The 2024 World Footbag Championships concluded yesterday

They pulled it off

When I showed up yesterday morning 15 minutes before the first scheduled match of the finals day, I was kind of baffled to find the Place Valois empty. The carpet wasn't there nor were the tents and umpire chair. Just as I was discussing this fact with singles net finalist Kenny Shults, a car showed up with two big rolls of carpet on top of it. From there on, the setup started and as doubtful as I was, it was completed in an hour and a half. The final setup was really nice and the first match of the day could finally start. I was worried about the timings, as the last games for the day were scheduled for 6:30 pm but, as we'll see later on in this article, everything went well. Well, I guess it was another example of footbag time 😁

Marilyn Demuy starting her splendid day in the women singles finals

Marilyn's day

I was chatting about the possibility of a Triple Crown for Maude Landreville or Marilyn Demuy in my previous blog post, consisting of wins in Women singles and doubles + mixed doubles. Well, the first match of the day would tell us everything about who would still get the chance to baffle the World with this rare accomplishment. As Marilyn took the singles title, Maude had to drop her expectations for the triple and focus on helping her partner (in Women's doubles) to achieve the dreamy conclusion. I'll come back to that in an instant as I want to keep the chronological order of the contest.

Walt Houston adds to his legend

The following match, the Open singles net final, opposed the title holder to the almost ghostly presence of footbag legend Ken Shults. Walt overpowered Kenny with hard serves and big spikes but Shults nonetheless offered a fierce opposition, taking a game of the champion, which is no small feat for a 57 year old man. Much honor to these two greats, that was entertaining. For Walt it meant a 7th World Championships title, en route to the Hall of Fame for sure.

Shults entered the match with a large hematoma to his support leg, footbag net is hard on the body.

Marilyn continues her journey towards the triple crown

There was a break for the net players for a while when some of the freestyle finals went on, I'll discuss that part in another article later.
The sun was still shining hard when Women's doubles started. Geneviève Bousquet and Lena Mlakar Jereb had the difficult task to try to stop the reigning champions, Maude and Marilyn, from grabbing yet another title.

They had their moments, especially at the beginning of the second game, but, overall, the champs were just too strong and consistent in their controlled game. A clear win in two games for the 2024 Women doubles champions. 

Maude, Marilyn, Lena and Geneviève

Yves, Marilyn, Maude and Luka in the Mixed doubles finals

One last step en route to footbag net glory

Marilyn had one more obstacle on her way to footbag net nirvana. Of course, she would have to face Maude once again, this time supported by German phenom Yves Kreil. Maude, on her side, was teamed up with fellow organizer Luka Weyler Lavallée. After a strong start from Maude and Luka, the match began to lean in favor of Marilyn and Yves all the way to the conclusion. Marilyn achieved the dream goal of any Footbag player with this title. I will definitely support her candidacy to the Hall of Fame of Footbag next year where she could rejoin the two other members of the Montreal women big three, Geneviève and Maude.

The apotheosis for Aki Québec

At the end of the day, there was one last match left to conclude this marvelous tournament. Aki Québec's had François Depatie Pelletier and Manu Bouchard to represent against Memphis Footworks' Walt Houston and Ben Alston. Ben and Walt won most of the contests against Aki Quebec's finest in the past but Frank and Manu had won the last one at Akisphère 2022. The key for Aki Québec was to handle the USA's team hard serves. After a shaky start in that department, they finally got most of them under control, on their way to victory in this hugely entertaining spike fest. François earned the title of best player of the tournament with his awesome performance in that match, well backed by his legendary partner. Ben and Walt never gave up as the score shows 15-13, 15-11 Manu, François, Ben and Walt Conclusion With a big grain of luck, the schedule could finally be respected, mostly because all the matchs but one, ended in the minimal number of games. Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who found themselves on the podium. As well, thanks to all the players who took personal vacation time to be here and enjoy this great tournament.  Big thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, chair umpires, line judges and support groups. I thought that this edition of the World Footbag Championships was one of the best that I've seen in a while for the general mood and camaraderie amongst players and the people who made it to the sites to either help out or support the court warriors and freestyle heroes.

At the end of the day, there was one last match left to conclude this marvelous tournament. Aki Québec's had François Depatie Pelletier and Manu Bouchard to represent against Memphis Footworks' Walt Houston and Ben Alston. Ben and Walt won most of the contests against Aki Quebec's finest in the past but Frank and Manu had won the last one at Akisphère 2022. The key for Aki Québec was to handle the USA's team hard serves. After a shaky start in that department, they finally got most of them under control, on their way to victory in this hugely entertaining spike fest. François earned the title of best player of the tournament with his awesome performance in that match, well backed by his legendary partner. Ben and Walt never gave up as the score shows 15-13, 15-11

Manu, François, Ben and Walt

Conclusion

With a big grain of luck, the schedule could finally be respected, mostly because all the matchs but one, ended in the minimal number of games.
Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who found themselves on the podium. As well, thanks to all the players who took personal vacation time to be here and enjoy this great tournament. 
Big thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, chair umpires, line judges and support groups.
I thought that this edition of the World Footbag Championships was one of the best that I've seen in a while for the general mood and camaraderie amongst players and the people who made it to the sites to either help out or support the court warriors and freestyle heroes.

At the end of the day, there was one last match left to conclude this marvelous tournament. Aki Québec's had François Depatie Pelletier and Manu Bouchard to represent against Memphis Footworks' Walt Houston and Ben Alston. Ben and Walt won most of the contests against Aki Quebec's finest in the past but Frank and Manu had won the last one at Akisphère 2022. The key for Aki Québec was to handle the USA's team hard serves. After a shaky start in that department, they finally got most of them under control, on their way to victory in this hugely entertaining spike fest. François earned the title of best player of the tournament with his awesome performance in that match, well backed by his legendary partner. Ben and Walt never gave up as the score shows 15-13, 15-11

Manu, François, Ben and Walt

Conclusion

With a big grain of luck, the schedule could finally be respected, mostly because all the matchs but one, ended in the minimal number of games.
Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who found themselves on the podium. As well, thanks to all the players who took personal vacation time to be here and enjoy this great tournament. 
Big thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, chair umpires, line judges and support groups.
I thought that this edition of the World Footbag Championships was one of the best that I've seen in a while for the general mood and camaraderie amongst players and the people who made it to the sites to either help out or support the court warriors and freestyle heroes.