Historic first Tour win for Ka-Pow as they crush Manchester in thunder and lightning of Cardiff
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Version 0 of 1. Ka-Pow recorded a historic victory in Cardiff yesterday, beating Manchester to win their first Tour title since forming four years ago. The south London Ultimate Frisbee team started strong to open up a five point lead, which the opposition struggled to recover from despite a semi revival late in the first half. Ka-pow played the best Frisbee seen all weekend and never gave Manchester a look in, winning the game convincingly 12-6 in a weekend that saw sun, driving rain, thunder and lightning. Ka-Pow smashed Manchester in the final but games between the two teams earlier in the year have been much closer It came after a tense sudden death win against GB Masters in the semi-final and a crunch quarter final with local rivals Fire of London. It was a disappointing way to end the tournament for Manchester but they wrapped up the overall Tour title after finishing with enough points from the previous two Tours to pip Ka-Pow and Fire of London to finish as the top-ranked team. Ka-pow, a new south London-based team formed by Frisbee legend David Pichler in 2011, have struggled with consistency over the season so far but Matt Dathan, one of the two captains, said this weekend proved what Ka-pow can achieve. “On our day we believe we can beat anyone – and we proved that this weekend,” he said. “The win has given us a massive mental boost for the rest of the season and we will take that confidence into regional qualifiers later this month and the National Championships next month and show once again that we are a force to be reckoned with.” Ka-Pow's fans celebrate as ladies man Mike West walks past Matt Hodgson was voted Most Valued Player by his team mates over the weekend but it was a close call between several players, proof that Ka-Pow is a group of players built around a strong team ethic rather than a team reliant on superstars. In the third place play-off, Devon saw off GB Masters, who are looking to win the European Championships later this month in Copenhagen. Clapham-based Iceni won the Women’s tour crown, beating the Irish national team. But their absence from Tour Two meant fellow Londoners SYC to win the overall Tour season, which started back in May. The two finalists huddle in the traditional post-match call The focus for all club teams now turns to the marquee event of Nationals in Southampton on August 22 and 23. In the meantime there are two big international tournaments to look forward to. The World Under 23 Championships in London starts next Saturday at Watford Football Club's training ground, where GB U23 are looking to use their home advantage to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2013. A couple of weeks later the GB Open, GB Women and GB Masters teams are among the favourites to win the European Championships in Copenhagen. Ka-Pow! take a tough grudge match over Fire of London (@fire_of_London) 1 and earn our first tour semi final EVER!!! #ukut3 Forget semis; Ka-Pow! make our first ever tour Final! We beat GB masters in a sudden death thriller 11-10 #ukut3 Way to step up this weekend @KaPowUltimate one more game to round off a momentous tournament #ukut3 Ka-Pow! WIN #UKUT3 12-6 http://t.co/UP6J7LFgPY We are #ukut3 CHAMPIONS! First tour victory for @KaPowUltimate. Amazing feeling & proud to captain a team of winners. pic.twitter.com/Xj1J7WUV2Q Congratulations to our buddies @KaPowUltimate on winning the open final! Jonny made it into the photo... #ukut3 pic.twitter.com/BEIqn4aYO8 |