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World Championship Results - Complete and Final

Apologies for a very late final report.  I was unable to access the Internet before my worlds trip came to a close and then I was on vacation and off the grid for awhile.  Anyway, the nitty gritty…

Chaos had 6 players represented on 4 doubles teams, all advancing from the preliminary round, and 2 of our 4 entrants in the open singles event also advanced from pool play to bracket.  Of those who advanced from prelims, our teams finished in 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 13th place out of 31 total teams, and the singles players finished in 2nd and 16th place in the 48 player field.  Check the link above for complete World Championship results.

Of course, we’re covering freestyle highlights here too and the highlight of highlights for USA/Chaos is that Carol Wedemeyer, Chaos 5.1 beta, won her 7th Women’s Singles Championship in a row and in dramatic fashion.

SEMIFINAL FRIDAY

Singles Net:
There were no surprises in singles net on Semifinal Friday.  USA/NPR Chris Siebert gave USA/Chaos John Leys his toughest match yet this week, but John still won in straight sets and advanced to the championship match undefeated in sets for the tournament.

The other open singles semifinal match featured Patrick Schnickel of Germany and umpteen time World Champion Emmanuel Bouchard of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  Once again, Emmanuel thoroughly outplayed his opponent in route to a dominating performance and eliminated Patrick from contention in straight sets.  Patrick’s Cinderella run hardly had an unhappy ending however, as he overcame the odds yet again and defeated his favored opponent, Chris Siebert, in a closely fought three game battle for the Bronze Metal.

Doubles Net:
The German’s "European" Net Revolution went global on Friday, 29/07/2005.  Perhaps footbag Europe already realized the German’s potential, but North America clearly was not included in the memo and now USA/Chaos wants no part in what has to be the story of the year in footbag net.  PT Lovern and John Leys were the defending World Champions and they were also heavily favored in Friday’s semifinal match.  Still, they fell to German A, Florian Goetze and Patrick Schrickel, in straight sets: 15–12, 5–7.  USA/Chaos started slow and never got on track while the Germans sensed their vulnerability and took full advantage, only flinching twice – once at game point and then again at match point before pulling off the stunning upset.  Immediately upon conclusion of the match, Germans and Europeans rushed the court in jubilation in front of a stunned Team USA and security had to be called in to clear the court in order to resume the afternoon’s semifinal schedule.  (OK, just kidding – perhaps security didn’t actually have to take action – but there was a party on the court for several minutes).  It was an exciting day for Germany, Europe, and the sport of footbag in general, even if not what USA/Chaos had in mind.  John Leys had a sobering outlook on the situation saying, "At this level anybody can win on any given day.  This was not our day.  I give props to our opponent, they played a great match, and I now look forward to our next meeting even more."

On the other side of the open doubles bracket, Quebec, Canada’s Emmanuel Bouchard and JF Lemieux defeated USA/Chaos #5, Eric Wulff, and USA/NPR #72 Chris Siebert, in straight sets 15-12 15-9.

Mixed Doubles Net:
Andrew Ronald, of the United Kingdom, and former freestyle Queen Sam Conlon, of the USA, teamed up to win the mixed doubles net championship.  This is Andrew’s first World Championship in footbag net.

Women’s Doubles Net:
In doubles net, 2005 HOF inductee Tina Lewis, of the USA, and Sam Conlon also teamed up to take home the gold in women’s doubles net.  This is Sam Conlon’s first gold metal in women’s doubles net.

CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY

Singles Net:
Emmanuel Bouchard won the World Championship in open singles net for the eighth year in a row.  Both John Leys, Emmanuel’s opponent, and Emmanuel were undefeated in sets for the tournament but Emmanuel was heavily favored coming into the Championship match; considering John has never taken a set from Emmanuel, let alone a match, and also Emmanuel’s run of 38 tournament victories out of his last 39 tries.  Unfortunately the match ended early and anticlimactically when John Leys withdrew in set one due to injury.

Doubles Net:
Emmanuel Bouchard completed his title collection for 2005 when he and partner JF Lemieux, also of Quebec Canada, brought Florian Goetze and Patrick Schrickel’s Cinderella run to an end.  This is Emmanuel’s fourth open doubles net world championship and JF’s first.  It is also the 3rd partner Emmanuel has won an open doubles world championships with.

PT Lovern and John Leys, both USA/Chaos, came back strong from their upset of a day earlier and from a seemingly insurmountable 6–14 deficit in game 2 to take home the bronze metal.  They defeated Chris Siebert and Eric Wulff, also of the USA, in what was easily the most exciting match of the day.  The final score was 15–12, 19–17.

FRESSTYLE:
Carol Wedemeyer is the Champion again!  Carol faced her most challenging competition since "The Queen", Sam Conlon, and her repeatedly battled for the title in the late 90’s.  Tina Aeberli, a 15 year old phenom from Switzerland, put the pressure on by hitting an intimidatingly difficult and beautifully choreographed 3 drop routine just prior to Carol’s ~ ahem ~ final performance ~ ahem ~ at the World Championships of Footbag.  However, Carol once again proved to be very cool under pressure and executed a sweetly smooth and difficult 3 drop set that proved good enough to eek out the closest victory in her 7 year run.  Europe is again proving itself to be the leader in the sport of footbag by producing at least 4 young women that are sure to push the edge of women’s freestyle for years to come.  Keep your eyes on Verena Lenneis, Austria, Lise Thygesen, Denmark, Hania Mickiewicz, Poland, and of course, Tina.  One question remains however – Will they get another chance to dethrone Carol?  Carol has hinted at retirement from competition but refuses to commit one way or the other.  Instead, she chooses to let time tell the story.

Tina Aeberli, SWI, was victorious in women’s open shred and Carol Wedemeyer, USA, finished 2nd.  This is Tina’s first World Championship and the first time any women besides Carol has won the event which began for women in 2001.

In open freestyle, 5 time World Champion Peter “The Executioner” Irish, USA, performed his final World Championship routine in nearly flawless fashion and in front of an adoring crowd.  It was a one drop classic.  Peter finished 5th overall and went out in style by setting a new world record in making the cut to the final round of Open Singles Freestyle at the World Championships for the 15th consecutive time.  Not only that, but it should also be noted that Peter Irish never finished lower than 5th place in the World and, although his live performances will be missed tremendously, the sport of footbag freestyle will forever reflect his influence.

That’s it for this year’s installment of the WFC Chronicles.  Thanks to all my loyal reader(s).  See ya here next year - same bat time, same bat url.

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