The first of eight rounds of the 2015 UCI Cycle-Ball World Cup was disputed in Plzen, the Czech Republic, on Saturday 16th May.
Ten teams from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic vied for an early lead in this year’s World Cup. The competition was tough, with six of the competing pairs ranked among the best 10 teams in last year’s UCI Cycle-ball World Cup.
It was the second time in the sport’s history that Plzen hosted an event of such international importance: 35 years ago, the Czech city, also famous for its Pilsner beer, hosted the final round of the 1980 European Cup.
The stars of the tournament proved to be the Austrian duo of Simon König and Florian Fischer. The Höchst team, the clear favourites, ruled the event, winning all of their six matches. They went on to beat the German team RV Obernfeld 7:4 in a tense final.
Third place was taken by the Czechs Petr Skotak and Pavel Smid (TJ Favorit Brno) who, after leading 5:1 at half time, only narrowly beat Germans Bernd and Gerhard Mlady (RMC Stein). The final score was 8:7.
The event was well organised thanks to the work of 75 stewards from the organising cycle-ball club TJ Start VD Plzen. Some 500 spectators packed into the City Sports Hall to watch the action from some of the world’s best athletes in the discipline.
The second round of the 2015 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup will take place in Denkendorf, Germany, on June 6th.