Last weekend marked the fifth and final UCI Cycle-ball World Cup qualification tournament before the Final in Willich, Germany, on 2 December – and reigning UCI World Champions Höchst (AUT) cemented their return to form with their second victory of the season. Patrick Schnetzer and Markus Bröll swept aside the competition in Liestal, Switzerland, saving their most resounding win for the final as they crushed last year’s UCI World Championships silver medallists Altdorf (SUI) 12-4. “That was probably our best performance of the day,” the duo later wrote on their Facebook page.
Runners-up Roman Schneider and Dominik Planzer are currently on something of a farewell tour after Planzer announced his decision to retire from the sport at the end of the year. Despite their heavy defeat in the final, the Swiss pair took consolation from receiving the World Cup leaders’ jersey, overtaking previous frontrunners Simon König and Florian Fischer (Höchst II/135 points) to top the overall standings with 140 points.
Newly-crowned German Champions Obernfeld completed the podium line-up as cousins André and Manuel Kopp overcame Bundesliga rivals Iserlohn (Daniel Endrowait / Heiko Corde) 7-3 in the small final.
Meanwhile, another Swiss cycle-ball duo were forced to call time on their career in Liestal. Rafael Stadelmann and Andreas Zaugg (Oftringen) were beaten 7-3 by Sulz/Dornbirn (AUT) in the match for fifth place to finish eleventh in the overall standings and miss out on a place in the Final by 20 points.
Only the eight best teams in the world will travel to Willich on 2 December: Altdorf (SUI), Höchst I and II (AUT), Obernfeld, Stein, Iserlohn (all GER), Sulz/Dornbirn (AUT) and Pfungen (SUI). They will be joined by Lochamp (HKG) from the Asian group as well as Sven Holland-Moritz and Marius Hermanns from RSC Schiefbahn, who received a wildcard for the event as representatives of the host club.
2017 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup #Final: Willich (Germany), 2 December
After forming their partnership as recently as 2013, Hermanns and Holland-Moritz raced from the third-tier North Rhine-Westphalia Oberliga all the way to the Bundesliga in just two years. Goalkeeper Holland-Moritz (27) and his 26-year-old riding partner have successfully maintained their top-flight status for the past three seasons. They made a successful start to their World Cup career in 2015, when they finished second in Tokyo in their first-ever tournament. Schiefbahn gained the backing of the BDR, Germany’s governing body, in 2016 and made four reserve team appearances at UCI Cycle-ball World Cup tournaments that year, finishing eleventh in the overall standings. Taking on the role of local heroes at the Final in Willich is a dream come true for the two athletes.
Main results
UCI Cycle-ball World Cup tournament 3, 2015: 2nd 2016 World Cup ranking: 11th 2015 World Cup ranking: 15th 2016 World Cup tournament finishes: 3x 6th, 1x 9th Promoted to Bundesliga: 2014 Bundesliga 2017: 9th Bundesliga 2016: 8th Bundesliga 2015: 9th Promoted to 2. Liga (second tier): 2013 2. Liga Mitte 2014: 2nd 2013 Oberliga NRW Champions