UK’s Beeches takes top spot at 2023 European Championship

A razor-thin finish highlighted an exciting day of competition at the 2023 European Drum Corps Championships held Saturday, September 30, in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

Ensembles representing the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Poland, were separated into four competitive divisions.

 

PREMIER CLASS

1. Beeches 🇬🇧 » 84.900
2. Spirit of 52 🇩🇪 » 84.300
3. Blue Diamonds 🇩🇪 » 83.750
4. Jubal 🇳🇱 » 81.000
5. Showkorps WIK 🇧🇪 » 70.000
6. Beatrix 🇳🇱 » 64.800
7. Inbhear Mor 🇮🇪 » 64.200
8. Red Swing Low 🇵🇱 » 60.050

Just 1.15 points separated the event’s top-three Premier Class finishers. Beeches, who took home the Drum Corps United Kingdom championship  September 23, earned first place by a slim margin of just 0.6 points. This marks the British corps' very first European title.

EUROPEAN DRUM CORPS CHAMPIONSHIPS SCORING RECAPS

Beeches, earned a final score of 84.900 out of 100 points and won caption awards for High Color Guard, High Visual, and High Effect, edging out Germany's Spirit of 52 (2nd, 84.300) and Germany’s Blue Diamonds (83.750) for the Premier Class win. Spirit of 52 also earned caption awards for High Brass, High Percussion and High Music. Blue Diamonds scored as high as first in Ensemble Visual.

Jubal, 2022's European champion from the Netherlands, took home fourth place with a score of 81.000, while taking third place in overall music and color guard.

 

Following the fifth-place Showkorps WIK (Belgium), who scored 70.000, a close scoring race unfolded between Beatrix (Netherlands) and Inbhear Mor (Ireland).

The Irish ensemble ran ahead by 0.3 points in the Prelims competition, but Beatrix (64.800) ended up with an advantage of 0.6 points in Finals, taking sixth over Inbhear Mor (64.200) thanks largely to strong scores in the visual captions. Rounding out the Premier Class lineup, Red Swing Low (Poland) took eighth place with a score of 60.050.

 

JUNIOR CLASS

1. Jong Jubal 🇳🇱 » 73.150
2. Youngstars 🇩🇪 » 67.050
3. Diamond Cadets 🇩🇪 » 64.600
4. Jong Beatrix 🇳🇱 » 59.900
5. Jong Holland Junioren 🇳🇱 » 57.600

A quintet of German and Dutch ensembles also participated in the Junior Class division, with Jong Jubal earning a resounding victory, sweeping first place in all captions and outscoring the field by more than six points with a tally of 73.150. 2023 impressively marks Jong Jubal's 13th European title.

The top color guard score went to the Diamond Cadets, who also took second overall in visual. Youngstars, though, took second place overall, scoring 67.050 to Diamond Cadets’ 64.600. In fourth place, Jong Beatrix outscored the fifth-place Jong Holland Junioren by just over two points, earning advantages in all captions and subcaptions except field visual.

 

CONCERT CLASS

1. Brass and Drum Corps Kriftel 🇩🇪 » 73.150
2. Blue Bandits 🇩🇪 » 67.050

Saturday’s European Drum Corps Championships also featured a pair of participants in the Concert Class division, which saw Brass and Drum Corps Kriftel (79.500) score ahead of Blue Bandits (78.600) by less than a point, utilizing a strong lead in overall music caption to make up for disadvantages in the visual and effect captions.

Showband Explosion, a Belgian ensemble, also appeared Saturday in the Marching Percussion Class, scoring 59.450.

The European Drum Corps Championships are set to return to the Netherlands next year, September 28, 2024.

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