In a magical turn of events, Australia won the Quidditch World Cup – a sport inspired by the game played by Harry Potter – after defeating the US team in Frankfurt .Adapted from the fantasy sport played in JK Rowling’s books, the “muggle” version of quidditch uses elements of rugby, dodgeball and tag. There are seven players on each team, five balls and six goal hoops. Each match begins with the referee shouting
“Brooms up!” It ends when the “snitch” has been caught, giving the successful team 30 points. A tiny, flying golden ball in the books, in reality the snitch is a tennis ball attached to a player’s shorts. Australia’s team, The Dropbears – named after a fictional native animal invented to scare tourists – beat the US 150 to 130 after catching the snitch. Australia defeated Germany, France and Canada to reach the final against the US team, who won the previous two World Cups in 2012 and 2014, and have never lost an international game. The UK took third place, defeating Canada 190 to 60
Twenty-one teams played in the tournament, including Mexico, South Korea and Catalonia. Uganda’s team, which was set to be the first African squad to play in the World Cup after a Kickstarter campaign raised €10,000 (£8,300) for them to attend, never reached Frankfurt due to visa complications.
It is estimated that there are 10,000 quidditch players around the world, with 2,000 in the UK, the majority playing for university teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment