Team Shenkuu

Team Shenkuu's line up in 2014 - from left, Larcy Phu, Mirsha Grelinek, Antola Maeir, Timu, and Xana DiLanche.

Joining the Altador Cup in 2007, Shenkuu's Yooyuball team is regarded by Altador Cup enthusiasts as an exciting young team with plenty of promise, but they were expected not to make much noise in the tournament, having too many holes in their team. The inexperience of goalie Xana DiLanche, the unpredictable health of defender Turo Rafels, and the team's overall lack of tournament play are all serious concerns. However, the stunning talent of young forwards Mirsha Grelinek and Foltaggio may cause a few upsets.

The team surpassed expectations in the 2007 Cup, defeating Krawk Island in the third place game. The following year in Altador Cup III, they dropped one spot to fourth place. In Altador Cup IV, Shenkuu shockingly defeated top seed Kreludor to reach the finals, but lost to Krawk Island was left in second. Although they were favourites going into Altador Cup V thanks to their strong prior performances, Shenkuu's 2010 bid ended in a very disappointing 11th place finish.

Altador Cup VI continued Shenkuu's inconsistency. Finishing yet again in third tier at the end, the team finished 10th after defeating Haunted Woods, but losing to Roo Island.

After two years of subpar performance, the worry that Shenkuu would never return to the powerhouse team it once was persisted as Altador Cup VII's new system threatened the stability of certain powerhouses. The year was fraught with peril, as Mystery Island suddenly emerged as a powerhouse. Losing a good deal of their matches, things did not bode well for the ninjas, which resulted in a dismal 16th place finish.

In 2012, Team Shenkuu made a lot of changes in their roster. Club icon Foltaggio was replaced for the Altadorian defender Timu. Therefore the formation became a 1+3 with Mirsha Grelinek as only Forward.

Eventhough Team Shenkuu made a jump in Altador Cup VIII to the 12th place. Still it did not change the fact that Shenkuu didn't score higher than the 10th place over the last 4 years. The nightmare for Team Shenkuu keeps on lasting, and is generally not being seen as a powerhouse anymore. The reason for their bad results is probably because of their great desire for the 1st place since Altador Cup IV, but not having the capacity and thus overestimating themselfs.

After a minor growth last year, Shenkuu had hoped for more in Altador Cup IX. Sadly Shenkuu simply cannot do any better. Mirsha Grelinek and teammates did their best but 13th in a tie with Roo Island and Terror Mountain was all they could.

Team Shenkuu continued its long, slow, and perhaps inconsistent recovery program with Altador Cup X, where they still struggled to perform up to par with the top half of teams, and even struggled against teams that they should have been able to defeat, such as Moltara. However, despite these hardships and inconsistencies, Shenkuu still rose up ever so slightly to 11th place, though still leaving the team with a lot of work to do.

Altador Cup XI gave Shenkuu its first opportunity at rebirth to its former glory. Though the team got off to a poor start, steady improvement in later brackets and increased consistency against teams Shenkuu could beat allowed for them to gain more points and in turn increase their ranking to higher levels than before. Thanks to their improvement in the later half of the tournament, Shenkuu pushed themselves up to 8th, a definitely respectable position for a team seeking to reclaim its podium years.

Roster

Team positions are as follows (bolded notes the Team Captain):

Year	Goalkeeper	Left Defender	Right Defender	Left Forward	Right Forward
2007	Xana DiLanche	Turo Rafels	Larcy Phu	Mirsha Grelinek	Foltaggio
2008		Antola Maeir
2009
2010
2011
Year	Goalkeeper	Left Defender	Centre Defender	Right Defender	Centre Forward
2012	Xana DiLanche	Antola Maeir	Timu	Larcy Phu	Mirsha Grelinek
2013
2014
2015

Final Standings

Year	Result
2006	--
2007	3rd
2008	4th
2009	2nd
2010	11th
2011	10th
2012	16th
2013	12th (tie)
2014	13th (tie)
2015	11th
2015	8th