Brazil versus Germany: These are the final pairings at the IFA World Tour Finals 2023 in Curitiba. With TV Jahn Schneverdingen and Duque de Caxias Curitiba in the women’s final and TSV Pfungstadt and SG Novo Hamburgo in the men’s final, one European and one South American team each made it to the final.

Men

It is a real dominance with which TSV Pfungstadt marches through the World Tour Finals in Curitiba. Without losing a set, the defending champions had already completed the preliminary round and also in the semifinals opponent Union Tigers Vöcklabruck had no chance to knock down the team from Germany. With 3:0 (11:7, 11:4, 11:8) Pfungstadt won again without losing a set and thus goes into the final as the favorite. Their opponents will be SG Novo Hamburgo, as in the previous year. The team won the Brazilian semifinal against Duque de Caxias also with 3:0 (11:4, 11:6, 15:14). Duque had lost to Pfungstadt in the final group match in the morning – but benefited from the parallel defeat of Sogipa Porto Alegre against Clube Mercês. The final will start at 4:45 p.m. local time on Sunday. Already at 1.30 p.m. Union Tigers Vöcklabruck and Duque de Caxias will play for the bronze medal.

In the Duque de Caxias Cup, held for the third and fourth placed teams of the preliminary groups, the two Austrian teams DSG UKJ Froschberg and UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting reached the final – equivalent to the match for fifth place. Froschberg beat SOGIPA Porto Alegre in three sets (11:8, 11:9, 11:5) in the match. Grieskirchen turned a 0:2 deficit into a 3:2 victory against Clube Mercês. The match will start at 9 a.m., as will the match between SOGIPA and Mercês in the seventh-place match.

Results Men

Women

They were very close to “preliminary round elimination” – but now Duque de Caxias is in the final of the women’s competition. After the strong victory on Friday against TV Jahn Schneverdingen, the Brazilians followed it up with another win against Union Nussbach (Austria). Cheered on by the home fans, Duque won the match 3:1 (11:4, 3:11, 11:6, 11:8) in the end after an intermediate 1:1 and celebrated their entry into the final. After gold (2018), bronze (2019) and silver (2022), it is already certain that the team will win another medal. Opponent in the final will be Schneverdingen again. TV Jahn prevailed in a thrilling semifinal against German rival TSV Dennach (11:9, 8:11, 13:11, 11:7). This means that the two teams will meet again at 3 p.m. in Curitiba. The bronze medal match between Nussbach and Dennach is scheduled for 12:00.

Before that, the four other teams in the competition are scheduled to play. ASKÖ Seekirchen (Austria) qualified for the fifth-place match with a 3:1 (11:9, 6:11, 11:9, 11:5) victory over SG Novo Hamburgo. Here the Austrians will meet last year’s winner, Sogipa Cargo Way, who after finishing third in the preliminary round now won against Clube Mercês (14:12, 11:5, 11:8). The matches for fifth and seventh place will kick off at 10:30 a.m. each.

Results Women

The first two days of the IFA World Tour Finals 2023 in Curitiba (Brazil) were very exciting. In the two preliminary round groups of the women the decisions about the next round were made only in the last second. In the men’s competition, the matches on Saturday also promise a lot of excitement.

Women

In the Claus J. Süffert group, TSV Dennach turned up the heat in the last two games. After a 2-3 opening defeat to SOGIPA, the European champions beat SG Novo Hamburgo (3-0) on Thursday night and also beat Union Nussbach (3-1) in the final group match. The Austrians were the second team to make it to the semifinals. Key to this were Thursday’s wins over Novo Hamburgo (3-0) and SOGIPA (3-0). Last year’s winners, SOGIPA, will not be able to defend their title. After the two defeats in the opener, the 3:1 against Novo Hamburgo was not enough to still qualify for the semifinals.

It was even more exciting in the Lothar G. Jaehnert group. Last year’s finalist Duque de Caxias managed to qualify for the semifinals at the last second. After the opening defeat against ASKÖ Seekirchen (1:3) the Brazilians celebrated a victory against Clube Mercês (3:0) and won with a strong performance also against TV Jahn Schneverdingen (3:0) and thus secured first place in the group. After winning against Mercês (3:0) and Seekirchen (3:0), Schneverdingen gave away the group victory with this defeat and became second. Seekirchen finished the group stage – despite winning the last match against Mercês – on third place.

Results Women

So there will be a German-German semi-final between TSV Dennach and TV Jahn Schneverdingen on Saturday. The second semi-final will be played by Duque de Caxias and Union Nussbach. The third and fourth placed teams will play their semi-final matches in the Duque de Caxias Cup.

Men

Decisions in the men’s preliminary groups will not be made until Saturday morning. Defending champion TSV Pfungstadt (Germany) won both matches against SOGIPA and Clube Mercês 3:0 each in the Jorge “Baica” Schör group and is in first place. The team will face Duque de Caxias on Saturday for the final match. The host won the opener against Mercês (3:1), but lost on Friday in the Brazilian duel against SOGIPA (2:3), who thus celebrated their first victory and still have the chance to pass Duque with a win in the last match against Mercês (1 point).

The situation is similarly exciting ahead of the last two games in the Victor Hugo Körbes group. The current leader with six points is SG Novo Hamburgo, who won against DSG UKJ Froschberg (3:1) and Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (3:0). Froschberg is in second place thanks to the set win, as they won their match against UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting the same way (3:2) as Vöcklabruck (3:0). They will now meet in a direct battle on Saturday and will decide the second semi-finalist of the group among themselves.

Results Men

Within the framework of the World Tour Finals, the International Fistball Association is testing a new scoring system in the preliminary round groups. Whereas in previous matches the winner received two points, now every set won will be counted as a point. The aim is to increase the importance of each individual set.

The Men’s and Women’s World Tour Finals will be held in Brazil for the second time in a row. From October 19 to 22, the best club teams in the world will meet in Curitiba.

It was a sporting spectacle that the men’s and women’s fistballers celebrated in Curitiba, Brazil, last autumn after the Corona pandemic. After two cancelled events, the best club teams in the world met again – and delivered top sports performances. In 2023, the top eight men’s and women’s clubs will return to Curitiba from October 19-22 for the fourth World Tour Finals in history.

The two defending champions Sogipa/Cargo Way (women) and TSV Pfungstadt (men) will also be taking part in the four days of competition. They will first have to compete in one of the two preliminary groups, from which only the two best teams will remain in the title race and make it to the semifinals. The World Tour Finals will be the last event of the International Fistball Association’s in 2023.

The women of Sogipa from Porto Alegre, just Brazilian champions, not only won the title at the 2022 World Tour Finals, but also claimed first place in last year’s World Tour. Not surprisingly, they are among the top favorites for the title this year as well. In the preliminary round, the team will face SG Novo Hamburgo (Brazil/5th World Tour), TSV Dennach (Germany/2nd World Tour) and Union Nussbach (Austria/7th World Tour). All four teams have also qualified for the three previous World Tour Finals. Group B is different: Here last year’s finalist Clube Duque de Caxias (Brazil/6th World Tour) would like to win a medal as they did in the previous three events. Opponents are TV Jahn Schneverdingen (winner Champions Cup Europe 2022), bronze medal winner 2022, as well as the two newcomers Askö Seekirchen (Austria/3rd World Tour) and Clube Mercês (Brazil/9th World Tour).

In the men’s competition, TSV Pfungstadt from Germany is not only the winner of the last two events, but also one of the favorites in 2023. In the preliminary round, the team will face a Brazilian trio of Clube Mercês (6th World Tour), Sogipa Porto Alegre (2nd World Tour) and Duque de Caxias (5th World Tour). Last year’s finalist SG Novo Hamburgo completes the four Brazilian teams. In its preliminary group, the team will face the three Austrian representatives Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (Champions Cup Europe winner), DSG UKJ Froschberg (3rd World Tour) and UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (4th World Tour).

For the men’s and women’s competition, the preliminary round matches are scheduled first on Thursday and Friday, October 19 and 20. The third and fourth-placed teams in each group will compete in the Duque de Caxias Cup on the other two days of competition, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the semifinals. The finals are set for Sunday, Oct. 21.

“We will see the best fistballers in Curitiba over the four days,” says Gastão Englert, Chairman of the Sports Commission of the International Fistball Association: “This promises top sporting performance in all matches.” A new feature is that all participating teams will play five matches in the course of the tournament. All 40 matches of the 2023 World Tour Finals will be broadcast live on www.fistball.TV.

The World Tour Finals will open with a Welcome Dinner on the venue of the organizing club, Clube Duque de Caxias. “The organizers proved last year that we can experience fistball events at the highest level here,” Christoph Oberlehner, IFA Secretary General, looks forward to the event: “Duque de Caxias will do everything to create optimal conditions for the fistballers, the staff members and the fans. Everyone involved can look forward to great days in Curitiba.”

All information: finals.fistball-worldtour.com

During the last IFA Board meeting on 1st of October, the body adopted new regulations for the World Tour Finals from 2024 and also the final qualification guidelines for the World Games 2025 in Chengdu.

World Tour Finals:
In the last Board meeting, the IFA Board of Directors dealt with an update of the World Tour Final Regulations. The IFA Board of Directors tasked a working group to address the issue of player eligibility at the World Tour Finals. The purpose of the change is to ensure the fair play of the competition and a longer commitment of players and clubs but not only one tournament. In the future, players must be eligible to play for their new club 5 months (previously one month) before the event.
The IFA Board of Directors unanimously approved the working group’s proposal. In addition, clubs that do not participate in the World Tour Finals despite qualifying will not be banned for the following year. The new regulations already apply to the 2024 World Tour Finals.

Download World Tour Final Regulations

World Games Qualification Guidelines:
The World Games 2025 will be held in Chengdu (CHN). Fistball participates at the World Games with a men’s and women’s competition with eight teams each. The qualification criteria for Fistball have now been slightly adapted in consultation with the International World Games Association compared to the last Games in 2022.
As in Birmingham, teams from at least 3 continents must participate in the competitions in accordance with IWGA regulations. The basis for the qualification guidelines therefore remains the Regional Championships, the winner of which is qualified for the World Games 2025. This is also to underline and increase the value of the Regional Championships. In addition, the IFA Board of Directors may invite the host country to participate in all categories. Remaining starting places will be awarded analogous to the last World Championship result, as has been the case in the past. What is new is that qualified national federations must register for the event within two months after notification of their qualification and pay a deposit.
We wish all teams a successful qualification for the World Games 2025!

Download World Games Selection and Qualification Criteria

The Men’s and Women’s U18 Fistball World Championships will be held in Chile in 2024. The U18 event will be held in Llanquihue from October 30 to November 2, 2024.

The International Fistball Association (IFA) is pleased to announce the venue for their premier youth event. Club Gimnástico Alemán de Llanquihue from Chile will host the next U18 Fistball World Championships in 2024. The exact date is from 30 October to 2 November 2024. The club is a very experienced host and receives support from its city and the regional government. In addition to several South American championships, Llanquihue has hosted the 1992 Men’s World Championship, the 2006 U18 World Championships and the 2015 Masters World Cup.

“Llanquihue has one of the most beautiful Fistball venues in the world and the event site offers a unique flair due to the impressive panorama with the lake and the volcanoes. The club has been investing a lot in youth work for some time and the organizers are extremely motivated. You can see how important the organization of the next U18 World Championship is to the people in the club. Numerous U18 national teams from all continents will participate in next year’s World Championships,” said IFA President Jörn Verleger.

“We are very proud to be the host of the next U18 Fistball World Championships. We receive great support from the city and also from our region, without which we would not be able to hold this event. We look forward to welcoming the best youth teams in the world to Llanquihue to celebrate a wonderful
Fistball festival in 2024,” says Rodrigo Böttger, President of the Chilean Fistball Federation. The signing of the contract took place last weekend in front of 150 youth players. All games will be played in one place, so short distances for athletes and spectators are guaranteed.

At the EFA Champions Cup in Dennach on Sunday the women of host TSV Dennach and the men of TSV Pfungstadt won the title.

The host team of Dennach defeated Ahlhorner Sportverein 3:1 ( 11:6, 10:12, 11:5, 11:7) in the North-South final in front of around 350 spectators. In the men’s competition, TSV Pfungstadt beat the Austrians from Union Tigers Vöcklabruck 3:1 (4:11, 14:12, 11:6, 12:10) in a hard-fought final.

There were also two German teams in the women’s small final. Here TV Jahn Schneverdingen won against TV Segnitz with 3:0 (11:9, 11:6, 11:9). Bronze in the men’s event went to Union Compact Freistadt with a 3:0 (12:10, 11:7, 11:9) win over Faustball Widnau from Switzerland.

For two days, Europe’s top club teams were guests in Dennach. Participating teams in the women’s competition besides the hosts from TSV Dennach as German runner-up were TV Jahn Schneverdingen cup defender and German champion, SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter as national champion of Switzerland, Union Haidlmair Schwingenschuh Nußbach as national champion of Austria, TSV Jona as runner-up of Switzerland, Union Freistadt as runner-up of Austria, TV Segnitz as third place at the German championship and Ahlhorner SV as DM fourth.

In the men’s competition, the field of participants was smaller. Here DM winner TSV Pfungstadt started as the only German representative. Faustball Widnau (SUI) and the Austrians from Union Freistadt and Tigers Vöcklabruck completed the field of participants.