Queen’s followed their victory in the Ultimate Frisbee
League by winning cuppers, beating Pembroke/Jesus 5- 2 in the
final. Their run of competitive victories now extends to over a
year, blemished only by a single preseason friendly defeat at the
hands of Christ Church. With Ultimate continuing to grow in Oxford, cuppers took the
total of colleges entering teams into tournaments this season to
20. Big in America and catching on here, the sport is a fast team
game in which each side aims to catch a frisbee in the
other’s end zone, without dropping it on the way or moving
while holding it. The game is particularly strong in Oxford with
the University women’s team having recently been declared
Team of the Year by the Sports Federation. Queens’ cuppers victory was made possible by a mix of
longterm squad development and the good fortune to possess gifted
players. They have had the largest Ultimate squad in the
University for some time and regular practice sessions and
technical drills have given the team consistently high standards
and a comfortable knowledge of one another’s game. It was
this strength in depth that gave Queen’s the edge in the
final against opponents who relied too heavily on the admittedly
flawless handling of GB Junior international Adam Lerman and the
pace and athleticism of Joe Devietti. The champions succeeded in
stifling the pair and patiently worked the disc upfield with
series of short passes centred around their key handler, Chris
Brown, and his fellow Blue, Mark Rogers. However, with Brown, Rogers and much of the rest of their team
leaving this year, Queen’s will be hard-pressed to defend
their double crown. Such news will be some relief to last
year’s double winners, Linacre, who could only manage third
after being beaten by both finalists. Christ Church will also be
encouraged by the prospect of a potentially open path to
silverware, after surpassing expectations and only narrowly
losing the third place play-off.ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004
Ultimate Queens
