Ashoka Ultimate Championship 2017 kicked off with a bang on the 1st of April with the teams seeded first and second playing the initial two matches. Abhayghaat emerged victorious against Pataliputra Ultimate (seeded 5th) while Ashoka Hammerheads beat People’s Ultimate, a new team playing together for the first time.
The championship then went on to see the Underdogs win against Ashoka Hawks, another new team playing together for the first time, in a high-spirited game where both teams admitted to having had a lot of fun.
Teammates from Ashoka Hawks – Aditi Revankar and Adwitiya Dawn – remarked after the match that despite not having won, the team was not daunted by the loss as the match had been a great learning experience for them.
Day 1 of AUC began at 10 AM and went on until 2 AM thus constituting a 14-hour day, at the very least, for all the players. Despite the scorching summer heat and the long day, the spirit of the tournament only increased as the day progressed.
One of the most gripping matches of the day was played at 7 PM under the floodlights with GK Mads playing against Ashoka Hammerheads. The game ended with GK Mads beating the Hammerheads despite the latter putting up a strong challenge.
The match was played in a good spirit even at crucial instances when the scores were tied. A spectator from Dragonfly (seeded 7th initially) remarked that he would have “paid to watch a match like this”.
All in all, day 1 of the AUC was a huge success, and when asked to comment on this, tournament directors Susovan Mahapatra and Yasha Khuthia stated, “AUC’17 saw some very high-quality action today. This stands testimony to the bright future of Ultimate in India. The spirit that greeted us on the field today was a sight to behold!”
The overall accomplishment of the championship has set high expectations for day 2 as well.
