From the gym to the Garden: Pro dodgeball grows to big stage

NEW YORK, Aug 5, (AP): Professional dodgeball is chaos, but it’s organized chaos.

At the 2018 Dodgeball World Cup, people were dodging, dipping, diving, ducking and, well, dodging some more all over the two-court theater at Madison Square Garden. And while that part of the matches may have look scrambled, the rest did not.

Each attack Saturday was thought out, strategically planned around players’ strengths and weaknesses. Balls didn’t just fly amuck. They were thrown with purpose. “It’s not the same game that most people remember from school,” Team Canada player Katie Morrison said. “It’s exciting to tell people that and to see their reactions that it’s actually a competitive sport. It demands a level of athleticism when you’re performing on the court — power, speed and agility.”

The game grew up. It got rugged. Some players now get injured to a point where they bleed.

All of this was on display at the World Dodgeball Association’s second biennial tournament, where 13 different countries competed for the ultimate dodgeball title. There were three divisions — men’s, women’s and mixed competition — with 10 teams each.

Austria won the men’s bracket. England won the women’s and mixed.

A Slovenia player (foreground), prepares to attack team Hong Kong during the women’s competition in the Dodgeball World Cup on Aug 4 in New

York. (AP)

The WDA was founded as dodgeball’s world governing body in 2013, bringing together 35 countries from different continental federations. Since then, it has grown to 62 countries and WDA president Tom Hickson said there are more than 67.5 million participants.

“We’ve got quite a big growth agenda happening in the Middle East at the moment,” Hickson said. “Within the next two to four years, we want to be aiming to deliver over 90 countries and over 100 million people worldwide.” That’s the goal. “I don’t see it shrinking,” Team USA president and player Ed Prentiss said. “It should keep growing.” Prentiss has been playing dodgeball seriously since 2003 when he founded the National Dodgeball League. The next year, the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” was released and interest spiked. Similar leagues start popping up everywhere. Once established, it took the WDA 18 months to come up with a standardized set of rules that satisfied everyone.

It is the 31-year-old Fognini’s eighth ATP Tour victory but his first on hardcourts after previously winning only on clay.

The win helps validate a career best season for Fognini as this is his third title of 2018 to go with wins in Sao Paulo and Bastad.

He is projected to rise one spot in the new world rankings on Monday to No. 14.

Del Potro had won their only previous