Here's the three newest updates on the Quidditch World Cup:
Sport
02 July 2014
PLACE YOUR BETS WITH LUDO BAGMAN
The shock elimination of both favourites, Norway and Nigeria, has given the bookies plenty to smile about. Now Ludo Bagman, former England Beater and enthusiastic gambler, rates the chances of the semi-finalists still in with a chance of lifting the coveted trophy.
Brazil
Brazil has won the Quidditch World Cup five times, but the nineties and early noughties were generally considered wilderness years for this once great side. Manager José Barboza has reinvigorated the national game, bringing in younger players from every corner of the country. With an average age of only 22, this is the least experienced side remaining in the tournament.
Brooms: VarápidosTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 41Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 131 minutes*Outstanding player, first 2 rounds: Alejandra Alonso (C)
Ludo's rating: 9/1
Their relative inexperience has not hampered the high goal scoring Brazilians thus far, but these young players may crumble as pressure mounts. They have plenty of talent, but might it be more realistic to expect a win in four years' time?
*Only one capture, due to Haiti's illegal capture in the first round.
USA
Nobody expected the USA's explosion into the final stages of the Quidditch World Cup. While they may have been lucky in the first round, where the collapse of Jamaica's Seeker allowed them to sneak a win, they showed their mettle in beating the well-favoured Liechtenstein team in the quarter-finals. Could this be the USA's moment?
Brooms: Starsweeper XXITotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 39Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 100 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds: Darius Smackhammer (S)
Ludo's rating: 12/1
While impressed by the Americans' form against Liechtenstein, seasoned Quidditch-watchers remain unconvinced as to whether they have what it takes to lift the Cup. Their primary weakness is in defence. Keeper Susan Blancheflower let 23 Jamaican goals past her in the first round, and Beaters Pringle and Picquery will need to find better form if they are to beat the talented young Brazilian Beaters, Santos and Clodoaldo, in the next round.
Japan
Japan were widely expected to do well in this tournament, but the flair and attack they showed in dispatching joint-favourites Nigeria impressed all who witnessed it. Riding racing brooms developed in their home country and unveiled for the first time during the tournament, Japan boasts talented players in almost every position, but it is in defence that they are virtually untouchable. Hongo and Shingo replica Quidditch robes are now the fastest-selling pieces of merchandise at the tournament.
Brooms: YajirushiTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 32Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 61 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds:
Masaki Hongo (B) Shintaro Shingo (B)
Ludo's rating: 4/1
Japan must now be tournament favourites, dispatching opponents with a combination of ruthless efficiency and exquisite artistry.
Bulgaria
Nobody expected Bulgaria to proceed past the knockout round. While they have twice reached the final in the last twenty years, Bulgaria entered this tournament as outsiders, their team having narrowly scraped into the final sixteen. The selection of 38-year-old Viktor Krum was widely seen as made out of sentiment rather than on merit. Luck may have played a part in Bulgaria's first round win against New Zealand, but when Krum's early capture of the Snitch sent joint favourites Norway home from the tournament, many commentators were forced to eat their scathing words.
Brooms: Firebolt SupremeTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 28Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 88 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds: Viktor Krum (S)
Ludo's rating: 50/1
Bulgaria is attracting a lot of international support; partly for their underdog status and partly for the fondness Quidditch fans everywhere feel for a talented man who never achieved his life's ambition. But do Krum and his teammates really have what it takes to beat Japan in the semis? The answer, I fear, is probably not.
Sport
04 July 2014
USA VERSUS BRAZIL
From the Daily Prophet’s Quidditch correspondent in the Patagonian desert, Ginny Potter.
USA 120 – Brazil 100 (on-going)
For the second time in this tournament, it looks like a game will run through the night – and possibly beyond.
If one word summarises this semi-final so far, it is: nerves. Careless errors have littered the match, undoubtedly because a place in the final means so much to both sides. The USA has already climbed higher in the tournament than they have ever managed before, and 2014 will mark their emergence as a major force in the sport. Meanwhile Brazil, a once-great side who have lost their way in recent years, are fighting for their first final since 1982. The stakes are high and it is perhaps not to be wondered at that players are showing signs of pressure.
We have seen more Quaffle drops than in any match so far, with US Chaser Mercy Wardwell so frustrated by her fifth fumble that she beat her head repeatedly against her broom handle until restrained by Seeker Darius Smackhammer. Yet Wardwell was not alone: even Fernando Diaz and Alejandra Alonso, two of Brazil’s finest, allowed the Quaffle to slip through their fingers twice apiece.
Several mis-hit Bludgers have injured the Beaters’ own teammates. When Lucas Picquery sent the Bludger into the face of Keeper Susan Blancheflower in the fourth hour of the game, she risked further injury by attempting to jump onto Picquery’s broom to remonstrate with him. Cautioned by the referee, Blancheflower was the next to make an elementary error when she came too far out of the scoring circle, allowing Alonso to slip past and sneak a goal that took Brazil ten points ahead, although not for long. Quentin Kowalski scored twice as night fell, giving the US a narrow lead, but this is still anyone’s game as darkness thickens.
Sport
05 July 2014
USA VERSUS BRAZIL
From the Daily Prophet’s Quidditch correspondent in the Patagonian desert, Ginny Potter.
Brazil 420 – USA 310
As the sun rose in Patagonia, two tired but determined teams seemed more focused and disciplined after a night of gruelling play. Here we saw the reason that both teams reached the semi-finals. Dynamic Quaffle play between two exciting Chaser trios could still have swung the match either way, but Brazilian Keeper Raul Almeida made all the difference, repeatedly repelling American assaults on the goal hoops.
Darius Smackhammer spotted the Snitch in the twentieth hour of the game, but a pair of precision hit Bludgers courtesy of Brazilian Beaters Santos and Clodoaldo drove him off course. The crowd rose as one as Smackhammer and Brazilian Seeker Silva raced each other, both sliding to the very handles of their brooms. As the pair spiralled towards the ground it was initially hard to see who had triumphed – Silva’s subsequent breakneck dash towards the scoreboard could have been suicidal or triumphant – but it was swiftly apparent that Brazil had won.
An epic semi-final has ended in thrilling style. Brazil will face either Japan or Bulgaria in the final, while the USA will play the loser to decide third place.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
Sport
02 July 2014
PLACE YOUR BETS WITH LUDO BAGMAN
The shock elimination of both favourites, Norway and Nigeria, has given the bookies plenty to smile about. Now Ludo Bagman, former England Beater and enthusiastic gambler, rates the chances of the semi-finalists still in with a chance of lifting the coveted trophy.
Brazil
Brazil has won the Quidditch World Cup five times, but the nineties and early noughties were generally considered wilderness years for this once great side. Manager José Barboza has reinvigorated the national game, bringing in younger players from every corner of the country. With an average age of only 22, this is the least experienced side remaining in the tournament.
Brooms: VarápidosTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 41Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 131 minutes*Outstanding player, first 2 rounds: Alejandra Alonso (C)
Ludo's rating: 9/1
Their relative inexperience has not hampered the high goal scoring Brazilians thus far, but these young players may crumble as pressure mounts. They have plenty of talent, but might it be more realistic to expect a win in four years' time?
*Only one capture, due to Haiti's illegal capture in the first round.
USA
Nobody expected the USA's explosion into the final stages of the Quidditch World Cup. While they may have been lucky in the first round, where the collapse of Jamaica's Seeker allowed them to sneak a win, they showed their mettle in beating the well-favoured Liechtenstein team in the quarter-finals. Could this be the USA's moment?
Brooms: Starsweeper XXITotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 39Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 100 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds: Darius Smackhammer (S)
Ludo's rating: 12/1
While impressed by the Americans' form against Liechtenstein, seasoned Quidditch-watchers remain unconvinced as to whether they have what it takes to lift the Cup. Their primary weakness is in defence. Keeper Susan Blancheflower let 23 Jamaican goals past her in the first round, and Beaters Pringle and Picquery will need to find better form if they are to beat the talented young Brazilian Beaters, Santos and Clodoaldo, in the next round.
Japan
Japan were widely expected to do well in this tournament, but the flair and attack they showed in dispatching joint-favourites Nigeria impressed all who witnessed it. Riding racing brooms developed in their home country and unveiled for the first time during the tournament, Japan boasts talented players in almost every position, but it is in defence that they are virtually untouchable. Hongo and Shingo replica Quidditch robes are now the fastest-selling pieces of merchandise at the tournament.
Brooms: YajirushiTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 32Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 61 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds:
Masaki Hongo (B) Shintaro Shingo (B)
Ludo's rating: 4/1
Japan must now be tournament favourites, dispatching opponents with a combination of ruthless efficiency and exquisite artistry.
Bulgaria
Nobody expected Bulgaria to proceed past the knockout round. While they have twice reached the final in the last twenty years, Bulgaria entered this tournament as outsiders, their team having narrowly scraped into the final sixteen. The selection of 38-year-old Viktor Krum was widely seen as made out of sentiment rather than on merit. Luck may have played a part in Bulgaria's first round win against New Zealand, but when Krum's early capture of the Snitch sent joint favourites Norway home from the tournament, many commentators were forced to eat their scathing words.
Brooms: Firebolt SupremeTotal number of goals, first 2 rounds: 28Average time for Snitch capture, first 2 rounds: 88 minutesOutstanding player, first 2 rounds: Viktor Krum (S)
Ludo's rating: 50/1
Bulgaria is attracting a lot of international support; partly for their underdog status and partly for the fondness Quidditch fans everywhere feel for a talented man who never achieved his life's ambition. But do Krum and his teammates really have what it takes to beat Japan in the semis? The answer, I fear, is probably not.
Sport
04 July 2014
USA VERSUS BRAZIL
From the Daily Prophet’s Quidditch correspondent in the Patagonian desert, Ginny Potter.
USA 120 – Brazil 100 (on-going)
For the second time in this tournament, it looks like a game will run through the night – and possibly beyond.
If one word summarises this semi-final so far, it is: nerves. Careless errors have littered the match, undoubtedly because a place in the final means so much to both sides. The USA has already climbed higher in the tournament than they have ever managed before, and 2014 will mark their emergence as a major force in the sport. Meanwhile Brazil, a once-great side who have lost their way in recent years, are fighting for their first final since 1982. The stakes are high and it is perhaps not to be wondered at that players are showing signs of pressure.
We have seen more Quaffle drops than in any match so far, with US Chaser Mercy Wardwell so frustrated by her fifth fumble that she beat her head repeatedly against her broom handle until restrained by Seeker Darius Smackhammer. Yet Wardwell was not alone: even Fernando Diaz and Alejandra Alonso, two of Brazil’s finest, allowed the Quaffle to slip through their fingers twice apiece.
Several mis-hit Bludgers have injured the Beaters’ own teammates. When Lucas Picquery sent the Bludger into the face of Keeper Susan Blancheflower in the fourth hour of the game, she risked further injury by attempting to jump onto Picquery’s broom to remonstrate with him. Cautioned by the referee, Blancheflower was the next to make an elementary error when she came too far out of the scoring circle, allowing Alonso to slip past and sneak a goal that took Brazil ten points ahead, although not for long. Quentin Kowalski scored twice as night fell, giving the US a narrow lead, but this is still anyone’s game as darkness thickens.
Sport
05 July 2014
USA VERSUS BRAZIL
From the Daily Prophet’s Quidditch correspondent in the Patagonian desert, Ginny Potter.
Brazil 420 – USA 310
As the sun rose in Patagonia, two tired but determined teams seemed more focused and disciplined after a night of gruelling play. Here we saw the reason that both teams reached the semi-finals. Dynamic Quaffle play between two exciting Chaser trios could still have swung the match either way, but Brazilian Keeper Raul Almeida made all the difference, repeatedly repelling American assaults on the goal hoops.
Darius Smackhammer spotted the Snitch in the twentieth hour of the game, but a pair of precision hit Bludgers courtesy of Brazilian Beaters Santos and Clodoaldo drove him off course. The crowd rose as one as Smackhammer and Brazilian Seeker Silva raced each other, both sliding to the very handles of their brooms. As the pair spiralled towards the ground it was initially hard to see who had triumphed – Silva’s subsequent breakneck dash towards the scoreboard could have been suicidal or triumphant – but it was swiftly apparent that Brazil had won.
An epic semi-final has ended in thrilling style. Brazil will face either Japan or Bulgaria in the final, while the USA will play the loser to decide third place.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.