Ahmedabad Ultimate Open 2013: Last Year's Champions Chennai win again

Before kites rule Ahmedabad’s skyline on 14th Jan, it was time for flying discs to take the center stage as Ahmedabad Ultimate Open(AUO), the year’s first national tournament of Ultimate Frisbee was held in the city at the lush green field of SGVP International School. In the 5th edition of AUO, 19 teams participated compared to 14 last year. Apart from local teams from Ahmedabad, teams from Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Surat, Mumbai and Pune also participated in the tournament. Chennai, last year’s champions, won the tournament after beating “Learning to Fly”- a team from Bangalore 15-11. The local team, Ahmedabad Dream Catchers, finished 8th.

Ultimate is considered to be world’s fastest growing sport and is growing at a steady pace in India as well. In November last year, Delhi hosted a tournament sponsored by Usha International. The tournament had some teams coming in from overseas and was held at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in the capital city. Brodie Smith, international Ultimate Frisbee player and expert, was also a part of this event. The sport’s governing body World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) has more than 70 member countries. One of the reasons behind the sport growing so fast is at the pace it is played. Also Ultimate mixes the skills of sports like Football, American Football, Basketball and Netball hence attracts many people.

Dushyant Gadhia, the tournament organizer of AUO said “This was the biggest AUO ever. It is for the first time that 19 teams have participated in a tournament in north India. Also, players come from a very diverse background. While some are working professionals, some will appear for their board exams this year. I feel that tournament has achieved its purpose when we were approached by a school and a university near the field to teach them Ultimate Frisbee after watching the tournament. Cricket most definitely does overshadow all other sports in India, once people see a game of ultimate being played, they can not help but want to throw disc.”

Vrajesh Jani, a key member of Dream Catchers, who also works as a Physical Education Teacher with EduSports says, “There is a very important aspect to learn for young kids from this sport as this is a sport in which there are no referees and players come to a decision after having a discussion within themselves. So it is all about playing fair.” Parag Gandhi, a player from Mumbai said, “The tournament was a success and was managed very well by Dushyant and his team.” Many players from outstations are also looking forward to experience Makarsankrati as a Kite Flying festival will also take place in Gujarat.

Throughout the year, many such tournaments take place in India. Tournaments at Ahmedabad, Kodai, Chennai,Bangalore and Delhi have become regular fixtures in the calendar. I feel a Sport like Ultimate can surely do well. Cricket is still the no.1 sport in the country but there is no doubt that the interest level has decreased and a sport like football is becoming more and more popular. So there is a clear chance for other sports to do well in India.