Keeping It Nip And Tuck
Year in and year out we are proven that winning the desired TISC title is not everything. There are always so many other battles and curiosities that keep us glued to the scoreboard as the Grand Final progresses. One of those things are the battles between certain nations that seem to happen at every single occasion. So, in this article we will focus on some of the biggest rivalries of the TISC family.
Algeria and Tunisia's rivalry might be one of the shorter lived ones, but it has been just as intense as some of the longer ones. Algeria and Tunisia have met each other at no less than three contests, starting at the 2015 Open when Algeria made its debut. Back then Tunisia won easily, scoring 82 points to Algeria's 28. However, 2016 brought much tighter affairs between these two African nations. 2016 Annual contest was, generally speaking, the most successful one for the African continent. Both Algeria and Tunisia went over 100 points, becoming the first African nations to do so. However, it was Tunisia that edged out Algeria 126 to 118. 2016 Open contest brought another close battle between these two. Moreover, both nations finished on 70 points! But once again it was Tunisia who finished in front on tie-break, keeping their record clean at 3-0. At the end of the year, Algeria and Tunisia met yet again, but this time in the final round of bidding. Tunisia edged out again and won the hosting rights for the 2017 Open. Will 2017 be Algeria's year?
Who says that only winner gets a trophy? Sometimes even finishing in 27th place can bring you a trophy. The Czechs and the Slovaks have friendly rivalries in all kind of things, and TISC is definitely no exception. Sadly, this time we will not see a Czechoslovakian battle, as the Czech team dropped out after failing to submit their votes. The Czechoslovakian trophy has been won by Slovakia on 4 occasions, making them the more successful of the two. Moreover, Slovakia has 100% efficiency when it comes to the Annual Contest. Maybe that's why Czechs dropped out? Or maybe they are still recovering from the nasty defeat at the 2016 Open, when Slovaks defeated them by a single point thanks to the very last jury?
It is a well known fact that French and Italians are regular sport rivals. Their sport rivalry has been well translated to the TISC contests. France has won 4 times, while Italy has 3 victories. France is also leading in the all-time points. But perhaps the most curious thing about their battles is the fact that the winning side always seem to crush the other. Italy crushed France by 117 points at the 2013 Open, France crushed Italy by 118 points at the 2014 Open. Their closest battle came at the 2016 Open, when France won by still a big margin of 24 points.
Battle of the giants, we should say. Over the years, Great Britain has been pretty much the only nation that could match Ireland's successes on regular basis. This may come as a surprise, but Great Britain has actually been the more successful of the two, defeating Ireland at no less than 4 occasions! Ireland has 3 victories, and all of them actually came when Ireland won the overall contest. It seems like Ireland needs to come up with a winning combination to keep their neighbors at bay! Despite having a positive head-to-head score, the British have only one overall victory. That's indeed some tough luck!
This is perhaps the biggest of all TISC rivalries. Canada and the USA have been fighting close battles ever since the TISC contests started. Moreover, at the TISC premiere in 2013 they actually finished on equal 150 points! This prompted users from both nations to desperately seek answers over who won the tie-break. It was Canada that edged out eventually, earning them a top 5 finish. Canadians and Americans kept it nip and tuck at pretty much all of the following contests. Their rivalry culminated once again at the latest 2016 Open contest in Lithuania. Going into the final round of voting, it was the USA that held the final place on the podium. But there was one problem... They were drawn to be the final voters. They awarded points to Canada and, in the process, they also handed them their own place on the podium. Looking at their battles over the years, it seems like the Canadians always get their way in close finishes. They won once on a tie-break, and two more times by single-digit differences. USA, on the other hand, have won only once, and that was by a big 35 points difference!
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