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Arch Rival Receives Automatic Bid To WFTDA International Champs

by Brian Ledford

(ST. LOUIS, MO)  The primary travel team of Arch Rival Roller Derby found out their fate Wednesday afternoon in the upcoming post-season within the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and the news was very good.

Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell

When the governing body released their latest set of calculated rankings, the St. Louis-based rollers found out that they were ranked fourth internationally.

As a result, the Arch Rival All-Stars bypassed past a pair of playoff rounds and received automatic entry to the 2019 International WFTDA Championships held November 15-17 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Champs participants since 2015, Wednesday’s announcement marked the first time the 14-year-old franchise had jettisoned themselves into the global finale.

Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell

“Getting a bye to Champs is a big deal,” said Arch Rival co-captain Bricktator of the benchmark. “It says a lot about the growth of our team over the seasons and a lot about our talent this year.”

Ahead of the Missourians, and also receiving automatic bids, were defending Hydra Cup winner Rose City (Portland, OR) and former title holders Victorian (Melbourne, Australia) and Gotham (New York City, NY).

“The other teams at the top have been there for a while so it’s exciting to get in the mix and give them a run for their money,” assessed Bricktator.

A pair of playoff rounds featuring the teams ranked fifth through twenty-eighth, will take place at individual tourneys held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (September 6-8) and Seattle, Washington (September 13-15). The top three finishers at each playoff will join the aforementioned four teams that received Champs’ byes in Montreal two months later.

Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell

Arch Rival (3-2) retained their ranking of fourth thanks to strong performances against Victorian and Gotham. Even though the team suffered setbacks at each, the differentials (minus-17 against Victorian and minus-35 against Gotham) still secured their placement in the WFTDA hierarchy.

Arch Rival has mid-August tune-up games in Los Angeles, California against #7 Angel City and #21 Arizona.

For more information on Arch Rival, go to their official website.

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