Get to know the teams in Birmingham this week.
July 21, 2024 by Benjamin Rees in Preview with 0 comments
42 teams from 22 countries across three divisions will take the field in Birmingham, the UK’s second biggest city, for WJUC, being held as a standalone event for the first time since the pandemic. While the U20 divisions were held at the JJUC (Joint Juniors Ultimate Championships) in Wrocław, Poland, two years ago1, this edition has a huge increase in attendance and a greater variety of nations sending teams, making it harder to get a read on exactly where each program stands ahead of the week. Which is to say, come next week a lot of the prognostication in this preview might prove inaccurate, but here’s a look ahead to what you can potentially expect.
Women’s Division
Format
The smallest of the three divisions this week, with 11 countries sending teams. The format has two initial pools of five and six teams, with the top three teams from each pool advancing into a power pool, with the results from the initial pools carried forward. The top four teams from the power pool then go straight into semi-finals.
The teams
The USA are the tournament’s top seed and rightfully the red hot favorites. The squad features four returners from Poland in Chloe Hakimi, Grace Maroon, Bella Russell, and Rachel Chang, a formidable foursome who each have the potential to take over games. That Hakimi and Chang were also victorious on UK soil last year with USA’s U24 women proves how polished their game is already. Their opponents in pool A will all fancy their chances of grabbing a power pool spot, with European silver medallists Italy leading the charge, alongside Germany, an Australia side who were not in attendance two years ago, and host nation Great Britain.
France were silver medallists in Wrocław, and bring a similarly stacked roster this edition, headlined by Swann Lacoste-Lefèvre and Camille Blanc who are already making waves representing France Mixed at senior level. The reigning European champions have the potential to make another deep run. Canada will provide stiff competition in a pool that also features New Zealand, quarter-finalists two years ago, a returning Japan, who have a record of success in this division at younger age levels, as well as Singapore and Ireland.
Open Division
Format
15 teams are split into two pools of seven and eight. The top four teams in each pool go into quarter-finals.
The teams
The USA will mount a fierce defense of their gold medal, as a completely refreshed roster looks to make a name for themselves. Tej Murthy and Taylor Hanson will captain an outfit that has big expectations of claiming victory once again. Pool A will pit them up against France, who captured silver in Poland, Colombia, hosts Great Britain, Australia, Singapore, and Switzerland. With only four spots available to advance, teams will need to find their best form quickly, with it all to play for behind the American juggernaut.
Italy come into the tournament as second seeds at the top of pool B, by virtue of the victory at last year’s EYUC, where they triumphed over France in the final. Tommaso Zanni played a big part in that gold medal, as well as the bronze medal finish at JJUC, and will look to orchestrate the offense once again, with Nicolò Mazzola and Giorgio Bavia likely to be key downfield targets. Canada, beaten by Italy in that third place game two years ago, will look to avenge that defeat in the pool, with New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Ireland, and China all vying for those quarter-final berths alongside, or even ahead of, the pool’s top two.
Mixed Division
Format
16 teams start in four pools of four2. The top two teams in each pool advance into one of two upper pools, with the bottom two into one of two lower pools. The top two teams from each upper pool advance directly into quarter-finals; the bottom two teams from each upper pool play a crossover with the one of the top two finishers from one of the lower pools to decide the remaining four quarter-final places.
The teams
Switzerland come into the event as the tournament’s top seed, aiming to go one better than the silver medals they won in Wrocław. Capturing gold at last summer’s EYUC, against a Hungary side that beat them in the JJUC final, demonstrates their prowess. While some key players have aged out or switched divisions, Mona Hartmann has the potential to be a big part of any success, with Adrian Bartsch possessing a real scoring threat. Joining the Swiss in pool A are Italy, who finished fourth in Padova last year, the Netherlands and Panama.
Hungary, the defending champions, headline pool B, although the core of the side that claimed the top prize in Poland is no longer eligible. Ferenc Klément has already more than proved he is ready to take the mantle, as the runaway stats leader in the U17 Mixed division from JJUC, and impressing in Hungary’s silver medal run at EYUC last year. Canada will fancy their chances of usurping the Hungarians at the top of the pool, with a strong Vancouver contingent already boasting elite club experience. Singapore and China complete the pool B line-up.
Colombia carry the top seed in pool C, having fallen just short of a medal two years ago with a fourth place finish. Maria Susana Vásquez racked up plenty of goals and assists in that semi-final run, and her performance and experience will be vital if they are to challenge for medals again. An eclectic pool with lots of geographic diversity could provide some interesting style clashes, as Poland, Mexico, and Hong Kong, China make up the rest of the group.
France come into pool D as the top seed on the back of a bronze medal finish at EYUC, but have a formidable task in front of them with USA, sending a mixed team for the first time, in their pool, alongside countries in Austria and Latvia that have chosen to devote their focus into this division. Gaspard Calligaro will have to be a master distributor to keep the pre-tournament ranking at the top of the pool. Ella Widmyer and Sam Grossberg will look to lead team USA by example as they target a gold medal sweep come the week’s end.
Follow with Ultiworld
The action gets underway on Sunday lunchtime, with the first games starting at 12:30 BST after the opening ceremony and festivities, with Ultiworld streaming three pitches every game round – one showcase field with full production as well as two additional fields, for a total of up to 12 games streamed every day.
