In preparation of the World Games 2021 in Birmingham, IFA was part of The World Games Media Workshop in Madrid at the Olympic Channel (OC) headquarters. We got a first glimpse of the production plan for TWG21 in the US and held fruitful talks with our partners including OC and Sportradar concerning our future development for Social media, broadcasting and data science were held. During the two day event we also had the opportunity to visit the La Liga headquarters, as they opened up a department for Non-Soccer sports some years ago.

SALZBURG. The German teams were unstoppable at this year’s Faustball World Tour Final at Sportzentrum Nord in Salzburg. TSV Pfungstadt triumphed for the men and TSV Dennach for the women.

Dennach defeats SOGIPA Porto Alegre in the final
In the Women’s Bronze Medal Match, the South American champion of Duque de Caxias (BRA) showed the Swiss team of TSV Jona their limits and won clearly 3-0. The Gold Medal Match between Dennach (GER) and SOGIPA (BRA) was a very exciting affair. The Germans convinced with a powerful attacking game and went quickly with 2-0 in front. But Porto Alegre fought back and was able to shorten to 1-2 in sets. In a high-level game it was Dennach with the larger routine that could secure the title.

Pfungstadt impressive to gold
The fans in Salzburg experienced a real thriller in the match for third place between the Local Heroes from Vöcklabruck and Duque de Caxias (BRA). A 1-2 setback did not bring Vöcklabruck from the rest and with the local fans behind the Austrians won the first medal in an international competition. The Men’s Gold Medal Match between European Champions Cup winner TSV Pfungstadt (GER) and defending champion Novo Hamburgo (BRA) was easy game for the Germans. The Brazilians comitted numerous attacking mistakes and had to give the strongly playing Team from Pfungstadt  as they lost 0-3.

Final event in Salzburg a great success
From the organizers point of view, the IFA is very satisfied with the final in Salzburg. In fantastic weather, the fistball world elite attracted more than 2,000 spectators to Sportzentrum Nord on three days. More than 5.000 fans followed the livestream and ORF showed the final day live on Austrian sports television.

Bronze Medal Match Women’s:
Duque de Caxias (BRA) – TSV Jona (SUI) | 3:0 (11:09, 11:04, 11:08)

Bronze Medal Match Men’s:
Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT) – Duque der Caxias (BRA) | 3:2 (08:11, 13:11, 09:11, 11:08, 11:06)

Gold Medal Match Women’s:
SOGIPA Porto Alegre (BRA) – TSV Dennach (GER) | 1:3 (08:11, 09:11, 11:08, 09:11)

Gold Medal Match Men’s:
SG Novo Hamburgo (BRA) – TSV Pfungstadt (GER) | 0:3 (09:11, 04:11, 03:11)

Final Ranking Women’s:

1. TSV Dennach (GER)
   2. SOGIPA Porto Alegre (BRA)
   3. Clube Duque de Caxias (BRA)
   4. TSV Jona (SUI)
   5. SG Novo Hamburgo (BRA)
   5. TSV Calw (GER)
   7. Union Nußbach (AUT)
   7. SVD Diepoldsau (SUI)

Final Ranking Men’s:

1. TSV Pfungstadt (GER)
   2. SG Novo Hamburgo (BRA)
   3. Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT)
   4. Clube Duque de Caxias (BRA)
   5. CCAA Rosario (ARG)
   5. STV Wigoltingen (SUI)
   7. TV Vaihingen (GER)
   7. FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (SUI)

SALZBURG. At the Fistball World Tour Final in Salzburg the matchups for the Medal games are determined. The home team from Vöcklabruck narrowly missed the Gold Medal match losing to defending champion Novo Hamburgo (BRA).

Pure excitement in the Brazil derby – Upset win for SOGIPA female team
The big favorite and defending champion Duque de Caxias (BRA) was put to the test in the semi-final against second Brazilian team SOGIPA Porto Alegre. The young team from Porto Alegre showed their best fistball skills and returned the favor for the semi-final defeat last year with an emotional 3-1 victory. In the second semifinal European Champions Cup winner Dennach from Germany made short work with the Swiss representative from TSV Jona. Thus, the Gold Medal Match is played SOGIPA Porto Alegre against TSV Dennach.

Novo Hamburgo preserves title chance after thriller
In the first men’s semi-final Vöcklabruck challanged the defending champion Novo Hamburgo from Brazil where both teams showed a strong performance. Fueled by the numerous fans, the Austrians were able to defend no less than four match balls. However, Novo Hamburgo kept their nerves up in a match on the highest level and entered the Gold Medal Match with much cheers. There they meet the German champion TSV Pfungstadt, who impressively showed their class and defeated Duque de Caxias 3-0.

Results Semi-Finals Women‘s:

Duque de Caxias (BRA) – SOGIPA Porto Alegre (BRA)
1:3 (10:12, 11:08, 09:11, 10:12)

TSV Dennach (GER) – TSV Jona (SUI)
3:0 (11:07, 12:10, 11:09)

Results Semi-Finals Men‘s

SG Novo Hamburgo (BRA) – Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT)
3:1 (11:08, 11:06, 10:12, 15:13)

TSV Pfungstadt (GER) – Duque de Caxias (BRA)
3:0 (11:09, 11:09, 11:05)

Schedule Day 3 – Sunday 2019-09-14

12:00     Women’s Bronze Medal               Duque de Caxias              TSV Jona

13:15     Men’s Bronze Medal                      Tigers Vöcklabruck          Clube Duque de Caxias

14:30     Women’s Gold Medal                    Sogipa Porto Alegre        TSV Dennach

16:00     Men’s Gold Medal                          SG Novo Hamburgo        TSV Pfungstadt

All games streamed live on www.fistball.tv

SALZBURG. On the first day of the Fistball World Tour Finals, the favorites prevailed. In the Men’s competition Pfungstadt and Novo Hamburgo showed a power demonstration and advance to the semifinals. In the women’s tournament Dennach and Duque de Caxias were unstoppable.

Pfungstadt and Novo Hamburgo invincible
Last year’s winner Novo Hamburgo from Brazil was able to win new edition of the Gold Medal Match from 2018 against Wigoltingen surprisingly clear. In the South American derby between Novo Hamburgo and Duque de Caxias, the reigning champion continued the run of success and enters the semi-finals without losing a single set. Also Pfungstadt (GER) marches into the semi-finals with two 3-0 wins against Vaihingen / Enz and Vöcklabruck. Elgg-Ettenhausen and Vaihingen / Enz already lost twice today, therefore the tournament is already over for them.

Duque on the best way to defend title
Duque de Caxias proved the supremacy in the international women’s fistball once again. Both Nußbach and Calw were overrun by the South Americans 3-0. The second semi-finalists are confirmed with the European Champions Cup winner TSV Dennach (GER). Surprisingly, the World Tour ranking leaders from Nußbach (AUT) are out for the rest of the tournament and so is Diepoldsau (SUI).

State of Salzburg supports the top event
Salzburg Councilor for sport Stefan Schnöll visited the venue to day and witnessed matchup of the world’s best fistball teams. “The sport of fistball has increasingly gaining popularity, and as Salzburg’s Sport Councilor I am delighted to welcome the top teams in our state this weekend. The World Tour Finals provide an important additional boost to the variety of sport in Austria,” said Schnöll.

Preview for Saturday
The second matchday is all about the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Below is the program for Saturday 14.9.

All games can also be watched live on www.fistball.tv

11:00     W9         1              TSV Jona                             TSV Calw

11:00     W10       2              SG Novo Hamburgo        Sogipa Porto Alegre

12:15     M9         1              CCAA Rosario                    Duque de Caxias

12:15     M10       2              STV Wigoltingen              Tigers Vöcklabruck

13:45     W11       1              Duque de Caxias              Winner W10

15:00     W12       1              TSV Dennach                     Winner W9

16:30     M11       1              SG Novo Hamburgo        Winner M10

17:45     M12       1              TSV Pfungstadt                 Winner M9

WINTERTHUR. The 15^th Fistball Men’s World Championship held in Stadium Schützenwiese Winterthur from August 11-17th was the biggest of all time. With 18 men’s national teams participating it is the largest from a team perspective as well.  Four nations had their first ever World Championship appearance. It was also huge in terms of spectators – 30,000 streamed into the stadium over the week.

Stadium View during the Gold Medal Match Austria vs Germany (17 August 2019) at the IFA 2019 Fistball Men’s World Championship in Winterthur, Photo by Valentin Weber / IFAA true fistball festival happened this week in Winterthur. For this World Championship a temporary fistball stadium was set up at the soccer stadium of FC Winterthur. More than 4000 working shifts of voluntary helpers allowed fans from all over the world to enjoy a great event.

Germany won the title in an impressive manner

The old and new world champion is Germany. The biggest fistball nation became World Champion for the 12th time and won third consecutive championships in a row at the 15th IFA Fistball Men’s World Championship. The match was dominated by the German side and Austria wasn’t allowed into the game. Fabian Sagstetter Captain of the German team was understandably pleased with his performance: „We worked very hard for this title all year long. Now we are very happy that we achieved this goal. The atmosphere in the stadium was crazy.”

Austria’s amazing win in the Semi-Final

Of note in this Championship was Austria’s exquisite play at their game against Brazil in particular. The match was a real thriller and Austria won the game in the deciding fifth set. In front of a crowd of 5300 fans the team of coach Martin Weiß had a great match and won against the top team from Brazil. The host team from Switzerland could not meet expectations and finished fourth.

Gabriel Heck, Striker of Team Brazil in the Semifinal Match against Austria (16 August 2019) at the IFA 2019 Fistball Men’s World Championship in Winterthur, Photo by Ingo Stöldt / IFASerbia wins the President’s Cup

Serbia’s win over Poland gives them the title of President’s Cup winners. They are now also the 13th ranked team in the world. The President’s Cup consisted of the six lowest teams of the competition and  gives the smaller and newer federations a chance to have their own competition within the framework of a World Championship and still be a part of the final rankings. The best ranked newcomer nation was New Zealand who became a darling of the audience performing their traditional haka. They exceeded all expectations and ended up being 11th.

Final ranking: 1. Germany, 2. Austria, 3. Brazil, 4. Switzerland, 5. Italy, 6. Chile, 7. Argentina, 8. Namibia, 9. Czech Republic, 10. USA, 11. New Zealand, 12. Denmark, 13. Serbia, 14. Poland, 15. Belgium, 16. Australia, 17. Netherlands, 18. Japan

WINTERTHUR. The seventh and final day of the 2019 Fistball Men’s World Championship has ended. Austria would have hoped to stop the winning streak of Germany and take Gold but it wasn’t to be. With 5819 fans in the stadium for the match the atmosphere was electric.

World Champions
The Germans are World Champions for the 12th time at the 15th IFA Men’s World Champions-hip! In front of a crowd of 6.000, Germany and Austri-a came together for the first time since 2011. Today Germany was just too dominant and Austri-a wasn’t allowed into the game. The Ger-mans shut down the Austrian attackers and hammered their defence, sho-wing that they really are the best team in the world.
Bronze medal match
Even the massive home crowd wasn’t enough to lift Switzerland to the win. The hosts looked flat, never really firing in the game. In fairness Brazil was on fire today and obvious-ly charged up. Although the win was in four straight sets, the game wasn’t as decisive as the scoreline suggests. Switzerland were outplayed on the day by another world class team. Joy and sadness stood side by side in stadium Schützenwiese after the match this afternoon.

Placement Games
Italy won 3-1 against Chile today. Italy are now the fifth ranked team in the world and Chile the sixth.
In the next game. Namibia met Argentina at 1315. The match went all Argentina’s way winning 3:0. Argentina are the seventh ranked team and Namibia are eighth. The USA faced The Czech Republic in what proved to be a close match, ending with a win to the Czech Republic 3:2. The Czech Republic finish in ninth place and the USA tenth.

Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was full of emotion. There was an honour guard for the teams coming into the stadium and each team added numbers to it. By the time Germany came in, 17 nations were clapping them and it was a unforgettable moment. The closing ceremony is particualrly memorable for players who get to spend time together at the end of this fantastic event.

For highlights from the 2019 Men’s World Championship: www.fistball.tv
Further information: www.fistballmwc.com

Photo Credit: Valentin Weber / IFA

WINTERTHUR. Switzerland and Brazil have been knocked out of the finals and will have to play for the Bronze medal tomorrow at 1600. The match of the day has to go to Austria against the Brazilian side who played spectacular fistball. Germany beat Switzerland in a relatively easy match and Serbia won the President’ Cup. New Zealand beat Denmark for 11^th placing in the world and Australia played Belgium in what was perhaps the longest game in Fistball history. Japan lost to the Netherlands but won the hearts of us all.

Austria beats Brazil in an amazing match

Austria took out Brazil in a stonker of a game that was by far the best of the tournament.  The crowd went wild with fantastic play from both teams and mind blowing play. The Austrians outclassed the South American team in the most thrilling of sporting experiences. Austria will face Germany tomorrow at 1800

German precision

Germany had to play to a resounding chorus of „Hopp Schwiiz“ ringing in their ears. It wasn’t enough however to put them off their game and they managed to beat the home side 3-0. In the end Germany were just more decisive in their attacking shots and won the game.

 Serbia wins the President’s Cup

Serbia’s win today sees them hold the President’ Cup and they are now the 13th ranked team in the world. Poland are now the 14th and will be disappointed that they couldn’t snatch the title from Serbia in their close match today. They can hold their heads up high knowing that they played a great tournament here in Winterthur 2019.

All games are available live on www.fistball.tv
Further information and tickets: www.fistballmwc.com

Photo: Valentin Weber / IFA

WINTERTHUR. Day five was a day of surprises with Switzerland losing to Austria, Serbia losing to Australia and Chile beating the USA. Germany and Austria both had great wins in their matches and both will proceed to the semi-fianls. They will have to wait until tomorrow at 1200 and 1315 respectively to find out who they will play. Switzerland will face Italy at 1200 and Brazil will have to play Chile at 1315 so we will have to wait until then to see which teams will go through to the semi-finals tomorrow night.

Will it be Switzerland, Brazil, Italy or Chile who go through to the semi-finals?
Brazil and Switzerland are the favourites to play Germany and Austria in the semi-finals. However particularly Chile have played fantastic fistball so far and cannot be discounted.

Germany still undefeated
Germany have still only lost one set in this competition so far and that was to Austria on day three. The German team were dominant today playing sensational fistball against Brazil. Germany played like the champions they are predicted to be, beating the Brazilians in straight sets.

Germany – Brazil 3-0 (11:7, 11:9, 11:6)

Austria play fantastic fistball
Austria also played like champions coming out firing on all cylinders to smash the host team. Switzerland were overwhlmed by the form of the Austrians and, in turn made unforced errors costing them more points.

Austria – Switzerland 3-0 (11:9, 11:6 13:11)

President’s Cup
With a shock loss in their first game of the day Serbia still manage to face off against Poland for the President’s Cup. The rankings are based on all games to date and so Serbia manage to get the opportunity still. Japan will face The Netherlands at 1430 for 17^th place, Belgium will play against Australia for 15^th and Serbia will fight Poland at 1700 for 13^th place and the President’s Cup.

For further scheduling information: www.fistballmwc.com

All games are available live on www.fistball.tv

Picture credit: Markus Aeschimann

Jörn Verleger elected as the new IFA President – IFA 2023 Fistball Men’s World Championship takes place in Mannheim.

Jörn Verleger from Munich, Germany was elected the sixth president in the history of the International Fistball Association (IFA). The 47-year-old sports manager succeeds Karl Weiss (Austria). The Men’s WC 2023 was awarded to Mannheim (Germany). The congress was part of the IFA Fistball World Championship 2019, which is currently taking place in Winterthur.

Vice Presidents elected Giana Hexsel (Brazil), Vikki Buston (New Zealand) and Steve Schmutzler (Germany). Karl Weiss did not run for re-election after serving eight years as president of the Association. Weiss, who has led the IFA from 27 member nations to 61 national associations in the last eight years, has been elected Honorary President by the Congress.

At today’s IFA Congress in Winterthur (SUI), the next Men’s Fistball World Championship 2023 was awarded. The choice fell on a joint application of the German Fistball League, the Rhine-Neckar Metropol-Region with the city of Mannheim and the fistball club TV Käfertal. The Preliminary Round takes place at the Rhein-Neckar Campus Mannheim and offers a stadium with 5,000 seats. As a highlight the final round will be played in the modern SAP Arena, the home of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen (handball) and the Adler Mannheim (ice hockey). „The SAP arena has space for 12,000 spectators and will be a great venue for this fistball highlight”, says Uwe Kaliske, Head of Sport Department for the city of Mannheim. It will be the first international fistball event to be played on natural grass indoors. “The arena fulfills all technical regulations”, says Jörg Trinemeier from TV Käfertal. “We expect a sold out venue and a big step up in terms of presentation of the sport and the media production for fistball”, explains Jörn Verleger, new President of the International Fistball Federation.

During the 2019 World Championship we offer exclusive ticket pre-sales for the final weekend on 28/29 July 2023 in the SAP Arena. Weekend tickets for upper seats are available here: www.ifa-fistball.com/en/tickets-mwc23/  for a one-off price of 39 euros.

(The ticket special ends on Sat 17 Aug 2019)

WINTERTHUR. The 12 best teams played the first round of double elimination today. The Austrian’s almost had the biggest upset of the competition when they were put on the spot by Chile. The Chileans came to centre court firing on all cylinders at 1630 today.  In the end Austria managed to lift their game and won 3:2. The top four favourites in the competition are still in front but with everything to play for, the lower placed teams will be fighting hard tomorrow to try to make it into the top ten. Belgium had their first win of the tournament beating The Netherlands 3:0 in the President’s Cup. Tomorrow: Germany are playing Brazil at 1900 and Austria will face Switzerland at 2015 with both games streaming live from centre court.

Austria fights hard to beat Chile

Chile played great fistball today and almost upset the Austrian team. The young team of coach Martin Weiß didn’t give up and managed to hold on winning the game 3:2. The Chileans were on fire and it looked as though they would beat the favourites more than once. Youth and determination won out on the day however and the Austrian’s proceed through undefeated. Austria – Chile 3-2 (10:12, 11:9, 9:11, 11:6, 11:6)

Germany, Brazil and Switzerland winUnlike Austria the other three teams in the top ten beat their opposition 3:0. Germany looked to be struggling against the USA at times but played with determination to win. Brazil looked comfortable but will need to pick up their game if they want to continue to do well in the next rounds. Switzerland were the team that looked most at home winning each set convincingly.

Argentina play Namibia and Chile play New ZealandBoth newcomers to the top 12 went down to their opposition this afternoon but can take heart from their performances. New Zealand in particular played well and even won a set against the South American side. New Zealand will play Italy and Namibia the USA tomorrow.

Belgium wins its first ever game at a Men’s World ChampionshipBelgium played the Netherlands today with both teams in this competition for the first time. The Belgium side capitalised on their striking ability and won the match 3:0.

All games are available live on www.fistball.tv
Further information and tickets: www.fistballmwc.com

Picture credit: Stefan Gusenleitner / Faustball Austria