going to be a tough game for Warriors from the beginning. Sabaidisc defeated HHH as well in the early crossovers.

The late crossovers got a little funky. Lightening began kicking in and the tournament director made the decision (the correct one) to call to end the games. On field two, Orphans were pounding on Thailand, so the stoppage was more for mercy than anything else. On field one though, the stoppage came at the unluckiest of times. Carebears and Spartans from Singapore were locked in a 7-7 tie. The tournament director was unwilling to let the players finish the point while avoiding lightening bolts, and the players were unwilling to show up early Sunday to play one point, so the game ended in a tie.

 

Saturday Night

Saturday night moved to a Cambodian beer garden where much food and drink was had for very cheap. Then we moved to Equinox to dance to Phnom Penh’s  jazzy ska-ish Jahzad. A crew of mostly Orphans and Warriors moved to Reggae rooftop and the Orphans began to trickle away. Eventually a crew of just Warriors were left to claim the Mekong Cup Party Championship.

 

Sunday

Quarterfinals started first thing Sunday morning. In the first round of games Thailand took down Lao Sabaidisc and Malaysia’s Carebears defeated Vietnam’s HHH to book their spots in the semifinals.

The second round brought the third all-Cambodia battle with Orphans taking on Warriors. The Warriors got in the Orphans’ grills early to send a message that they wouldn’t be intimidated by their cross-town rivals (the Orphans train at the tournament ground. The Warriors train on the beach at Diamond Island. Because when we’re on the beach we think we’re safe). Intimidation would not be the issue. It would be speed and experience. Orphans move on to the semis. Singapore’s Spartans defeated Cambodia’s national team SWA in the other quarter.

Consolation play began with the B-pool semis played next. HHH beat up on their mentor Vu Anh Vu and the Warriors to move on to B-pool finals. SWA controlled Sabaidisc to claim the other B-Final spot.

The next round brought Cup semifinals and two replays of pool play matches. On Field 1 the Orphans battled to universe point with Spartans. The Spartans pulled it out reversing the result of the pool play matchup the day before. On Field 2 Carebears tried to take Thailand down for a second time. This Thailand team came to play though and also reversed their previous day’s fortunes running away with an 11-5 win.

Consolation action followed. Carebears took 3^rd place beating an Orphans squad claiming to be less than focused on the matchup. In the 7^th-8^th place game, Sabaidisc takes out Warriors on universe point 7-6 leading to a barrage of silly points, sending me to watch the round’s premier game, SWA versus HHH.

SWA was battling HHH in a rematch of their first round match which HHH took down by 1. Final point: Yut, Cambodia’s best mountain biker and an up-and-coming disc player, jacks one toward the endzone. I would have called it an ill-advised huck if  it weren’t Chanda (Da) Cheng making the deep cut. Dude’s absurd. I tell the person standing next to me, “time for the Da show.” Da jumps, and slightly misreads the disc. His defender gets a piece. Out of nowhere Sophoan “Soso… so… crazy” Poeu follows the play, lays out behind the contest and makes a sick left–handed grab for the score. SWA bench clears.

It did finish up a 13-3 trouncing of HHH, but this was the kind of energy SWA showed all weekend. Their sidelines were loud and this helped fuel their fast high-flying play on the field.

The first all-Cambodian team ever, SWA, won the B pool in perhaps Cambodian Ultimate’s proudest moment.

There was still a final to play. The Thai team, an all-star team featuring some of the best players Bangkok and Chiangmai had to offer faced a well-balanced Spartans team featuring experienced players and newer stars from the Disc Knights program in Singapore.

The game went back and forth. Thailand set their zone. The game hinged on whether the consistent though young Spartan offence would be able to be patient enough to work through it without forcing the disc towards Bangkok’s very athletic deeps. When Spartans were in control they were spreading the disc to all their players with low solid throws. When Bangkok had momentum players like Ben Collins and Michael Campanelle were getting blocks and scoring in spectacular high-flying fashion.

The game went to universe where Spartans pulled it out 12-11.

Sunday continued with Phnom Penh’s traditional slip-and-slide layout competition. Beer was being sold by the discful and Brunty’s cider was inciting arguments about which flavor was best. Young Mateo took down the men’s (boy’s) layout competition and Jojo finished off the Phnom Penh sweep.

In tri-wizards competition, the Diamond Island Warriors’ three person team was the fastest to drink discfuls of beer and took down the crown.

The evening moved on to Aussie XL where some many $5 roasts and pizzas were eaten washed down with lots of beer.

 

Thank you to all who attended and to all the organizers and volunteers who helped make this tournament happen. Mekong Cup has begun a premier tournament for developing new talent and giving clubs who might not normally have an opportunity, a chance to compete internationally. We know that Mekong Cup will continue to grow and we hope that we see other tournaments, either existing or new, continue and expand the spirit of this tournament.

Thanks also to our sponsors Cambodia Beer, Brunty’s Cider, and Aussie XL Bar.

 

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Summary of Results

 

Pool Play

Carebears      3-0

Thailand        2-1

Warriors        1-2

Sabaidisc        0-3

 

Orphans        3-0

Spartans        2-1

HHH                 1-2

SWA                0-3

 

Crossovers

SWA def Warriors

Sabaidisc def HHH

Orphans def Thailand (shortened by lightening)

Carebears  tie Spartan (shortened by lightening)

 

Quarterfinals

Orphans def Warriors

Spartans def SWA

Thailand def Sabaidisc

Care def HHH

 

Semifinals

Thailand defeat Carebears 11-5

Spartans defeat Orphans by 1

 

3^rd Place

Carebears def Orphans

 

Finals

Spartans def Thailand 12-11

 

 

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B pool

 

Semifinals

HHH def Warriors

SWA def Sabaidisc

 

7^th-8^th

Sabaidisc def Warriors

 

B Pool Final

SWA def HHH 13-3

 

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The Champions:

1st Singapore Spartans
2nd Bang Mai Chiang Kok
Slip and Slide Male Champion: Teo (Orphans)
Slip and Slide Female Champion: Jojo (Orphans)
Spirit winner: SWA
Party winner: Diamond Island Warriors
TriWizard Champion: Diamond Island Warriors

 

All mistakes are not my fault. I’ll be happy to correct them though.

 

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Photographs

As always, my photos are stolen from facebook. If you have a problem with me using your photo I can give you credit or take it down. My usage is guided by my photo usage policy.