2002 WORLDS OPEN PREVIEW

Things get a little dicey after the top 16 seeds. But there are a few exceptions, most noticeably Mainz Feldrenner seeded 21^st. In June this year they played an elite, small round robin tournament in Amsterdam. The defeated Clapham 17-15 before losing to Skogs in the finals. Featuring variations of an ISO offense and star Mohamed Boujataoui, Feldrenner will certainly surpass their seed.

But they have the misfortune of being placed in a vicious pool. San Francisco's Jam is bringing their full squad of 32 to Hawaii, and this includes numerous top American players, including the versatile Damien Scott and energy packet Toaster. This past season Jam made the finals of every tournament they played, including U.S. Nationals, losing only to the Condors. They are almost surely aiming to win this tournament.

Rumors have already reached these shores that Japan's Buzz Bullets are better than Japanese teams of old, and this includes the Japan National team at Worlds in 2000 which finished 8^th and defeated DoG along the way. Fast, speedy and difficult to guard, the Buzz Bullets will make Pool E the toughest here.

Pool A should be a win for the Condors, who are as stoked to add a Worlds championship to their G.O.D. Cup. They have been training since February. Seattle Sockeye will be more prepared to tangle than this winter's US Nationals where Santa Barbara routed them. Watch out for that Hammond Kid's gangle, of course, as well as Pager and Josh Monoghan. Bern's Flying Angels are Swiss champions and have been playing good Ultimate lately, but finishing 6^th at the European championships may not be enough. Still, these guys run very hard and are due for some upsets in international competition.

Pool B will go to DoG. They're bringing 24 people including some rookies and the veteran TGPITG Paul Greff. They are trying to "compete twice" this year, meaning that the team focused on U.S. Nationals and Worlds. As customary, they run a variety of defenses in the first half and pick the best ones for the second half. Australia's Feral fared well at World 99 but is overmatched here. Team Shark's average age is 24. This means they'll never give up but also reveals a lack of handler depth. They could surprise Feral.

Pool C has some interesting anomalies. All of the World Games 2001 champs hail from Vancouver's Furious George, we know that. You can expect Furious to revive their hucking game for Worlds action and keep using Mike Grant under when necessary. King Brown registered a respectable 13^th at Worlds in Edinboro and will have the proper cool and casualness for a Hawaii tournament. Chevy competes well in England and brings Sickboy, Sy Weeks, and others to the table. Cape Town's Tsetse Fly earned their first International win in Heilbronn and are looking to pick up another one here. There's little chance that Furious will lose a game here, and Chevy versus King Brown will be a very good match.

Skogshyddans FK and New York are on top of Pool D and have done battle in years past. Maybe they'll be some more camraderie in the future with hospitality exchanges in the works. The Skogs are coming to Hawaii with the intention of winning. They have consistently fared well at Worlds tournaments and carry the 2001 European Championship title. They play well in conditions that aren't windy and should prove formidable (and tall) opponents. New York received their Worlds bid late and may not be at their most prepared, but they always run hard. They will play Mephisto at Purchase Cup in late July. Montreal's Mephisto is a consistent club team, but they haven't yet been able to defeat top-level American talent. The Woodpeckers are familiar German competitors who seem to make every International competition whereas on the opposite end, Canberra's Action Men come to Worlds for the first time and feature only one player with previous Worlds experience. This pool should finish in order, although I wouldn't be surprised to see the Woodpeckers with an upset.

Pool F's top four teams are all capable of defeating each other, and this should be of some concern to top seed Sub Zero from Minneapolis. Copenhagen's Ragnorak finished 5^th at Europeans, ahead of Red Lights (9^th) and Sipoo (13^th) and should feel comfortable in this pool. Amsterdam's Red Lights are practically Masters players, but feel they can win any given game, because they can. Finland's Sipoo Odd Stars (S.O.S.) are trying to keep a "low profile" en route to Hawaii, but have beaten top competitor Liquidisc in the past. Sub Zero will bring the big and the small, 6'9" deep threat Josh Wilhelm and 5'6" wondertwins Sam O'Brien and Alex Masulis. Watch out for the man called Turtle, however, as he and Dave Boardman are tireless players. Sub Zero should be able to win this pool, but any one of the three European teams could pull an upset. Singapore's Caned Butt Able features ex-pats from several countries and native speedster Kelvin Tan, but only made the switch from mixed to Open for this tournament.

Helsinki's Liquidisc may be underseeded at number 10 in Pool G. They consistently find a way to semifinals of major Worlds tournaments, losing in the finals to DoG at 99 Worlds, finishing 3^rd at European Club Championships 2001, and third in the World Games. Top player Timo Vaskio is the one to keep an eye on. Colorado's Johnny Bravo finally broke through a three-year Nationals drought by finishing in the top eight with a victory over New York at U.S. Nationals. They will not be as experienced on the Worlds circuit as other American teams, but I wouldn't count them out. 6'10" Mickey Madzinski is the best bailout option in the nation and Stephen Rouisse the most underated handler in the country. I haven't heard anything on the Bombers or Helsinki UT. Disco Azteca is Mexico City's entry into the tournament for the first time and are looking to help grow the sport in the homeland by promoting their Pie de la Cuesta sand & grass ultimate tournament in Acapulco in January. Check out www.discovolador.com for information.

Pool H should go to seed. I recall Japan's Pelpiew having some good games in the past, but are seeded below their countrymen here in Hawaii. TUPA represents Taiwan's foray to Worlds, where they are more famous for winning GUTS tournaments. Portland's Bonzi is a tough and hard-running American team led by Sanaton Golden and Ryan DeAustin with playmaker Brian Linkfield registering the skies and d blocks. They claim to have a strong 1-3-3 zone defense, but you can bet their man D is just as tough. Clapham will have a fun time running with these amped-up nuts, but should be able to win. Clapham's leaders Carthorse, Guy Bowles and Si Hill provide the spark, while ex-NYNY hucker Aram Flores brings the experience. Washington DC's Electric Pig, an old club name resurrected, brings its usual bevy of experienced Ultimate players a few years out of college. They will compete and have a shot at taking out Clapham.

Overall

It's hard to know who is going to come out on top at this tournament. As teams from around the World progressively get better and more competitive, the schedule and format become more important. There's a decent chance that the winning team will lose a match somewhere along the line. It may become a matter of "losing at the right time."

One team that I think has a definite advantage is the Condors. It isn't unlikely that the Condors could face Sub Zero, Johnny Bravo, New York and Bonzi in the second round of pools, and the Condors have defeated each of these teams in the past few years and should have a mental edge. Pool four could witness more European matchups if Skogs hold seed and Liquidisc moves up, promising a rematch of Liquidisc's stunning come-from-behind 17-16 semifinals win in 1999 and their more recent World Games duels.

The semifinals will almost certainly contain four teams from the following: Condors, Furious George, Jam, DoG, Skogs, Sub Zero, Liquidisc, or Clapham.

This was written for Chasing Plastic and 2002 Worlds but never published.

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