Kerry Defends the Ayaga for Animais

The 10th edition of this National tournament welcomed several champions, including 2020 Player of the Year Anjelik, last season’s third-placed player Petra, defending champion Terra, the winner of Masters 2024 Kerry, and other champions. No wonder—the organisers once again laid on an extraordinary setting for the tournament, attempted a few technical upgrades, and above all there were gorgeous badges to be lost.

KAVČE (JACKDAW BABY)

The 1st round split the players across two tables of six and produced its quick E!, edges of the Word. Anjelik reached his after the 13th game of the round (and his own 9th game), and at table 2 Kerry even after the 12th, her 8th game. Their fates then diverged, however, and the favored Anjelik soon went out (17/12). Kerry, on the other hand, did not lose another game for the rest of the table and climbed from the fifth position all the way to the final table. Batbold left table 1 even before Anjelik. After the 1st round, he was due for a chat with the Dashinchilen boss about his shaky nomination for the Team Championship, which was meant to fire him up before the small final table [EN: 7th-12th place], but we can already say he did not apply for the nomination. Defending champion Terra fought for a final spot right up to the very end of the table, but table 1 was genuinely stacked. At table 2 the first KAVČE went to Fedazz, followed by Bloody Mary and the big favourite Petra.

SOBČE (EGOIST BABY)

The most beautiful badge in the history of Smoking Cat is traditionally awarded only in the grand final, so the small final table played for a word shortened by one letter (Sobě=ToItself) and lived up entirely to the phrase that they had come to enjoy the tournament. Bursts of laughter, bizarre game openings. Bloody Mary and Batbold ended up leaving without a point, while the last scoring place was taken by Anjelik, who lost the closing game.

The honour of KK Bila Hora in the final was defended by the returning Glide, who had to miss out on Masters last year but came back in admirable form, and in a truly nail-biting battle with words almost complete he ended up taking the unpopular fourth place. An intriguing twist was the somewhat surprising presence of two Majestic Crown players in the final, where their lack of practised teamwork showed, leading to mutual sabotage, the eventual filling of the last two places in the final, and even some “Vizour-alike” talks between the two players. Sir Ludwig was playing without being eligible for points, so it wasn’t such a shame after all, and hopefully he’ll put it right at the next tournament, where things will get serious.

There were two PPPs (pre-play penalty) at the tournament. The first, Anjelik’s, still in the group stage, saved Ruprecht’s skin and helped him to an amazing bronze. Last year he could only have dreamed of something like that. The second PPP came in the final. Glide produced it, but the tournament arbiter Kocour ruled the game should be replayed. The reason was the bad habit of the eventual silver medallist Havlas, who can’t keep his cards above the table and confused Glide. Let that be a precedent for future rulings - in my opinion, too, not every pre-play is the same.

And finally, the best of all. A streak of 16 wins in a row from the middle of the first round to the 11th game of the final table. This superb run was the cornerstone of the second career title for Kerry of Animais de Sintra. Her playing style is simply original; she pulled off similar feats two years ago at the World Series and then at Masters. Over the last four editions of the Mongolian Open this is already the third Portuguese triumph: Siisa in 2023, Terra in 2025, and Kerry in 2026.

The tournament was flooded with fans, mainly from Bolivia, Spain and Portugal, who sang the community anthems together with the players and went home in good spirits, the Majestic Crown players included.

Placement					points	tournaments
	1		KERRY Animais de Sintra		25	1
	2		HAVLAS Royal SCC Vinohrady		20	1
	3		RUPRECHT San Diego Padres		18	1
	4		GLIDE KK Bílá Hora		15	1
	5		LADY SANSAR Majestic Crown		12	1
	6		FEDAZZ Burning Cards		8	1
	7		PETRA Royal SCC Vinohrady		6	1
	8		TERRA Animais de Sintra		4	1
	9		ANJELIK KK Bílá Hora		2	1
	10		BATBOLD Smoking Chingiss Dashinchilen			1
	10		BLOODY MARY No Stresaran Santa Cruz			1
	10		SIR LUDWIG Majestic Crown			1