Team Ireland’s Heads Are Held High After Quidditch World Cup
Quidditch Ireland released a statement today regarding the team’s first trip to the Quidditch World Cup, and it’s an inspiring one. We previously reported that Team Ireland were up against difficult odds in their first pool. They played against world class Belgium as well as 2016’s eventual winners Australia. It is this writer’s opinion that the team did fantastically even against such steep competition and the statement mirrors this.
“Each and every one of those players gave it their absolute all on pitch. We may not have won any matches, but despite this the team kept a positive attitude and really embodied the spirit of Quidditch with their sportsmanship. From all at Quidditch Ireland, you did us proud.”
Unfortunately despite their hard work, the team did not win any games.
Ireland vs Slovakia
They came heart-stoppingly close to achieving a draw in their first game against Slovakia as the teams were neck and neck the entire way along. It was only when the snitch game began eighteen minutes in and the beaters were distracted that things began to change. For those new to the sport, the snitch is a tennis ball attached to a designated player called a snitchrunner who is usually very swift. Each team has a seeker who tries to steal the snitch from the snitchrunner ending the game and scoring an extra 30 points for their team. Slovakia’s seeker was successful on this occasion, and the final score was Slovakia 120 to Ireland’s 50. This isn’t a huge difference once you remove the snitch points.
Ireland vs Belgium
We knew going in Belgium were a good team, as they had come 7th and 4th in other international tournaments. But it was still heartbreaking to watch as the two teams went from neck and neck in the first few minutes to Belgium scoring, and scoring and scoring until they were a staggering 20 scores ahead with their seeker eventually catching the snitch. To be fair, one of Ireland’s chasers (the player than scores points) was straight red carded and this didn’t help, leaving the keeper more involved in the quaffle game and the hoops less defended. The team played on valiantly with one less chaser than their opponents and this should be applauded. The final score was 250 to Belgium, 20 to Ireland.
Ireland vs Australia
Australia came 2nd in the last World Cup so it is not surprising that the scores were miles apart. The final score was 280* to Australia to 0 for Ireland. This game was hard to follow for those not in Germany as the twitter live-feed experienced problems but it was clear that Australia would win from fairly early on.
Having trouble with Australia coverage. Score is 80-0 to Australia against Ireland. Meanwhile, @QuidPost_UK is about to tweet UK/Spain.
— Quidditch Post (@quidditchpost) July 23, 2016
If you want to see just how good Australia are, check out their final with the USA below:
On the second day Ireland also played Slovenia and lost by a small margin. The final score was Slovenia 120*-70 Ireland.
It is testament to the Harry Potter fan community’s love that the team never felt downtrodden during these particularly harsh defeats. Research has shown correlation in the past with fans of the series and more compassionate people and this shined through in the way other teams treated Team Ireland:
“We would also like to commend all the teams that took part in the tournament and welcomed us into the quidditch community. We may have been your opponents on pitch, but off pitch you cheered for us when we scored and you hugged us when we lost. Your positivity and enthusiasm for the sport was second to none.”
We at the Arcade would also like to extend our congratulations to Australia’s “Naanananaanana DROPBEARS”! For more on Quidditch and how you can get involved read this article.
