Third time the charm!

PASAR KUBBTEAM TAKE HOME THEIR THIRD UK CHAMPIONSHIP!

On another fantastic day in the Hampshire (mostly) sunshine, we joined together to take part in the UK’s largest ever Kubb tournament. Old friends and new enjoyed the spirit of Kubb once again with the team from Belgium once again taking home the prizes.

Frank and Tom never really missed a step all the way, and managed to fend off the Show No Mersey team of Ben and Phil in a 2-0 final watched by a small but very appreciative crowd.

Congratulations to Frank and Tom who made this their third Championship in three attempts, interrupted only by Covid related travel issues in 2021. They have vowed to come back again next year, so the UK teams will need to get practicing hard if Pasar’s strangle hold can be threatened. Always generous in victory, Tom and Frank both provided hints and tips from their extensive Kubb experience to the others teams at any opportunity.

We look forward to seeing you both again next time!

In the Plate Competition, Kubba Kubba Kubba Kubba Kubba Chameleon showed their skills and gave the commentators some exercise when they beat Racoon Cub Kubb Club in the Plate Final. This was a hard fought affair, with the Racoon Cubs taking the first end of three. they weren’t able to make the most of that momentum though and eventually lost 2-1 to a moderately surprised, but 100% delighted Kubba (x5) Chameleon team. Well done guys!

Tom Van Biesen sets a 24 hour Kubb Record

Our friend Tom Van Biesen from Pasar Actief Kubbteam set a new record on Saturday 16th June, completing 24 hours of Kubb and raising thousands for cancer charities in the process!

Tom Van Biesen at the 24 hour point

What an effort! Tom played for 24 hours straight, with 5 minute breaks for every hour completed, as per Guinness World Records Standard format. The plan allowed Tom to be accompanied in 2v2 games, or to play alone in the 1v1 games, but Tom played every single game, inkasting throughout. Tom completed over 100 games in the 24 hours, which started at 6pm local time on Friday 15th June. The screen grab here from the live stream shows the moment that the clock ticked over to 6pm on Saturday 16th, completed a full 24 hours.

Tom looks about as fresh as he did at the start! It’s hard to consider the effort required to take on this type of activity, and watching at points throughout the 24 hours session, you’d be hard pressed to see any noticeable change from the extraordinarily high level of skill that we’ve seen from Tom in our own tournament.

At UKKubb we are delighted to donate to Tom’s charity, and particularly so as Tom wore UKKubb logo’d T-shirts throughout, and played every game with a specially made UKKubb Championship kubb set. We are so proud to be even a small part of this amazing effort, and with the extra PR, we may find a bigger group of Belgian players coming to UKKubb 2023. Better get practicing, folks!

Well done Tom!

Birch Green Tournament a Platinum Success!

Some of our friends from Birch Green organised a great tournament last week as part of their Jubilee Weekend celebrations. They had tons of help organising but particularly wanted to call out Kevin Rowell for preparing the pitch so brilliantly!

Full report below from Steve Parsons.

BIRCH GREEN KUBB CHAMPIONSHIP

The Platinum Jubilee Trophy

First Edition – 2022

After debuting as an informal event at Birch Green’s post lockdown braai [barbecue] last summer (29.8.21), the Swedish sport of kubb returned to the Green for the Platinum Jubilee street party this year in the form of an organised competition.

Fourteen teams of varying sizes entered the competition on Saturday 4th June, on two pitches marked out on the Large Green. The 43 players were all residents of Birch Green, Staines, or their invited guests, and backgrounds as diverse as Afghan, Albanian, Cypriot, El Salvadorean, German, Irish, Jamaican, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, and South African, all celebrating the 70th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

The event began with ten Preliminary matches, as teams got to grips with the conditions which – although it remained mercifully dry – were at times blustery and overcast. Mike Zenonos’s team, 1 Waterboard Boys, were the pick of the Preliminaries, winning all three of their matches, whilst Ramona Enea’s Newbies team looked highly competitive and showed an accuracy that belied their name.

The field was reduced to eight for the Quarter-finals, but the combined Butterflies & Bees teams pulled out, giving Greatest Hits a bye. In the opener, 1 Waterboard Boys saw off the threat from James, Lucy & George French’s Team BG, whilst Molloyski proved to be dark horses with a good victory over the enthusiastic Girl Power team led by Moya and Izzy Zenonos. Another professional display from The Newbies was enough to defeat a TMB side that included the event organisers Steve Parsons and Michael McDonagh, alongside Brania Mihalíkova and Tara McDonagh.

Both semi-finals proved to be long and intense battles, and both ended in shock results. Molloyski, led by Jeff & Karolina finally overcame the previously unbeaten 1 Waterboard Boys, but the other game continued into the gathering gloom. The Newbies looked to have got into a position to repeat their preliminary victory over Greatest Hits, but a wayward toss saw the king go down out of turn, handing victory to the latter – an unfortunate side effect of tossing in the dark!

The decision was reluctantly taken to defer the final to the Sunday on safety grounds, and sadly Molloyski were not available that evening. A semi-final play-off was hastily arranged between the two defeated semi-finalists, which saw The Newbies return to their best form in defeating 1 Waterboard Boys, and so qualify to meet Greatest Hits for the third time in the competition.

The final proved an epic battle of shifting fortunes, between Greatest Hits and The Newbies. The Newbies won the lag and elected to change ends, a decision that initially seemed to unsettle Greatest Hits, who struggled early on. However one of The Newbies’ difficult corner baseline kubbs was toppled by a super toss by Migliorini and was inkast short by The Newbies, who then repeatedly failed to topple it over the next three turns. This gave Greatest Hits a platform for some deadly tossing, to wreak havoc among The Newbies’ kubbs. Newbies’ inkasts were exceptional, but their earlier deadly accuracy in the toss seemed to have deserted them, and eventually Greatest Hits started to earn attempts at the king. Four times these championship shots went begging, but on the fifth attempt, Archer achieved a topple, and with it the inaugural Platinum Jubilee Trophy, not to mention the generous cash prize of 2022 Birch Green Crowns per player. The presentations to the top three teams, including the rather more stingy runners-up prizes of BĞ1011 per player, took place in a well-attended ceremony on the Middle Green, to round off an enjoyable weekend’s festivities in this corner of Staines.

Entered teams [14]:

1 Waterboard Boys: Michael Zenonos, Nicolas Zenonos, Rafael Zenonos, Shayne Jawahur, Archie Molloy. On the Sunday, Izzy Zenonos added, Shayne and Archie dropped out.

Bees: Khaty Basharmal, Zohra Basharmal. Merged with Butterflies, as Butterflies & Bees, for elimination round, then withdrew.

Butterflies: Rabea Basharmal, Rania Basharmal, Mohsin Basharmal. Merged with Bees, as Butterflies & Bees, for elimination round, then withdrew.

Dream Team Spartans: Ian Lapworth, Brandon Lapworth, Justin Wilson.

Girl Power / Izzy’s Diamonds: Olivia Zenonos, Moya Zenonos, Isabella Zenonos, Isla Perry

Henwoods: Becky Henwood, Richard Henwood, Steve Parsons.

Molloyski: Jeff Molloy, Karolina Molloy, Archie Molloy, Sarah, Ronnie.

The Newbies: Ramona Enea, [+1], with Danny Enea on Saturday.

The Shielz: Tim Shiel, Beth Shiel. Did not participate.

Team BG: James French, Lucy French, George French. [Team originally entered as Bar Thirty].

TMB: Brania Mihalíkova, Mike McDonagh, Tara McDonagh. (Added Steve Parsons from Town Capers for elimination rounds).

Town Capers: Steve Parsons, Kevin Rowell. Kevin subsequently dropped out, and Steve joined Henwoods for Preliminary matches, and TMB for the elimination rounds.

Greatest Hits: Richard Archer, Clo Migliorini.

VIPs: Hugo, Ethan, Denice Smyth, Tanya Smyth, Tracy Rowell.

RESULTS

Saturday 4th June 2022

Preliminary Matches

Dream Team Spartans beat The Newbies

1 Waterboard Boys beat VIPs

Molloyski beat TMB

The Newbies beat Team BG

Henwoods beat Girl Power

Bees beat Butterflies

1 Waterboard Boys beat The Newbies

The Newbies beat Greatest Hits

1 Waterboard Boys beat Girl Power

Molloyski beat Henwoods

Elimination Matches

Quarter-Finals

Molloyski beat Girl Power

1 Waterboard Boys beat Team BG

Greatest Hits walked over Butterflies & Bees

The Newbies beat TMB

Semi-Finals

Molloyski beat 1 Waterboard Boys

Greatest Hits beat The Newbies

Sunday 5th June 2022

Semi-Final Play-Off

The Newbies beat 1 Waterboard Boys

Final

Greatest Hits beat The Newbies