International Weekend Wrap-Up - November 5-6

Contributions by Chula Bruggeling, Serena Cheong, Neha Korrapati, Carrie Soukup, and Austin Wallace

This week we are publishing our fourth International Weekend Wrap-Up, providing you with information about tournaments and events around the world. This week we are covering events from Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the US.

Belgium – Belgian Quidditch Cup

1. Antwerp A
2. Liège Leviathans
3. Brussels Qwaffles

The Belgian Quidditch Cup, Belgium’s national championship and European Quidditch Cup (EQC) qualifier, took place in Bruges last Saturday, Nov. 5. While Antwerp A being crowned the eventual champion won’t be a surprise to anyone, those familiar with Belgian quidditch might be surprised at the inclusion of Liège Leviathans in their national top three, with both Ghent Gargoyles and Antwerp B missing the chance at an EQC spot.

Brooms up for Liège Leviathans at the Four-way Friendlies in Brussels last month | Photo Credit: quidpic.be

Antwerp A won with a score of 150*-30 over Ghent Gargoyles in the semifinals, while Brussels Qwaffles lost their semifinals match against Liège Leviathans on a snitch catch (80*-50), sending the Leviathans through to the finals against Antwerp A. Antwerp B had already lost their chance at the semifinals earlier, with an 80*-40 loss against the Leviathans in their first game of the day.

With three EQC spots on the line, the third-place game was a highly-contested rematch between Brussels Qwaffles and Ghent Gargoyles, eventually won by the Qwaffles with a score of 80*-50. The grand final was decidedly less evenly matched, with Antwerp A defeating the Liège Leviathans with a strong 180*-30 finish.

A more extensive recap of Belgian Quidditch Cup will be published in the near future, from guest writers Louis Lermytte, Lana Naudts, and Nathan Wilputte.

US Northwest/Canada West – QCON November

1. University of British Columbia 10pts (+2 games)

2. Rain City Raptors 8pts (+1 game)

3. Vancouver Vipertooths 6pts

4. SFU Quidditch 3pts (+QPD)

5. UVic Valkyries 3pts (-QPD)

6. Western Washington University Wyverns 2pts

7. Portland Augureys 1pt (+1 game)

8. UBCQC 0pts (+QPD)

9. Emerald City Admirals 0pts (-QPD)

The Quidditch Conference of the Northwest (QCON) began its inaugural season opener this past weekend. With the games spread out over three different locations in the Pacific Northwest of Canada and North America, it served as a great look into what to expect in both the Western Canada and USQ Northwest regions this season.

The games in Seattle, hosted by the Emerald City Admirals, featured SFU Quidditch and the Rain City Raptors alongside the hosts. As expected, Rain City, bolstered by the ever-dominant Ross Schram von Haupt, came away with a 2-0-0-0 record, with both of its wins out of SWIM range. SFU finally received its first win of the season with a commanding, out-of-SWIM-range victory over Emerald City. Emerald City, feeling the loss of founder and key player from last season Eric Andres, failed to pick up a single point in this month’s matchup.

While games were happening in Seattle, a rebuilding Western Washington University (WWU) Wyverns squad, the Portland Augureys augmented by unaffiliated players, and the University of British Columbia (UBC) faced off in Bellingham. In QCON’s most eventful matchup thus far, Portland, a team with six players with additional two mercenaries, stayed within SWIM range against a much larger WWU team before losing 160*-110. UBC came away with three out-of-SWIM-range wins and currently leads the conference with the most quaffle point differential, albeit with an extra game against Portland to make up for a missed matchup in December.

Due to a scheduling issue, the last set of games were played in Victoria on Sunday instead of Saturday. In a surprising turn of events, UVic Valkyries beat UBCQC for its first win in over a year, though UBCQC brought over a nine-person roster and suffered an injury over the course of the game. The Vancouver Vipertooths rebounded from their disastrous season with a shutout win over the hosting Valkyries; they completed the weekend shutout with a UBCQC forfeit due to injuries and time constraints.

Keep an eye out for a more in-depth recap of November’s QCON games from the Quidditch Post.

Germany – NRW-Liga

Current rankings:
1. Rheinos Bonn
2. Ruhr Phoenix
3. Münster Marauders
4. Bielefelder Basilisken

On Sunday, Nov. 6, Germany kicked off its first-ever league games, with the first round of games in the NRW-Liga (Nordrhein-Westfalen, the most populous state of Germany). Rheinos Bonn played Bielefelder Basilisken twice, and Ruhr Phoenix and the Münster Marauders faced off twice as well. With Rheinos Bonn as Germany’s current national champion, Ruhr Phoenix placing third at the last national championship, and both Münster Marauders and Bielefelder Basilisken being recently formed teams, the games were largely predictable.

Rheinos Bonn defeated Bielefelder Basilisken 170*-10 and 180*-10, maxing out on point differential. Ruhr Phoenix beat Münster Marauders 160*-50 and 170*-40, falling ten points short in terms of maximal point differential, and thus currently rank second after Rheinos Bonn, with Münster and Bielefeld in third and fourth place, respectively.

US SW/MW – Cowboy Cup VI

1. Mizzou
2. Texas State University - San Marcos

Cowboy Cup was held on Nov. 5 and hosted a total of 11 teams, eight of which were official USQ teams. Most of them were from the Southwest, with the addition of Mizzou from the Midwest. Due to circumstances, Arkansas dropped out at the last minute, and all its games were set as a 150*-0 forfeit.

For the first half the the tournament, teams played a set of round robin games in their pool. After pool play, the tournament split into three brackets: an official bracket round, a consolation bracket, and an unofficial bracket round (for the three unofficial teams); this was intended to cut down on the number of blowout games, while ensuring the top of each tier had a chance to compete for a trophy.

In the official bracket round, Texas State won its semifinals against Oklahoma State University (OSU) on a snitch catch, bringing the game to an end with a final score of 120*-110. Meanwhile, Mizzou handily beat SHSU 160*-80. In the finals, fatigue finally caught up over the course of the day – the final was in fact the only game that really went on late, despite the otherwise stellar format of the tournament – and there seemed to be a noticeable lack of carryover from the adrenaline of the previous games. The final score between Mizzou and Texas State was 180*-90. By interesting coincidence, the final game of the consolation bracket also ended in a 180*-90 score, with OSU defeating SHSU.