CHENNAI: After three consecutive days of fast-paced action, Stall 7 was declared the winner of the fourth edition of the Chennai Heat 2011. The tournament, which took place at Elliot’s Beach, Chennai, was organised by the Chennai Ultimate Frisbee Club (CUF) and had 15 registered national teams. It was India’s largest beach Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Fighting for the top spot with various teams from Hyderabad, Kerala and other regions were four Chennai teams — Chakraa, Fly! Wild, Blitzkrieg and Stall 7. Stall 7 (students from Crescent Engineering college, Hindustan University and Stella Maris College) and Blitzkrieg (students from KRMM College of Arts and Science) faced each other in the finals. Though Blitzkrieg put up a good show of defence and there was never-seen-before action on the sand, Stall 7 scored steadily, maintaining their lead, and winning the tournament with a whopping 15-6 score tally. “This is the first time that a team other than Learning to Fly from Bangalore or Chakraa (reigning champions) has won the tournament,” says Manu Karan, President, CUF, and adds, “It is definitely good to see a new generation of Ultimate players coming up.” Spinergy, a team from Auroville that finished third, also took home the Best Spirit Award, which is awarded for fair play, for the third consecutive year. “This is important to us because Ultimate is a self-refereed game and we will put them on the same podium as Stall 7. Both of them are winners of the tournament for us,” says Manu. This year, some of the teams also had a couple of foreign players. These foreigners, mostly from the US, England and Italy, are people who have joined the group for the love of the game. Sky Landers from Kerala had their share of foreign players. “The Frisbee scene is pretty big here in India. It looks like it is a growing scene,” says Sara Lankford, who played for the Kerala team with her brother. In Ultimate Frisbee, each team has over 20 players, with 7 of them playing each time.
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