Canada Wins Third Title at Ninth International 

2006 Gold Medalists
The finalists and officials for the Ninth International Bicycle Polo Championships: (Unionville in blue, Canada in red, Umpires in yellow)
Jerry Tagestad, Mike Boyd
, Crosby Wood, Harvey Barton, Eric Zandotti, Peter Furmedge, Craig Danks,
Bill Matheson, Matt Terrell, Geoff Nielsen, John Hupp, Asoka Mendis, and Carl Baker

Canada came to the Ninth International with a mission, and left with the trophy. Champions in 2002 and 2003, Canada had finished out of the medals in 2004 and third in 2005, so they were loaded for bear in 2006. Five teams were entered in the event, representing four countries: Canada, defending champion France, Ireland, and two U.S. entries: Unionville, Pennsylvania; and the host team from Richland, Washington. Ireland was participating for the first time, while Canada and France were the only teams that had played every year since 2000, and Canada has played in every International since 1996.

Play began Thursday, October 5 with a round-robin seeding tournament involving two-chukker games with a running clock. This gave all the teams a chance to get accustomed to the field conditions while no one was eliminated from contention. Canada emerged as the #1 seed with wins over France (5-2), Ireland (3-0), and Unionville (4-1); they tied Richland 1-1. France earned the #2 seed with wins over Unionville (4-2), Ireland (5-1), and Richland (3-2). Richland was #3 based on wins over Ireland (4-0) and Unionville (2-1), while Unionville edged Ireland 1-0 to take the #4 seed.

The playoffs were on a double-elimination format with the #1 seed facing the #5 seed in the first game. As the seedings would suggest, Canada came away with a 14-1 victory. The second match pitted #2 France against #4 Unionville in what would be the first of two close matches that most felt were the best in the tournament. Unionville came out on top 7-5, forcing France to play Ireland in an effort to earn a rematch. France had little trouble doing so, defeating Ireland 12-1, but many wondered whether the extra game would help or hurt their readiness for Saturday morning's semi-final. The first semi-final was played Friday afternoon, with 2004 champion Richland facing Canada in what most expected to be a close game. It didn't turn out that way, as Canada dominated from the opening bowl-in and cruised to a 10-2 victory.

The second semi-final, a rematch between Unionville and France, was even closer than their first meeting, as Unionville pulled out a 10-9 victory on a late goal by Matt Terrell off a pass from Crosby Wood. After a break for lunch, France was able to regroup and defeat Richland 9-5 for the bronze medals in a game what was not as close as the score would indicate. The final game was somewhat anticlimactic, as Unionville may have been exhausted from their morning win over France and Canada was well rested. As in the game against Richland, Canada came out firing on all cylinders and rang up a decisive 18-6 victory.

Scores

Thursday, October 5, 2006
Unionville - France : 2 - 4
Richland -
Ireland : 4 - 0
Canada  - France : 5 - 2
Richland - Unionville : 2 - 1
Canada  - Ireland : 3 - 0
Unionville - 
Ireland : 1 - 0
Richland - Canada : 1 - 1
France
Ireland : 5 - 1
Unionville - Canada
: 1 - 4
Richland - France : 2 - 3

Friday, October 6, 2006

Quarterfinals

Canada  - Dublin : 14 - 1
Unionville -
France : 7 - 5

Requalification Game

France - Dublin : 12 - 1

1st semi-final

RichlandCanada : 2 - 10

Saturday, October 7, 2006

2nd semi-final

Unionville - France : 10 - 9

Bronze Medal Game

Richland - France : 5 - 9

Gold Medal Game

Canada  - Unionville : 18 - 6

Back to BPAA Home Page