AFI Ultimate Open 2019: The Tournament of Fire
Thanks to the folks from Team TUGS, I finally got the chance to shoot Ultimate in Tuguegarao!
Tuguegarao is one of the farthest places I’ve been to when it comes to shooting ultimate tournaments. A 12 to 16 hour (sometimes it takes 20 hours to travel there. Depends on the road condition) bus ride was supposed to be the travel option that I was considering doing, but taking the plane, though it was more expensive, was the most convenient thing to do especially with my August schedule that is so packed and crazy. The organizers sent me a few invitations before the event, and I think it’s time to check out the city of almost a hundred variety of pancit cuisine!
This is Afi Ultimate Open.
“Afi means FIRE in Ibanag dialect (Ibanag, Itawis, and Ilocano are the three major dialects in the city, and from what I gathered from the locals, “Tugue” means nasusunog... or something) and since Tuguegarao is one of the hottest places if not the hottest in the Philippines, it is quite right and “cool” to have their annual fiesta and Ultimate Frisbee Tournament named after it.
Due to the unforgiving and regular visits of bad weather all over the country, three teams (Baguio, Subic, and Ilocos) didn't make it to Tuguegarao. I myself was a little worried if I could make it or not. But when Ace told me that the skies cleared out for a couple of days and I didn't receive any emails from the airline company of any cancellations, I guess the flight is a go. So after my not so late flight from Manila to Tugue, and a welcome Pancit Batil Patong late lunch together with some participants from Manila, it was time to check out some of the talents from the northern part of the country.
As is Firing.
Though there were 9 teams remain, and having the tournament venue being moved a few times due to some small complications with the schedule, the organizers still managed to give us an exciting and fun 2-day tournament at the Tuguegarao capitol grounds. Big thanks to their very supportive Mayor and city government officials who backed up the event 100 percent. It’s always great to see a tournament that is being supported by the local government. With the mayor on their side, I’m sure this event will be here for a very long time.
It’s okay to have Pancit the whole day!
If you are a fan and you think you've seen and tasted all the pancit in the country… you are dead wrong, my friend. I haven't seen a place that has an obsession and passion for pancit like Tuguegarao. There’s a reason why I haven't eaten Batchoy in Iloilo for years. It’s because I’ve seen and tasted (I can even smell batchoy in my head while I was writing this) mostly all of the Batchoy in Iloilo. In Tuguegarao though, the locals said that there were 80+ (and counting) Panciteria in the city alone and every Panciteria has their own style of toppings that makes the pancit unique giving you a different taste and experience every single time, and even the locals have not got a chance to try them all, yet. There’s pancit with lechon kawali and Chorizo Bilbao on top. Balot, hotdog and even pancit with Carabao brains on it. It was crazy. And the egg soup that comes with it is to die for. I had three different styles of pancit for three straight days and I gotta say, I would really love to try and experience the other 77+ style of pancit in the future.
Pancit in Tuguegarao is like Pokemons… Gotta eat them all!
Ok… back to Ultimate.
With 9 teams in the tournament, you immediately have an idea of which teams will go for the long haul. Cabalernks almost had it. Same with Ganja Cool who almost won the battle for third game but fell short against the 10-strong line-up of Bad from Manila (great run, by the way, guys!). The finals came down to the rival teams. Team Caution went head to head with the host team, Team TUGS.
It was a Tug-o-War all throughout the game as both teams didn't get a chance to break away. As the 100 minutes went down to zero, both teams were tied, and the chant of “U-ni-ver-sal” was heard in every corner of the playing field. The excitement was high as the final pull of the tournament was thrown. Team TUGS has the disc. Looking sharp and confident to seal the victory… but not sharp enough as the disc went sky high and was stolen by Team Caution who immediately made a pass to the end zone for the layout victory point. Team Caution is the 2019 Afi Ultimate Open Champions.
It was quite a lot of fun quick visit in Tuguegarao and I gotta say, sulit ang byahe pagdating dun sa Tugue. Great food. Tasty delicacies (Putoflan… tsampiyon!!). Lots of caves to explore. If you are into tattoos, Wang-od is only an hour and a half away from the city. Very hospitable hosts, shoutout to Ace, JM, Luie, Regina and the rest of Team TUGS! Good times all throughout the weekend. Though it’s a little bit tough to travel going to Tugue, I have no doubt that you will enjoy Tuguegarao like I do. Give these guys a chance to show you their humble city.
The Tuguegarao Ultimate Community are very supportive of other tournaments around Luzon. I guess it’s time for us to visit their city, play the game we all love and have a plate of Pancit or two……. Okay, make it three.
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