Matteo Gaddoni and Flower win the 2014 World Cup Championship!
With open arms, the Swiss welcomed disc dog teams from around the world to Gründenmoos Stadium. Then they tried very hard to keep all the trophies!!
The 2014 World Cup Final, in St. Gallen Switzerland, will long be remembered as the first frisbee dog world championship outside of the USA. But that trivial fact is only a tiny part of what made this event special. The best frisbee dogs in the world gathered and put on a tremendous show. Though friday's final qualifier was held in gloomy wet conditions, the spirit of the competitors and the event broke through the clouds, and bright Swiss sun was around for the weekend.
With colorful banners, big crowds, refreshments and entertainment all weekend, the people of St. Gallen really seemed to enjoy the dogs. And the dogs were loving the crowd right back!
As every UFO World Cup Final has been, the ability level was very high. The very best had made the trip, and they were ready to go.
Saturday started off with Throw & Catch. The first of 4 rounds for the teams contending the World Cup Throw & Catch title. In a sign of things to come, Adrian Stoica and Rory were hit the turf and blazed a 19 point round to put them in the lead. All weekend long, Adrian and Rory were able to barely hold off the incredibly tough Perry van Mulukom and Piper. Adrian's second dog, Bentley, was also putting up big numbers. Only 1 bobbled round prevented Hungarian Champions Jozsef Zsiros & Ivory from putting the Championship on their trophy shelf. At the end of the weekend, it was Stoica and Rory, winning by only 3 points.
Freestyle-in a small change from years past, the 2 rounds of Freestyle that comprise the World Cup Freestyle championship were split up-one Saturday, and one Sunday. With nearly 40 freestyle rounds to get through each time, this meant the top teams had to really be on their game for 2 days.
It ended up being one the most fantastic freestyle competitions witnessed in Europe. Only 3 tenths of a point separated the top 2 teams on the podium. The honor of being called World Cup Freestyle Champion for 2014 went to Germany, and Melanie Fydrich with Baily. Right behind her, Adrian Stoica and Rory, and in 3rd, a relative newcomer to the World Cup, Alena Smolikova and Jerry from the Czech Republic. For the 3rd year in a row, the ladies are the top freestylers in the world!!
DTour-The field at Gründenmoos is big, but it was very nearly not big enough for the DTour! Europeans seem to love the long distance events, and the teams that specialize in the long bombs were on hand to make it interesting.
The format was 3 throws on Saturday, and 3 throws on Sunday. No cut, all throws count. On the Women's side, Jean McCollister and Bamm Bamm of Slovenia barely edged out Nicole Horn and Buffy of Germany. Not to be denied a podium spot for the USA, Christi Campbell and Banner took 3rd place.
On the men's side, the event was truly a showcase of big arms. The *shortest* catch on Sunday was 60 meters, and most teams were putting their throws into the 70 meter zone. But only one thrower seemed to be able to hit the 80 meter mark: Daan Krieken from Belgium. With his european reputation as the top gun on the line, Daan took home first and second place with DJ and Piper, respectively. A Daan Krieken sweep was held off by Frank Funke and Spike who took some time off of judging to launch plastic really, really far!
The Finals event Combined win is worth 100 world cup points. With so many teams in position to win, it was more of a story of who would stumble. Each team at the top was gunning for those points and capable of winning them.
After 5 amazing rounds of play, the host country was proud to have one of their own on the podiums top spot: Adrian Stoica and Rory simply could not be denied. With freestyle being the main component of the finals score, it was no surprise to see Melanie Fydrich with Baily in second, followed by Alena Smolikova and Jerry.
The story does not end there, of course. Because the finals event is just the last event computed into the standings for the World Cup Champions. And as the sun slid toward the Atlantic, history was written as the 2014 UFO World Cup title went to FLOWER & MATTEO GADDONI!!!! Viva l'Italia! Prima!!!
It is not an easy thing to run a big event, and it is even harder when a World Cup Championship is on the line, and most of your help is also competing in the event! But DiscDog Ostschwiiz persevered, and ran an incredible event-the best World Cup Final in history. So a gigantic thank you to our event hosts, Disc Dog Ostschwiiz. They ran an unbelievable event from end to end. Great organization, great promotion, and great people! Thank you so much!!!
- UFO
With open arms, the Swiss welcomed disc dog teams from around the world to Gründenmoos Stadium. Then they tried very hard to keep all the trophies!! The 2014 World Cup Final, in St. Gallen Switzerland, will long be remembered as the first frisbee dog world championship outside of the USA. But that trivial fact is only a tiny part of what made this event special. The best frisbee dogs in the world gathered and put on a tremendous show. Though friday's final qualifier was held in gloomy wet conditions, the spirit of the competitors and the event broke through the clouds, and bright Swiss sun was around for the weekend.
With colorful banners, big crowds, refreshments and entertainment all weekend, the people of St. Gallen really seemed to enjoy the dogs. And the dogs were loving the crowd right back!
As every UFO World Cup Final has been, the ability level was very high. The very best had made the trip, and they were ready to go.
Saturday started off with Throw & Catch. The first of 4 rounds for the teams contending the World Cup Throw & Catch title. In a sign of things to come, Adrian Stoica and Rory were hit the turf and blazed a 19 point round to put them in the lead. All weekend long, Adrian and Rory were able to barely hold off the incredibly tough Perry van Mulukom and Piper. Adrian's second dog, Bentley, was also putting up big numbers. Only 1 bobbled round prevented Hungarian Champions Jozsef Zsiros & Ivory from putting the Championship on their trophy shelf. At the end of the weekend, it was Stoica and Rory, winning by only 3 points.
Freestyle-in a small change from years past, the 2 rounds of Freestyle that comprise the World Cup Freestyle championship were split up-one Saturday, and one Sunday. With nearly 40 freestyle rounds to get through each time, this meant the top teams had to really be on their game for 2 days.
It ended up being one the most fantastic freestyle competitions witnessed in Europe. Only 3 tenths of a point separated the top 2 teams on the podium. The honor of being called World Cup Freestyle Champion for 2014 went to Germany, and Melanie Fydrich with Baily. Right behind her, Adrian Stoica and Rory, and in 3rd, a relative newcomer to the World Cup, Alena Smolikova and Jerry from the Czech Republic. For the 3rd year in a row, the ladies are the top freestylers in the world!!
DTour-The field at Gründenmoos is big, but it was very nearly not big enough for the DTour! Europeans seem to love the long distance events, and the teams that specialize in the long bombs were on hand to make it interesting.
The format was 3 throws on Saturday, and 3 throws on Sunday. No cut, all throws count. On the Women's side, Jean McCollister and Bamm Bamm of Slovenia barely edged out Nicole Horn and Buffy of Germany. Not to be denied a podium spot for the USA, Christi Campbell and Banner took 3rd place.
On the men's side, the event was truly a showcase of big arms. The *shortest* catch on Sunday was 60 meters, and most teams were putting their throws into the 70 meter zone. But only one thrower seemed to be able to hit the 80 meter mark: Daan Krieken from Belgium. With his european reputation as the top gun on the line, Daan took home first and second place with DJ and Piper, respectively. A Daan Krieken sweep was held off by Frank Funke and Spike who took some time off of judging to launch plastic really, really far!
The Finals event Combined win is worth 100 world cup points. With so many teams in position to win, it was more of a story of who would stumble. Each team at the top was gunning for those points and capable of winning them.
After 5 amazing rounds of play, the host country was proud to have one of their own on the podiums top spot: Adrian Stoica and Rory simply could not be denied. With freestyle being the main component of the finals score, it was no surprise to see Melanie Fydrich with Baily in second, followed by Alena Smolikova and Jerry.
The story does not end there, of course. Because the finals event is just the last event computed into the standings for the World Cup Champions. And as the sun slid toward the Atlantic, history was written as the 2014 UFO World Cup title went to FLOWER & MATTEO GADDONI!!!! Viva l'Italia! Prima!!!
It is not an easy thing to run a big event, and it is even harder when a World Cup Championship is on the line, and most of your help is also competing in the event! But DiscDog Ostschwiiz persevered, and ran an incredible event-the best World Cup Final in history. So a gigantic thank you to our event hosts, Disc Dog Ostschwiiz. They ran an unbelievable event from end to end. Great organization, great promotion, and great people! Thank you so much!!!
- UFO