The sixth edition of Wonderful Copenhagen Ultimate was concluded Sunday afternoon. 3 days of excellent weather, soft pitches, funky dj’s and intense ultimate came to an end Sunday afternoon with a couple of upsets!

After last years final I praised Skogs as the best Swedish team I had ever seen. And I’ve seen quite a few. The 2008 edition of Skogs looked even stronger. Return of strong Swedish handler Michael Hanski from retirement and a surprising pick up in defense super star Nasser Vogel M'Bae (former Ultimate Vibration, Clapham) improved to an already strong 20-piece roster. Strong enough to again take Skogs to the final after wins over KFUM Örebro in the quarter final and Andorra (UK Open defense) in the semi.

The final was to be a rematch of an already great WCU08-game: Lictenstein (UK Open Offense) beat Skogs in the Friday pool play, and they went head to head again in the final.

It was evident that the UK teams came better prepared to WCU than the Scandinavian teams. Skogs offense couldn’t cope with the UK defense – hard man-to-man or zone. And once the UK offense got fired up, they simply ran away from the Swedes.

Both games had similar character. UK coming out strong and gaining a 3-4 point lead early in the game. The teams then traded points before Skogs defense slowly, slowly gained momentum and worked the team back in the game.

The advantage early in the game was enough for Lichtenstein in the pool play. But it got very close in the final. UK’s relative small squad clearly suffered, and Skogs clinically took advantage of the UK mistakes. 13-11 to UK became 14-14 and sudden death to win WCU.

Final point, UK on offense. And the offense did what the offense is supposed to: score under pressure. A good setup isolated one player on the semi-deep for an easy score. Final score: 15-14.

Congratulations to Lichtenstein for an excellent tournament and a spot on the moon.

Skogs were also runner-ups in the Spirit Award. But since winners Kielstock already left for Germany, Skogs were presented with the award. Earlier this year Italian Londoner Daniel Dui took initiative to celebrate one of WCU’s great – Kuki. From now the spirit award is the Kuki Sprit Award. Daniel played with Kuki in The WCU All Stars 2004-2006, and it was in the spirit and memory of Kuki that Daniel presented WCU and Skogs with this trophy. We all miss Kuki, and this is a fantastic way to remember him. Thank you Daniel.

As always, WCU serves as the melting pot of Euro ultimate. This year 22 teams entered, and with Worlds in Vancouver coming up in august WCU was an excellent opportunity to check on the pre-season progress and preparations. Three national teams entered WCU: The Italian National team, Inside Rakete aka German National Team, and Lichtenstein and Andorra – or rather UK offense and UK defense. They all got what they came for – hard and interesting games. Local heroes Ragnarok finished third after a sweet win over Andorra (UK Open Defense), Viksjöfors (SWE) finally managed to enter top 8 with a win over local rivals KFUM Örebro for 5th spot. On the disappointing side were the Finns. Coming directly from the winter, the Finns suffered from the early date. None of the teams matched expectations; no3 seed Kahukopla missed out on quarters, and neither Sipoo or Helsinki managed to advance from the lower pools. Lucky for you that WCU09 is set for 8-10 of May!

Registration for WCU08 has started. As always, we aim to be the premiere tournament in Europe when it comes to comfort and play. Go to www.wcu.dk for details and send a bid.

Theme for 08: Optimization and perfection. WCU08 will be a bit smaller in size compared to 2006 and 2007 - in order to optimize the quality of WCU. This includes all aspects; from transportation and lodgings, to food and party, and of course scheduling and format of play.

Who knows, maybe we will see a comeback of the infamous Pool Party...

Teams: 24 open, 12 women and 12 mixed

Format: As always - the WCU-back-door-system aim to give all teams hard and interesting games. Just what you need early on in the season.

Timeline:

January 31st: Bidding process stops
February 3rd: Accepted teams presented
February 5th: Team Fee to be paid
March 1st: Player Fee to be paid
April 10th: Seeding and schedule presented
April 18th @ 1500: Games start
April 20th @ 1700: Closing ceremony.

Outdoor is king. See you in April.