There is something about the high you experience, watching an edge-of-the seat victory in a sports movie on the big screen. Closer home however, the sands of Besant Nagar beach that has several teams come together to play Ultimate Frisbee through the year has an inspiring, and almost equally cinematic story to tell.
At the TRIO Invitational Tournament 2025 held in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, Flywild, one of Chennai’s most promising Ultimate Frisbee clubs clinched the gold, becoming the first club team from India to win an international tournament. Facing off players from different countries including Indonesia, China, Japan, Thailand, and USA, Flywild played a well-fought final against the team Pancake Men from Philippines and emerged victorious, in what was also the club’s first international tournament participation.
Sedric Emmanuel, the team’s captain, says they initially lost two matches and won one, which meant their fourth match was to decide if they would make it to the quarter-finals. “We initially struggled through that match. While we play with no pressure back home in Chennai, this was a lot more challenging. We motivated each other as a team and got through,” he says. Once they were in the quarter-finals, their winning streak continued.
The tournament was a culmination of four months of practice, and special camps.
“While some of us have played internationally as part of team India in other international tournaments, this was the first international travel experience for many other members,” says Siva Raman, who coached the team and topped the stats board in the tourney as the player with the most goals and assists. “We took this as a challenge, and decided to create history for Ultimate in India,” he adds.
Many young players on the team have inspiring stories to tell, of how their passion for the sport has changed their lives and kept them going through hard times.
During a match at the TRIO Invitational Tournament 2025
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Paul Pradeep, founder of Puyal, an Ultimate club in Chennai who was also Flywild’s manager for the TRIO tournament says that many players who take to playing Ultimate in Chennai, and some who went on this tournament came from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Team captain Sedric who is 23-years-old was job-hunting in the run-up to the tournament, and had also suffered a significant financial setback. “I had to turn down opportunities to participate in tournaments in the UK and Portugal. However, for the TRIO invitational, the Ultimate community and my team helped me secure funds. We are a family, a team of brothers,” says the player, whose father is an auto driver.
The sight of grown-up ‘annas’ diving into the sand, and throwing around a disc nearly 14 years ago is something Akash Palani still cannot forget. “Many children including me from Thiruvalluvar Nagar were introduced to the game and encouraged to play. It soon became an after-school activity. The game has given me an identity. If you ask about AP, everyone will know me and I have also met so many people from across the world because of this sport,” he says.
The Ultimate community, he says, came together to fund and help him complete his college education, to become a physical education trainer. “I learnt at a young age what ‘spirit of the game’ means thanks to Ultimate, and this has guided my life throughout,” says the 24-year-old player, who also credits the sport to having given him an opportunity to go to France as a volunteer for the 2024 Summer Olympics. His teammate and a gymnastics coach, P Neelakandan says that being introduced to the sport at a young age immensely helped him with exposure. “I feel that since we do not play for money, we do not fight and stick together,” he adds.
Given that Ultimate thrives on a sport played for passion across the country, many players juggle full-time jobs and make it to practice sessions through the week. S Santhosh, who works as a delivery representative with Swiggy says he finishes his work shifts from 7am to 6pm, and then heads to practice, which goes on till 10pm. “I took to playing Ultimate when I was 10 years old, after seeing my brother play. The TRIO Invitational was my first international tournament,” says the player, whose father is a watchman.
According to Ben Ong, tournament director, winning ahead of the usual Asian powerhouses that are Japan, the Philippines and Singapore has put India on everyone’s radar now.
“This is the first time a team from India has come this far in a tournament in Malaysia. Many teams that they beat on their way to the gold medal have already told me they want to come back, and look forward to playing the Flywild players again. I am very happy that all their hard work and sacrifices, especially given some of the players’ financial difficulties, has come to fruition and it was a joy to see them play with a lot of heart and win,” he says.
This unprecedented win has given the Ultimate community in Chennai, and across the country, much to be enthused about. “I was part of a team from India that went to Malaysia in 2011 for a tournament. It has taken us 14 years to get that gold medal,” says Abhinav Vinayakh Shankar, a senior player and mentor with Flywild. Abhinav, who saw the young Flywild team clinch the gold as a spirit director for the tournament, says it was very inspiring to see the team as the underdogs, adapt to the local conditions, work together, and rise up to the challenges.
“Teams from India have come to the finals several times in the past and have fallen short. To see the Flywild team seize the opportunity like they did; this is truly what sport is all about,” he says.
Published – July 14, 2025 01:53 pm IST
