SEPTEMBER 28, 2020. Last night we had the pleasure of witnessing the first Polaris Squads event, a new creation by the Polaris Invitational team, who designed a very easy to follow Team vs Team format, filled with exciting details that help keep the pace and the action at a high level.
This introductory event featured an European Team versus the United Kingdom + Ireland coalition team, AKA, a British Isles group, with athletes from England, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland.
For the most part, the rules were simple: The victor is decided by submission, and he gets to stay on the mat for the next round. The loser leaves the mat. In the case of a draw, both athletes leave the mat, being replaced by two new athletes. Victory can earn a team 1 point or 3 points, depending on weight disparity – for more on that, check Squads Ruleset here.
Although a submission-only type event, the tournament provided one single submission, that of Irish standout, Tom Halpin over Romania’s Dino Bucalet. This lack of submission was not for lack of trying. For the most part, the competitors did try to engage in offensive maneuvers, with Mateusz Szczecinski and Tarik Hopstock really impressing us out of team Europe, with Ashley Williams and Thomas Halpin providing the same level of entertainment from the team British Isles side.
One of the highlights of the event was undoubtfully Ffion Davies’ performance in her superfight with European Open silver medalist, Magdalena Loska. Davies was all over the Polish athlete, placing tons of pressure on Magdalena with her knee-cut pass, going on to take the back with a very creative seat-belt grip and finishing with a tight RNC. Always fun to watch!
Below are the individual match results for the Polaris Squads 1 Tournament.
ROUND 1
– Eduardo Teta [EU] drew with Ash Williams [BI]
– Mateusz Szczecinski [EU] drew with Bradley Hill [BI]
– Kamil Wilk [EU] drew with Jed Hue [BI]
– Marcin Held [EU] drew with Kieran Davern [BI]
– Santeri Lilius [EU] drew with Taylor Pearman [BI]
– Tom Halpin [BI] def. Dino Bucalet [EU] via reverse triangle (1 point to Team BI)
– Tom Halpin [BI] drew with Tommi Pulkkanen [EU]
– Tarik Hopstock [EU] drew with Darragh O’Conaill [BI]
– Mateusz Szczecinski [EU] drew with Dominic Dillon [BI]
ROUND 2
– Marcin Held [EU] drew with Ash Williams [BI]
– Tarik Hopstock [EU] drew with Kieran Davern [BI]
– Tommi Pulkkanen [EU] drew with Dominic Dillon [BI]
– Kamil Wilk [EU] drew with Bradley Hill [BI]
– Eduardo Teta [EU] drew with Taylor Pearman [BI]
– Tarik Hopstock [EU] drew with Kieran Davern [BI]
– Santeri Lilius [EU] drew with Darragh O’Conaill [BI]
– Dino Bucalet [EU] drew with Ash Williams [BI]
Total score 1×0 for Team British Isles
SUPER FIGHT
– Ffion Davies def. Magdalena Loska via RNC
