Montréal, QC

By Mindy

A physical battle from first to last whistle, the second game of the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Montréal tournament pitted an original WFTDA member team against a relative newcomer.

Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, the Sun State Roller Girls made their first appearance at WFTDA playoffs in 2015, entering as seventh seed. This year, they started the tournament seeded eighth, one above their American opponents, the Detroit Derby Girls.

By Whacks Poetic

The 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs began today in Montréal, Québec, Canada. After the upsets, close games, jammer acrobatics, and blocker stalwartness of Division 2 Playoffs, the audience was eager to see what the first game of D1 Playoffs would hold, featuring first-time playoff team Kallio Rolling Rainbow of Helsinki, Finland, and the former WFTDA champion Rocky Mountain Rollergirls of Denver, Colorado. Despite a valiant comeback effort in the last few minutes, Kallio’s lack of experience both on sport court and at this level of play showed -- although they doubled the number of Rocky’s lead jammer calls, strategy requiring more finesse such as clock management and star passes eluded them. Playoff veterans Rocky Mountain (#10 seed) took the win over Kallio Rolling Rainbow (#7 seed), 155-151.