Day 5: Placement Bracket

It so happened that we had to compete against Ireland again for the 16th and 17th position. And so we played them again. We were hoping it would be much more evenly matched, since Ireland would've played 2 matches for the day before we played them at 6pm (btw, sun sets here at 9pm at this time of the year). But Ireland beat us 10 - 6 (I think) in the end. They outclassed us definitely this time. All of us played well. Navin's layout lefthanded grab was the best play of the game I'd say. That was the last game for us this tournament. We finished bottom of the Open category at 17th place (I don't count Ukraine which was disqualified). But I don't think we had any regrets! We played our hearts out. We smiled our way through every game, spent a lot of time with a lot of experienced players, learnt a LOT, enjoyed the post game huddles in the sea waters (to beat the boiling sand), and partied hard. Though we were disappointed we didn't place higher, it was a strange feeling of exhilaration.

In the night we watched the women's finals at the Arena (which is about 2 km away from the place where all the usual matches took place) between US and Canada. It was a really really close match and went to Universe point. US had a very questionable foul call on a throwaway and the crowd boo'd the US player who called the foul. After a lot of discussion, the play was re-done, and US score to win the point. But, the crowd was completely for Canada. Unfortunately, that doesn't count.

Tomorrow, we play a friendly game against the Great Britain Grand Masters team.. Also looking forward to watching the Mixed Finals, Masters Finals and Open Finals at the Arena tomorrow! And tonight is pool party night! :-)