The European Women’s Fistball Championship took place on 18th and 19th August in Grieskirchen, Upper Austria. Germany won the final against Austria 3:0 and defended its title from 2019. Furthermore, Germany secured with the victory its place for The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China.

Teams from eight European Fistball nations competed for the prestigious European Championship title on 18 August (preliminary round) and 19 August (final day) at the Grieskirchen Fistball Centre.
The Austrian selection had to face the title holder from Germany as well as the teams from Serbia and Switzerland in their preliminary round group. In the second preliminary group, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Poland fought for a good starting position for the quarter-final round on the following day. The fact that it once again came down to a “dream final” between the red-white-red aces and their neighbours from Germany was to be expected in view of the performances in the preliminary round.

The hosts immediately found their way into the match at the beginning of the first set and were able to challenge the title holder. However, the Austrians did not manage to win the first set. In the second set, Austria took a 3:0 lead, but after a German timeout, Germany came back into the game and started to catch up. In a thrilling duel for this set, the Austrian team failed to convert four set points. Thus, Germany also won the second set by an extremely narrow margin of 14:12. Svenja Schröder, who was also voted “Woman of the Match”, scored constantly on the right side. After the second set, Austria again showed a lot of fighting spirit and tried to turn the match around. Germany did not let Austria get back into the match, remaining unbeaten in every final of a major event since 2013 and crowning themselves European champions once again.

Switzerland beats Serbia in Bronze Medal Match

The bronze medal was won by the Swiss national team with a convincing victory over Serbia. Despite the disappointing defeat in the semi-final against Austria, the Swiss women found their motivation again and went into the match with determination. Although the Serbians held their own in the beginning, Switzerland won the first set with a convincing 11:4, also due to several service errors on the part of the Serbians.
In the second set, Serbia tried to get back into the game with a lot of risk. Nevertheless, the Swiss national team showed concentration and secured this set clearly.
Serbia then failed to find its way back into the match, while the Swiss women retained the upper hand and were able to celebrate their bronze medal.

In the match for 5th place, Denmark and Poland dueled. The first set was even, exciting and hard-fought. It was not until extra time that Denmark won the set 15:14.
Due to a medical incident that led to a substitution in the Danish team, they were not able to continue their performance from the previous set. The Polish team took advantage of this opportunity and won the match clearly.
Belgium secured the seventh place. The exhausting match with long rallies between Belgium and Italy was very even for a long time, but finally the Belgians won 3:2. The young Italians put up a good fight but were not rewarded for their tireless efforts and finished the European Championships in 8th place.

Final results:
1. Germany
2. Austria
3. Switzerland
4. Serbia
5. Poland
6. Denmark
7. Belgium
8. Italy

Did you know that already the first Fistball players qualified at IFA 2023 Fistball Men’s World Championship in Mannheim to compete in Chengdu?

4 out of 8 teams are already qualified: Germany, Austria, Brazil and Switzerland!

IFA World Games selection and qualification criteria

The qualification mode, which was already decided in 2018, first provides for a qualification of the continental champions, provided that at least 3 teams participate in this continental championship. If we assume three continental championships as well as a host starting place for China, currently only the TOP 4 teams of the World Championships are definitely qualified for the World Games.

If the continental champion e.g. for Europe comes from these TOP 4, place 5 moves up. If Brazil wins the South American Championship, place 6 moves up and so on.

This procedure was chosen in order to have representatives from at least three continents at the World Games.

#RoadtoChengdu #WeareTheWorldGames #TWG2025

The IFA Board of Directors was re-elected at the IFA 2023 Congress on the sidelines of the 16th IFA Men’s Fistball World Championship in Mannheim. The World Championship has set new standards. Germany won the World Championship title for the fourth time in a row.

The 51-year-old President Jörn Verleger from Germany, who has lead the world federation since 2019, was unanimously re-elected together with his the Board of Directors. Vice-President is Dr. Giana Hexsel from Brazil, Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner from Austria, Treasurer Franz Peter Iten from Switzerland and Chairman of the Sports Commission Gastao Englert from Brazil. The 11-member presidium now includes eight nationalities. Around a third of the positions are held by women.

It was the spectacular Fistball festival that athletes and fans had been looking forward to for months. After the preliminary round matches and the quarterfinals in Mannheim’s Rhein-Neckar Stadium, the finals in the SAP Arena were the sporting and emotional highlight of this world championship. Germany as host made history. An indoor final round and on natural grass – that has never happened before.

“This was a terrific World Championship in a whole new dimension. We have all never experienced such an atmosphere,” said Verleger. “The project to move the turf to a multi-sport arena has worked out. We saw the possibilities and potential of the sport of Fistball.”

For eight days, the best 16 nations from every continent promoted their sport. More than 30,000 spectators flocked to the Rhein-Neckar Stadium during the World Championship week and to the SAP Arena on the final weekend. In front of a record crowd of 10,000 spectators, Germany celebrated its fourth consecutive World Championship title.

More than 500 volunteers were on hand to provide guests from around the world with an unforgettable event. One of the highlights off the pitch was School’s Day on the third day of the preliminary round, when 2,700 children and young people created an exuberant atmosphere.

“The arena was unique in terms of presenting our sport. This was a Fistball spectacle that the teams created together with the fans that will be remembered for a long time.”

For Verleger, who together with Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner from Austria, was one of the driving forces behind the successful World Championship project, it will be the last four-year term of office, as a change to the statutes with a maximum term of office of eight years was also adopted at the Congress on the proposal of the Board of Directors.

Germany impressively to the 13th world championship title

The new and old world champion is Germany, who impressively lived up to their role as favorites in front of their home crowd. For the record world champions, this is already the fourth title in a row, the 13th overall. The team around superstar Patrick Thomas did not give Austria a chance in the final and scored a clear 4:0 victory. “There is nothing greater than winning a World Championship at home,” said Thomas, who like captain Fabian Sagstetter celebrated his fourth World Championship triumph. “We worked hard all year for this title. We’re really happy that we made it. It was extremely fun to play here, the atmosphere was insane,” said Sagstetter happily.

On July 11th, the 3rd INTERACT+ partner meeting took place online. The partner meeting was necessary to discuss the already achieved deliverables, the general progress and development of the project, and future steps to achieve the project. One highlight of the partner meeting was the presentation of the first successful training of the trainer workshop, which took part throughout June. The Train the Trainers Workshop held under the INTERACT+ project provided a vital platform for building the capacity of trainers representing a wide range of International Sport Organisations. The workshop aimed to equip these trainers with the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver capacity-building workshops as part of the project’s next phase, extending until 2025. In total, 15 trainers from 8 different International or National Sport Organisations participated in the training.

The INTERACT+ partner meeting was followed by the second Theory of Action Building Seminar Led by the University of Limerick. Next to the INTERACT+ partner organisations, the Theory of Action Building Seminar was joined by participants of the INTERACT+ Advisory Board. The Advisory Board comprises 16 International Sport Organisations that support and guide the project partners in developing and implementing the project. Based on the learnings from a literature review and recommendations produced by the former INTERACT project, this mapping aims to produce an evidence-based theory of action for International Sport Organisations and National Federations to promote Sport for All.

Today, the Olympic Day is celebrated all around the world: hundreds of thousands of people – young and old – get moving and participate in sporting and cultural activities, such as runs, exhibitions, music and educational seminars. Over the last two decades, the event has helped to spread the Olympic ideals to every corner of the world.

Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

“EVERY YEAR, OLYMPIC DAY ALLOWS THE WHOLE WORLD TO UNITE BEHIND THE OLYMPIC DREAM.”
Thomas Bach, IOC President

Move, Learn and Discover:
the three pillars of Olympic Day in Fistball

Move
let’s encourage people to get active on Olympic Day. “Move” can refer to all sports, of physical activity for people of all ages and abilities.
IFA supports the new IOC initiative ‘Let’s Move’ created with the World Health Organisation (WHO) with an invitation to make time every day for movement for better health.

Learn
Educate and learn about the role of sport in society and the “Olympic values”
In collaboration with UTS IFA runs an Olympic values driven program at the IFA 2023 Men´s World Championship in Mannheim. The focus is on engaging and empowering youth, and promoting an active and healthy lifestyle within the sporting community during the Men’s Fistball World Championships 2023.

Discover
Discover is all about people trying new sports and activities they have never done before.

Olympic values:
• Excellence – Striving for excellence
Stands for giving our best, on the field of play or in the professional arena. It is not only about winning, but also about participating, making progress towards personal goals, striving to be and to do our best in our daily lives and bene ting from the healthy combination of a strong body, mind and will.

• Respect – Demonstrating respect
This value incorporates respect for oneself, for one’s body, for others, for the rules and regulations, and for sport and the environment. Related to sport, respect stands for fair play and for the fight against doping and any unethical behavior.

• Friendship – Celebrating Friendship
This encourages us to consider sport as a tool for mutual understanding among individuals and people from around the world. Olympism inspire humanity to overcome political, economic, gender, racial and religious differences and forge friendships in spite of those differences.