The Hood’s Wolf Pack crowned champions of Bengaluru’s first ever American Tackle Football Championship
Champions The Hood's Wolf Pack
Bengaluru, 29 November 2015: The Hood’s Wolf Pack has been crowned champions of the inaugural Bengaluru Cup seven-a-side American Tackle Football Championship. Organised under the aegis of the Elite Football League of India (EFLI), the Championship showcased approx 60 players from the two EFLI pro teams from Bengaluru. EFLI is India’s first professional American Football League and the two Bengaluru teams are Bangalore Warhawks and the Bangalore Dragons.
This is the first time in the history of Bengaluru that an American Football Championship is being held.
The seasoned Wolf Pack side, which features many players from the two Benguluru EFLI teams, got off to a dream start in the finals, raking up an 8-0 lead. Their Black Mamba opponents tried hard to breach the stout Wolf Pack defense, but couldn’t repeat their earlier league win against the same opponents.
Linebacker Tejas Murthy of Black Mamba was named the tournament MVP. The winning and runners up teams received trophies and medals.
Tournament MVP Tejas Murthy of Black Mamba
About the Championship
5 teams played in the league cum knockout Championship held at the top class Gamechangers outdoor artificial grass facility in Mathikere, Bengaluru. The participating teams are Black Mamba, Bengaluru Kings, The Hood’s Wolf Pack (Pool A), Bangalore Bulls, Black Tigers and Bangalore Panthers (Pool B).
Each participating team has its individual sponsor: The Hood, Cendrol Constructions (for The Hood’s Wolf Pack), Maiyas (Black Tigers), B3 Wellness (Black Mamba), Jodidhar Family (Bengaluru Kings) and Byramji Racing (Bangalore Bulls). The nutrition partner is Daaki and the medical partner is Dr Solanki Eye Hospital.
All the matches were streamed live on beamitlive.com. This is the first time that American Football is being broadcast live in India.
“The idea is to make this a regular affair and host this Championship every three months. We want this event to act as a feeder system into our professional teams in the EFLI.” said Mr Thimmaiah Madanda, the organising secretary of this event who is also former international rugby player.
Run up to Finals
Eventual champs The Hood's Wolf Pack take on Black Tigers in the semifinals
The morning matches saw Black Mamba, Black Tigers and The Wolf Pack register decisive wins. Bangalore Bulls benefited from a walkover against Bangalore Panthers, but were outclassed later in the morning by the Tigers, who ran their plays to perfection, winning 27-0. The final match of the morning saw favourites The Wolf Pack (which feature many players from the two Bengaluru EFLI teams) take on Bengaluru Kings. The seasoned Wolf Pack led from the get go to hand the hard fighting Kings their second straight loss.
The afternoon saw an exciting final league match played between Pool B teams The Hood’s Wolf Pack and Black Mamba. The teams were locked at 6-6 at the end of regulation, before the Mamba gained an extra 20 yards in extra time to go on top of Pool B. Wolf Pack qualified to the semis as the second placed side.
In the semifinals, Black Mamba continued its dominating run by completely annihilating Pool A’s second placed team Bangalore Bulls 14-0. In the semifinals, The Hood’s Wolf Pack played a second straight extra time game, but this time ended on the winning side, beating Black Tigers 12-6.
Black Mamba touchdown against Bengaluru Kings
Evening Results
Finals
The Hood’s Wolf Pack bt Black Mamba 8-0
Semifinals
Black Mamba bt Bangalore Bulls 14-0
The Hood’s Wolf Pack bt Black Tigers 12-6 (in extratime)
League
Black Mamba bt The Hood’s Wolf Pack 6-6 (Mamba gained 20 yards in extra time)
Morning League Results
Black Mamba bt Bengaluru Kings 22-12
Bangalore Bulls bt Bangalore Panthers (walkover)
Black Tigers bt Bangalore Bulls 27-0
The Hood’s Wolf Pack bt Bengaluru Kings 18-2