BARBADOS are the segway polo champions once again.The locals lifted the Woz Challenge Cup for the second year in succession after successfully defending their title on Sunday night.Playing before a large crowd at the Lion Castle grounds in St Thomas, the Barbadians defeated the Blade Pirates of Germany 3-1 in an exciting final to clinch the series. The Pirates could find no answer to the majestic stickwork and agility of the locals and easily surrendered their hopes of taking away the title. The scorecard could have been even more one-sided as the Diamonds International-sponsored Flying Fish locals literally set up shop in their half of the field and missed several scoring opportunities.Spectacular strikes Several spectacular strikes – especially from the mallet of Daniel Hatch – were breathtaking to watch. It was Brett Callaghan who opened the scoring for Barbados early in the first chukka.Hatch wasted no time in finding the back of the goal bars in the opening moments of the second chukka as his teammates bombarded the Germans’ goal area at will. A deflection off a player from a Brett De Gale 40-yard strike at the southern side of the field made it 3-0 in the third chukka.With two minutes left in the fourth and final chukka, a Ralph Konig strike breached the Barbadian defence to give his teammates and supporters something to cheer about. However, it was too little too late. The final bell brought shouts of wild celebrations as scores of supporters rushed onto the field to congratulate both teams on an excellent final.No flukeBarbados’ manager Jason Gilkes told WEEKENDSPORT that last year they took the decision to enter the World Championships in Germany and surprisingly won the tournament. “We were only playing for about six months when we were invited to play in the World Championships in Germany last year. “We went, and with a measure of luck we won the world title,” he said.“However, having successfully gotten the nod to stage this year’s championship in Barbados, the team set about sharpening their skills in an effort to prove last year’s victory was no fluke. We are elated it has paid off,” said Gilkes.Nine teams took part in this year’s championship – four from the United States, two each from Germany and Barbados, and one from Sweden. Next year’s event is scheduled to be held in California. (CH)
