QuidditchUK Season Ends and British Quidditch Cup Champions Crowned
Last weekend was full of Muggle quidditch events. Not only the US Quidditch Cup and European Quidditch Cup Division 2 but also QuidditchUK’s Development Cup was held.
Development Cup was held on April 23 in Derby, United Kingdom, as the last tournament of the season. It’s a small tournament for new and developing clubs who have the opportunity to grow and gain experience.
This is also the reason why there is a strict policy on who can compete in the tournament. Anyone who competed this season as a player in the UK European Qualifier Tournament, any current player for a QuidditchUK National Team other than Team Wales, or anyone who competed for any national team that finished in the top 11 (except Canada) at International Quidditch Association (IQA) World Cup 2018 is ineligible to compete.
This year, the Development Cup had only three teams: Bangor & Co., the Bristol Bears, and the Glasgow Grim Reapers. All of them are small teams with around ten players each at this tournament. All three teams played against each other two times.
The final ranking wasn’t published, but according to the results on Quidditch Scheduler, it looks like Bangor & Co. won all the games and won first place, with the Bristol Bears in second and the Glasgow Grim Reapers in third. What is most valued at this tournament is that all three teams and their players gained a lot of experience during matches. If they are lucky and continue to grow as a team, they might attend the British Quidditch Cup someday.
Credit: Paul Watts photography
This season’s British Quidditch Cup has also taken place. It was held in Sheffield, United Kingdom, on April 9–10. It’s a bigger tournament than Development Cup and is divided into two divisions for university and community clubs. Both divisions have 11 teams, which were divided into three flight groups.
After the group stages ended, all the teams continued into a knockout bracket based on the results of the group stages. The losers of the first three games in the bracket continued into a three-team round-robin, and the losers of the next four games in the bracket continued into the consolidation bracket, while the winners continued into a semifinal and final games.
This structure was the same in both divisions. It led to the final match between London Quidditch Club A and the Werewolves of London Firsts in the community division. It was a very exciting and balanced match, ending with the final score of 170*–160, with the Werewolves of London Firsts as the winners. The final match in the university division was similar and also exciting. The final score was 130*–120, and Southampton Quidditch Club won against the Exeter Eagles.
