A decade in the air Cup – Bossaball’s 10th year anniversary

Bossaball celebrated its first decade with an International Championship in Malaga and Granada, Spain. The four best teams in the world competed in the A Decade in the air Cup, a tournament, which was held on April 25th in a ski-resort in Granada and on April 26th in the recently inaugurated state-of-the-art port of Malaga.

It was up to Argentina, Belgium, Spain and the recent World Champion, the Netherlands, to take away the cup and crown themselves as the the best team of Bossaball’s first decade. The tournament was held over two days in a contrasting double-setting. While the group stage matches were played in Borreguiles, Sierra Nevada, on April 25th, coinciding with “Bajada en Bañador” (Descent in bathing suit), the semi-finals and final were played in the port of Malaga, next to the museum Centre Pompidou, on April 26th.

The Decade in the Air Cup crowned Belgium as the best team of Bossaball’s 10th year anniversary. Impressive on Saturday in the snow of Sierra Nevada, the undefeated Belgians exhibited their strength and determination to beat the Argentines in a fantastic final held in the port of Málaga on Sunday. Despite their unexpected loss in the semi-final against Argentina, the Dutch World Champions put on a show to beat Spain for the 3rd place. Throughout the event, our samba referees took the players to a higher level and made the audience move their hips, highlighting our fusing of music and sports.

The championship, which had the support and collaboration of institutions such as Cetursa, Muelle Uno, the City of Malaga, the City of Mijas and the Convention Bureau of Malaga, attracted the interest of several international television channels.

Red Bull TV sent a four-person film team to cover what turned out to be Bossaball’s high point of its first decade. The team followed the preparations of the teams in the BossaFarm and throughout the entire tournament. The first piece of the documentary, where Bossaball is part of a sports-featuring series named “Games of Strange”, was broadcasted in November 2016.

On top of that, the Belgian TV channel Fans of Flanders flew in a team in order to cover both the event, which ultimately would be won by the Belgian team, and to present Bossaball, a Belgian invention.

  Results Saturday 25/4 Sierra Nevada:

  • Spain – The Netherlands: 17-21 / 7-21
  • Belgium – Argentina: 19-21 / 21-18 / 15-9
  • Belgium – Spain: 21-8 / 21-7
  • Argentina – The Netherlands: 21-12 / 14-21 / 15-8
  • Spain – Argentina: 9-21
  • The Netherlands – Belgium: 15-21

Results Sunday 26/4 Málaga

  • SF 1: Belgium – Spain: 21-16 / 21-13
  • SF 2: Argentina – The Netherlands: 21-13 / 21-15
  • 3rd Place: The Netherlands – Spain: 21 – 9
  • Final: Belgium – Argentina: 14-21 / 22-20 / 15-11