Boracay Island was the scene of high flying action when the 7th Annual Boracay Beach Ultimate Open took place in the island last March 21-22, 2009.

This year, 16 teams with players from Manila, Boracay, Iloilo, Hong Kong, Canada, Cambodia, Thailand, Switzerland and Great Britain descended unto Boracay’s famous white sand beaches to outbid, outplay and outlast the 5-time reigning Boracay Open champions Boracay Dragons A (Team Boracay).

The Boracay Dragons are considered one of the best beach ultimate players in the world, placing 2nd when they competed in the highly-competitive World Beach Ultimate Championships in Maceio, Brazil last 2007.

Day One of preliminaries went off to a fantastic start, thanks to perfect weather conditions. Early on, Pool A was dominated by the Top 4 seeds Boracay Dragons A (Team Boracay), Dragon Lovers (Team USA), Boracay Dragons B, and Team Creamsilk.

No doubt the best game of the day was the play-off game between top two teams Dragons A and the Dragon Lovers – an all-star team from the US (plus local “import” Cebu player Vicmar Tirambulo). It was a heated battle between the two that had the Dragons down the entire game. With only minutes to go before time cap and the score at 7-10 in favor of the Dragon Lovers, Boracay Dragon stalwart Panoy delos Santors threw two consecutive 2-point bombs to Worlds MVP Kristian Guerrero, whose unbelievable catches on both throws sealed the win for the Dragons 11-10.

Day Two of the Open was played in hot summer conditions – amidst rising temperatures, players stepped-up and gave spectators a good show with great bids, skies, and the occasional fractured toe.
Hong Kong had an easy win over Manila team So Mandy in the Pool B finals with final score at 15-7.

Meanwhile in Pool A, the Dragons had no problems advancing to the finals after an easy semifinal win over Team Creamsilk. In the other bracket, the Dragon Lovers had a more difficult semi with a nailbiting game against other top Boracay team, Boracay Dragons B. Thanks to Vicmar’s endzone hammer catch, the Dragon Lovers overcame the Dragons B at pointcap with only minutes to go before game end.

As predicted, the Dragons and the Dragon Lovers faced each other again the finals. The main field in front of Hey Jude was at full-capacity – with the crowds cheering for both teams to put on a fantastic Beach Ultimate show. The start saw the two teams trading points. But it was clear from the start that the Dragons made the necessary adjustments to outplay their opponent and truly brought their A-game on the sand, with a couple of fantastic D’s by Dragon Junthir Flores and highlight reel-worthy plays by Kristian Guerrero.

In the end, the heat, exhaustion, and a small rotation bogged down the Dragon Lovers, who bowed down to the Boracay Dragons 7-15. The Boracay Dragons have only dropped one game in the whole history of the Boracay Open. With their 6th consecutive Boracay Open Championship, the Boracay Dragons move on to competing in the biggest beach tournament in the World: Paganello, held in Rimini, Italy on April 9-153, 2009.

Pool A individual awards went to Jenny Jara and Wendell Simbulan for Best Lay Out Male and Female, Panoy delos Santos for Best Offense and Junthir Flores for Best Defense. Mythical 4 went to Ben Wiggins and Scott Berens of the Dragon Lovers, Karen Vicente of Boracay Dragons A and Jeffrey Rodriguez of Boracay Dragons B. MVP nods went to Dragon Lover Sarah Blyth and Kristian Guerrero, who both received Oakley sunglasses and GC’s, and GC’s from Mandala Spa. Prizes were also generously provided by Beach Hut, Team Manila, and One Sport.

The 7th Boracay Beach Ultimate Open was presented by 100 Plus and sponsored by the Philippine Ultimate Association and Sea Air, media sponsors Mellow 94.7 and One Sport, and supported by Beach Hut and Oakley. Boracay Island Partners were Hey Jude! Bar and Hotel, Summer Place, Bom Bom Bar, Pat’s bar, Beach Bum Bar, Bamboo Lounge, Boracay Gold Crowne, Gasthof’s, Aria, Cafe del Sol, Jammers, Erus suites, Mango Outlet Store, Ambassador In Paradise, Mandala Spa and Villas, Casa Fiesta, Lea’s Resort, and Smoke Resto.