Belgium conjures up win at quidditch world cup

The sport, known as quadball officially since 2022, is originally inspired by the game played by Harry Potter and his schoolmates in the famed books by J.K. Rowling.

Instead of the magical broomsticks in the stories, quadball involves players running around with sticks between their legs and trying to throw balls through hoops.

This year -- 31 teams from Latin America to Africa to Vietnam -- competed in Tubize, Belgium for the title of world champions in the sixth edition of the tournament.

Belgium saw off Germany in the final by 170 to 90 in front of around 2,000 spectators at a local football stadium.

"It's an indescribable feeling," Belgian player Seppe De Wit, who has been involved with the sport for 12 years, told AFP.

"I'm proud of how we managed together, and it's going to be one of the best day of my life."

The United States has traditionally dominated in the sport, claiming the world title four times.

Players and authorities in the sport have in recent years been pushing to have the sport move on from its roots in the Harry Potter franchise and be taken more seriously as a discipline in its own right.

The sport -- which has mixed teams -- has also sought to distance itself from Rowling's outspoken views on transgender rights and her view that biological sex is immutable.

She denies being transphobic, but her position on the subject has made her a hate figure among many transgender rights campaigners.

Organisers at the three-day tournament -- the biggest held since it was launched in 2012 -- insisted that they remained open to all participants.

"It's really refreshing to be able to be a part of a community that when I come here, I feel like I can be open and I can talk to anyone and not have to worry about the gender of the person that I'm dating," said Japan team captain Leo Makoto Yazaki Levine.

"I can just be myself without having to hide any part of me."