Oranda Sai-Kou Tournament
With over 50 registered players, one of the biggest riichi tournaments this year with 2 MERS ranking, Oranda Sai-Kou will be held in the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands. The event will take place from 17th to 18th of September in the city’s Mind Sports Center ‘Den Hommel’ which literally translates to “The Bumblebee” and was the stage for World Mahjong Championship 2010.
What makes this event special, is that there are nine 90 minute sessions played, which is the most out of any tournament in Europe so far. This of course means that the skilled players will excel in the long run rather than someone just getting lucky for a couple of sessions.
The tournament will also decide the Dutch Champion, and that is the other big change. Before this tournament, the champion was decided with the best overall score from two events, the Cherry Blossom Tournament and Kinryu Majan Taikai.
There are players from at least seven different countries attending, with Dutch majority, but the French coming close second. There are a bunch of people who have proven themselves to be worthy opponents among all the players registered, and you cannot count out anyone, especially when you have nine sessions to play. With almost 70 players registered, this tournament is looking to be the largest Riichi event in Europe in 2011.
Making a top five prediction for the tournament is really hard and a bit silly, but my prediction is as follows: Marianne Croeze, Janco Onnink, Sjef Strik, Joel Ratsimandresy and Nicolas Poilleux.
Details about the tournament in Utrecht can be found on the Nederlandese Mahjong Bond.
