2Spooky4Me Tournament Recap

Editor’s Note: This was republished from Sean Thum’s blog with full permission. Light edits have been made

By Sean Thum

It took weeks to plan, days to get ready, and hours for people to arrive, but when the wait was over, it was worth it, for the 2Spooky4Me Quidditch Tournament began with a bang and never looked back.

Aptly held on 31 Oct. 2015, 2Spooky 4Me was a tribute to the literary phenomenon created by J.K. Rowling. I applaud the organizers, the always awesome Damansara Dementors, for their decision to coincide the tournament with a date of extreme significance in the Harry Potter universe. For the benefit of muggles who do not know, the date represents the end of the First Wizarding War following the sacrifice of Lily and James Potter.

Shannon Devan Thenagaran | Photo by Wayne Cheah

The date also holds great importance to Mr. Harry Potter, who became friends with Hermione Granger on this date after showing remarkable courage rescuing her from a troll. Other notable events occurring on Oct. 31 include a basilisk being released in Hogwarts in 1992, Sirius Black breaking into Hogwarts in 1993, and of course, the selection of Triwizard champions in 1994.

Held at the Astaka Sports Complex in Petaling Jaya, this tournament, the third one I’ve participated in, saw an excess of 30 participants. Let me now address the burning question: How does one play quidditch?

Tun Hizami Hashim getting past red team’s defence | Photo by Wayne Cheah

Quidditch, the muggle version, is a sport played on broomsticks. It involves seven players: three chasers, whose role is to score through any of the three hoops on the opponent's side of the field with the quaffle (volleyball), and a keeper, whose job is to deny the chasers the pleasure of scoring. Each goal is worth ten points. A team also has two beaters, who beat players using bludgers (dodgeballs) and a seeker, who is tasked with the responsibility of capturing the snitch, a tennis ball in a sock that’s attached to a snitch runner. This is worth 30 points.

Players who are beaten have to dismount from their brooms and touch their goal hoops before being able to return to the game. The game ends only when the snitch is caught.

Harein Jethwani scoring for the white team | Photo by Wayne Cheah

I was very fortunate to receive the invitation through my owl Nylie.

So long have I not played the game that I ran out of breath within minutes of high intensity sprinting. I was given the honour of being the seeker in the first match, in which we, the white team, won handsomely against the blue team. I am enormously thankful that I was given the opportunity to associate myself with the role played by legends such as Viktor Krum and Noriko Sato. I tried beating subsequently, but do require lots of improvement.

Participants of the 2Spooky4Me Quidditch Tournament | Photo by Wayne Cheah

It was a great session altogether, whereby I managed to get some time traipsing up and down the field in various roles and, as a result, made new friends. Even though the quest to win and be victorious always is a very tempting one, it was much sweeter when I got to hang around people and get to know them.

I hold onto my dream of wanting to represent Perdana University in a quidditch tournament. Following the successful introduction of Bobby Lee Yung King and Tan Yee Wen to the game when they participated at the Reindeer Quidditch Tournament in December 2014, I managed to invite Shannon Devan Thenagaran, Shankar Loganathan, and Harith Amirizal Ariff to this tournament. Perhaps, just perhaps, one day we will be able to have a team from Perdana University participate in a quidditch competition.

I look forward to that day.