Tourney: Pologamy - 1st Munich Bikepolo Open - 27.06.09

wow....that post went a bit whack!

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.

Come on Mat, pics!

Well said, Mat.

I guess we just need more practice against other styles of play, not just what we are used to in London.

Bring on the 150 mallet throw-ins.......!

You guys should come to Manchester with your euro teams to play us.

@vidal: rotten apples makes the second in their group, but their total goals (11:8) was to "bad" to enter the quarter finals. details about all games and standings are soon.
Going out on goal difference sucks ass.

Thanks to all in munich for the hospitality and ridiculously well organised tournament.

don't talk down your polo skills.

The fun thing about all this is that we all play on the same level with very different styles.
But everyone can beat everyone.
(except geneve and munich torros. Very impressive how consistant these guys reach the final!)
All you need is a lil bit of luck with your group und in the knock out games everythings possible.
Talking about london, cosmic and dt had a very hard group.
Maybe the hardest?
whatever, it was really a pleasure playing against you.

Alex. (from Metz, Schindel & Söhne)

...talking bout the spirit:

:)

The photo is awesome.

Fantastic photograph Alex!

This is polo.

Tom YOUR MUNICH DREAM IS OVER

Alex, that photo is brilliant.

Munich was a great tourney, despite getting knocked out in the round robins, it was a great atmosphere, and €1.50 a pint for that lovely beer was great. Throw-ins on Friday and Sunday were brilliant, esp Sunday, the riverside courts are so beautifully situated, I hope they can use them next year for a tourney, possibly EHBPC2010???!

Getting to play throw-ins with Geneva and Munichs finest was great experience, I don't think I've ever played such hard, controlled, and fun games all at the same time!

Thanks Munich! We'll be back.

No kids on the court, Yorgo.

Hops, what was the Munich girls team called again?

The photo is awesome.

great...! i just can't work out which ball Andy's going for tho'... ;)

Were there no Parisian teams in Munich?

DTG were there.

Hops, what was the Munich girls team called again?

this time there was no "girls only"-team. two of the girls played with one of our boys and the team was called "the e and the poloholica". in london they will play again as girls only team under the name "poloholica"

here are a lot of pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/cheeseonwheels
http://picasaweb.google.de/foxmklp/PologamyMunich#

here are all the results and standings:

*FIRST ROUND* (10 min. time limit)
Group A

        Michael   Jackson Tribute Poloteam (Hybrid) - Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe)   0   :   5 
  L'EQUIPE (Genf) - Wheelo (Konstanz)   5   :   0

Michael Jackson Tribute Poloteam (Hybrid) - L'EQUIPE (Genf) 0 : 4
Wheelo (Konstanz) - Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) 1 : 4
Wheelo (Konstanz) - Michael Jackson Tribute Poloteam (Hybrid) 2 : 5
Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) - L'EQUIPE (Genf) 2 : 5

1. L'EQUIPE (Genf) - 9 Points - 14:2 Goals (12)
   
2. Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) - 6 Points - 11:6 Goals (5)
   
3. Michael Jackson Tribute Poloteam (Hybrid) - 3 Points - 5:11 Goals (-6)
   
4. Wheelo (Konstanz) - 0 Points - 3:14 Goals (-11)
   
   

Group B
Metz, Schindel & Söhne (Karlsruhe) - Cosmic Breasts (London) 3 : 3

  DT All Stars (London)   - Poloholics Toros (München)   2   :   4

Metz, Schindel & Söhne (Karlsruhe) - DT All Stars (London) 4 : 1
Poloholics Toros (München) - Cosmic Breasts (London) 3 : 2
Poloholics Toros (München) - Metz, Schindel & Söhne (Karlsruhe) 2 : 1
Cosmic Breasts (London) - DT All Stars (London) 3 : 5

1. Poloholics Toros (München) - 9 Points - 9:5 Goals (4)
   
2. Metz, Schindel & Söhne (Karlsruhe) - 4 Points - 8:6 Goals (2)
   
3. DT All Stars (London) - 3 Points - 8:11 Goals (-3)
   
4. Cosmic Breasts (London) - 1 Point - 8:11 Goals (-3)
   
   

Group C
Poloholics Anonymous (München) - Bamboole Berlin (Berlin) 2 : 3
Mallet Force (Berlin) - Raging Poloholics (München) 1 : 5
Poloholics Anonymous (München) - Mallet Force (Berlin) 4 : 3
Raging Poloholics (München) - Bamboole Berlin (Berlin) 1 : 3
Raging Poloholics (München) - Poloholics Anonymous (München) 5 : 1
Bamboole Berlin (Berlin) - Mallet Force (Berlin) 5 : 2

1. Bamboole Berlin (Berlin) - 9 Points - 11:5 Goals (6)
   
2. Raging Poloholics (München) - 6 Points - 11:5 Goals (6)
   
3. Poloholics Anonymous (München) - 3 Points - 7:11 Goals (-4)
   
4. Mallet Force (Berlin) - 0 Points - 6:14 Goals (-8)
   
   

Group D

     Mallets of Madness (Karlsruhe)   - The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee)   5   :   2

The E and the Poloholica (München) - Rad-Haus (Leipzig) 4 : 4
Mallets of Madness (Karlsruhe) - The E and the Poloholica (München) 5 : 2
Rad-Haus (Leipzig) - The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) 1 : 5
Rad-Haus (Leipzig) - Mallets of Madness (Karlsruhe) 0 : 5
The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) - The E and the Poloholica (München) 5 : 0

1. Mallets of Madness (Karlsruhe) - 9 Points - 15:4 (11)
   
2. The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) - 6 Points - 12:6 (6)
   
3. The E and the Poloholica (München) - 1 Point - 6:14 (-8)
   
4. Rad-Haus (Leipzig) - 1 Point - 5:14 Goals (-9)
   
   

Group E

     Zwietracht (Frankfurt) -   Rotten Apples (London)   1   :   5

Bike and Roll (Konstanz) - Dans ta gueule, puceau (Paris) 1 : 5
Zwietracht (Frankfurt) - Bike and Roll (Konstanz) 1 : 1
Dans ta gueule, puceau (Paris) - Rotten Apples (London) 5 : 2
Dans ta gueule, puceau (Paris) - Zwietracht (Frankfurt) 4 : 1
Rotten Apples (London) - Bike and Roll (Konstanz) 4 : 2

1. Dans ta gueule, puceau (Paris) - 9 Points - 14:4 Goals (10)
   
2. Rotten Apples (London) - 6 Points - 11:8 Goals (3)
   
3. Bike and Roll (Konstanz) - 1 Point - 4:10 Goals (-6)
   
4. Zwietracht (Frankfurt) - 1 Point - 4:10 Goals (-7)
   
   

*QUARTER FINAL* (15 min. time limit)
L'EQUIPE (Genf) - Raging Poloholics (München) 5 : 3
Bamboole Berlin (Berlin) - Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) 3 : 4
The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) - Dans ta gueule, puceau (Paris) 5 : 3
Poloholics Toros (München) - Mallets of Madness (Karlsruhe) 3 : 1

*HALF FINAL* (20 min. time limit)
L'EQUIPE (Genf) - Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) 4 : 1
The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) - Poloholics Toros (München) 1 : 2

*3rd PLACE GAME* (no time limit)
Candy Colored Clowns (Karlsruhe) - The Mustard Tigers (Milwaukee) 4 : 5

*FINAL* (no time limit)
L'EQUIPE (Genf) - Poloholics Toros (München) 5 : 3

great...! i just can't work out which ball Andy's going for tho'... ;)

Sooooo pissed in that game! Haha, good times.

the "no kids on the court"-video, go forward to 1:50min
http://picasaweb.google.de/foxmklp/PologamyMunich#5352880707885179794

Ha! Awesome. Yorgo fell off just after that picture, i think :)

ERIC!!

It's goodnight from me and goodnight from him..

Both!