It was a typical late November morning in Madras. Dark and cold. One may wonder what I was doing up and about at such an early hour, instead of staying back in my comfy bed. I had gone to photograph the finals of The Tournament and the third-place decider before the finals. The Tournament refers to the f
risbee tournament held by the
CUF (Chennai Ultimate Frisbee). These aren't the ones we used to get free with C
omplan. Remember? The round , flying saucer miniature with a cone in the middle available in red and blue?? No? Well that
frisbee does not look like this... neither did it cost as much.
Actually, this is the disc that was used in the final match of The Tournament. Before the final, a bunch of round robin matches were played among the four teams to decide who among them will play in the finals. Due to various reasons, the chief among them being my unwillingness to get off my bed on a cold morning, I was unable to watch or photograph any of the round robin matches. The scorelines were as follows....
Manu 8-3 Shankar
Mama 8-4 Sukrit
Sukrit 8-4 Shankar
Manu 9-7 Mama
Mama 8-0 Shankar
Sukrit 8-6 Manu
After some professional analysis, it was decided that Manu and Mama's teams would fight it out in the finals while Shankar and Sukrith's teams would vie for the third place.
Third Place Decider
The third place decider was the first match of the day. Shankar's team, in green dry fit jerseys, would take on Sukrith's team, in equally dry fitting red jerseys.
After about 45 minutes of flying frisbee, the match was decided. It ended the Reds-8 and the Greens-4.
In the interval between the two matches, the players were served Red Bull free of charge by a couple of pretty representatives for the company. For some strange reason, people about to play the final game decided against drinking it, eventhough its supposed to be an energy drink....
The Final
The final was to be played between Mama's team in the really bling yellow and Manu's team in blue.
The match started pretty evenly. Both teams playing fluently and committing few mistakes. For a final, the match was strangely free of loud abuses. The sort you hear when you let a bunch of people who have known each other for quite a while run around in the sand chasing a frisbee. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that Mama's geared up to go to Sabarimalai. But the onfield action more than made up for the lack of verbal action.
But with the sun coming up the players were getting a little tired and with some strategic substitutions, the Blues gained the upper hand and the bling Yellows were beginning to look a little harried.
Soon the match ended with the Blues beating the bling Yellows 8-6. As with the completion of any tournament, it was time for the award ceremonies.
The Winning Team
MVP
Once the bling Yellows were convinced that they did not loose because of their jersey's blinginess, all the participants gathered for another customary group photo. I must say, they looked a very colourful bunch indeed.
