Europe’s best Ninjas came to play!
With just 3 qualifiers left in the World Ninja League Premier Series, we headed to the United Kingdom for an epic showdown at True Function Ninja Training Ground. Athletes from the United Kingdom and France came together for an epic clash of nations, with the winners bringing glory home to their respective countries. Read on to discover how the event played out!
Across all 12 Premier Series 5 athletes won both the Placement and Challenge Courses. Those athletes were Alison Girardot (Kids Female), Caterina Maniaci (Preteen Female), Vincent Morice (Amateur Male), Anna Csala (Amateur Female), and Jack Andrews (Elite Male). Girardot and Morice raised the French flag at the top of the podium, with Morice smashing buzzers on both courses.
Maniaci also hit two buzzers at the event, and Csala managed to clear the Placement Course. Andrews, who was 1 of 14 athletes in the Elite Male division to clear Stage 1 at the World Championships, won on both courses but was just shy of a buzzer on each.
The Placement Course for the Premier Series serves purely as seeding for the Challenge Course run order. This means that some athletes had early falls on the Placement Course and were still able to win on the Challenge Course. Among those athletes are Timote Verguet (Kids Male), who went from 3rd to 1st, and Lucas Barbier (Preteen Male), who also went from 3rd to 1st with buzzers on both courses! Meanwhile, James Percy (Teen Male) went from 2nd to 1st, claiming the win for himself.
Other winners at True Function went from last on the Placement Course to first on the Challenge Course. Among those winners were Amoree Holgate (Mature Kids Female), Harry Jeffery (Preteen Male), Sophie Carter (Teen Female), and Beth Lodge (Elite Female). These athletes showed incredible resilience and refused to give up. In the end, it paid off, as these competitors can call themselves Premier Series winners!
The Premier Series returns to the United States on October 12th and 13th at the SoFlo Ninja Academy for its penultimate qualifier. You can view the Premier Series schedule on the WNL website and watch all divisions compete on the WNL YouTube!
The premier obstacle league.