Tourney: Pologamy - 1st Munich Bikepolo Open - 27.06.09

It should have read...

Firstly...thank you Munich!

You guys (esp. Eingang) put on one well organized tourney. The hospitality from all was great (esp. thanks to Catherine and Christophe for putting ( . ) ( . ) up) and desipite first impressions, the court ended up being super fun to play on - Friday throw in's were awesome!

It was also awesome to meet up with some familiar Euro faces, as well as play against and alongside new faces from some of the best teams in European polo and the U.S what with Mustard Tigers being present.

And of course...I had a blast going out with Em, Brik, Gabes, Daaaavvveee, Manc Andy, Lebowskie, Playboy (Yorgo), Sarah, B and Cosmic Tommo.

We all gave each other the best support, on and off the court, as well as provided some of the best side line banter known to polo. Manc Andy was esp. on fire, calling out lookie like players such as ' ronnie corbit', 'my name is earl' and 'featureless andy'. You prob had to be there to find it funny, but trust me, it was a crack!

And despite all only playing 3 competitive games on the day, we def instigated the most throw in's and played with the biggest smiles and best attitudes. So if anything, we showed Europe we all just simply love polo and that's all that really matters!

Cheers guys!

Bring on more international polo - i want a polo wagon!

Yorgo's quote...'london sucks'.

Well, on the day we thought so, but having spent time thinking about what happened (or where things went wrong), I feel our game isnt as bad as we are starting to feel.

Yes, no london team progressed into the knock out stages, which was frustrating as we know we can play better polo. However, when you consider most euro teams have been playing together for years and also actually looked at the games themselves, its not as black and white as the final rankings indicate.

I didnt watch every London game, but what i do know is Rotten Apples finished amongst the top 4 2nd ranked teams and if it wasnt for a weaker goal difference would have gone through to the knock out stages and after their 3rd game they looked strong, so could have gone further.

With Cosmic Breasts, we got a respectable 3-3 draw against Maty Schindel und Sohne in our first game, which was a typical tourney starting one - tight and full of nervous adrenaline. Then we suffered a 3-2 loss in our second game with Poloholics Torros, who finished runners up, so no push over. However, if it wasnt for my brake cable snapping just after that game started, which instantly changed my style to a defensive one, the result could have been different. Then our final game was wih DT All Stars who had nothing lose. The game felt like a true london one, fast end to end stuff, with plenty of attacking play. But on the day, DT All Stars played better and whipped us 5-1. Atleast I took out Lebowski proper style - sorry mate.

Overall, it looks like london teams do play faster, more aggressive polo and chase the games (balls) more. Where as Euro teams tend to hold possession better and play the ball around the court to create openings for shots.

I feel we should def keep elements of our game. Its great we are fast and powerful, but we can still make improvements to our style to increase the passing rate and close yhe opportunities we often allow for counter attacking against us.

I think the more team games we get in before the euros, the better prepped we will be to make an impact.

London polo is no push over. I just think sometimes our passion for the game takes over.