“World Cup days are always so long,” said Gerhard and Bernd Mlady (RMC Stein) in their latest Facebook post. “A long day like this one is worth it,” the UCI World Champions added after a long day of competition and voyage.
After some ten hours of effort and suspense, the Mladys were able to celebrate their latest victory before making the three-hour journey home. They contested the opening match in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and ended the tournament as winners. The German pair triumphed in the Olma Cup, the world’s oldest cycle-ball tournament, for the second time since 2015.
Yet the favourites did not come away from the event undefeated. In the preliminary round, Stein were narrowly beaten 4-3 by the newly-formed Altdorf duo composed of former UCI World Champions Roman Schneider and Paul Looser.
Mlady and Mlady went on to secure a resounding 7-3 win over last year’s European Championship runners-up Severin and Benjamin Waibel (Pfungen/SUI), a result that provided some retribution for the European semi-final they lost to the same opponents last June.
The stage was set for an all-German final against Waldrems (Marcel Schüle/Björn Bootsmann), who scraped into the semi-finals after a modest showing in the preliminary round before beating Altdorf 5-3 in the last four.
The final resulted in a clear 8-4 victory for the UCI World Champions from Stein. The third place play-off was a clash of the Swiss teams that had to be decided on penalties, with Pfungen eventually defeating Altdorf 5-3 (3-3).
The 2018 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup #8, in Höchst, Austria > 3 November
Will Patrick Schnetzer and Markus Bröll (RC Höchst/AUT) clinch the ‘Grand Slam’ of four World Cup wins in one season? The odds look very good. Their last tournament of the year will be at their own club, giving them home advantage and the best-possible chance of becoming only the second team in UCI Cycle-ball World Cup history to amass a perfect 200 points. The only previous pair to manage this feat was Steve and Mike Pfaffenberger (RSV Sangerhausen/GER) during the 2005 season.
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