This week was probably the worst week of my life, at least photography equipment-wise. I brought a lot of business to Fixation. First, the shutter of my EOS 1D MkII is probably dead (it began when I took the World Naked Bike Ride pictures) so they need to replace it. My EX 580 flash stopped to work properly in manual mode (the level of the output remained the same, no matter what value I gave it) and a gust of wind smashed my EX 580II flash, so the impact damage has to be repaired. Fortunately, my lens are working properly, however, this unusual streak of bad luck left me with only one body, my beloved EOS 5D and no flash, so there were limitations to what I could do today, on the first day of the European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships.
I arrived around 3pm and you couldn’t miss the place on Union street: all the cheering and clapping made it easy to find the venue. The matches were already on, though it wasn’t really clear, who’s playing with whom, only the score was cleary displayed courtside.
Though it’s called European Championships, the majority of the teams were from the UK and Germany or at least that was my impression when I took a look at the scoreboard.
This German team from Munich just started their game.
There was about 200 people around the main court and they celebrated big shots and big crashes equally enthusiastically.
The players always fought hard for each and every ball, the pace of the game didn’t allow them any idleness.
The sky was overcast throughout the day, but it didn’t rain until 4pm-ish. It tried to make up all the lost time, hence in no time it was raining cats and dogs which sent the majority of the crowd under the tents of the exhibitors. It didn’t last long, fortunately, but the players kept it cool and didn’t stop the ongoing match.
Bike polo is probably one those few sports where men and women can play against each other, though I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. In this case, we saw a really enthusiastic and very nicely playing German team, that comprised of three girls. They seemed to play better than the guys but failed to score a single goal whilst the other side scored four. Still, big up for the ladies!
This was the first day, more to come tomorrow.