The countdown is on: From August 7 to 17, 2025, the Chinese city of Chengdu will be all about international sport. For one and a half weeks, the 12th edition of the World Games will take place in the capital of Sichuan province. 35 sports will be part of next year’s World Games – including the men’s and women’s fistball competitions.

Planning for the event is already in full swing. In spring, the International Fistball Association, represented by Sports Director Gastao Englert and IFA Head of Events Sönke Spille, visited China, among other things to inspect the sports venue for the fistball competitions in Tianfu Park. “The organizers will build four fistball courts here especially for the World Games,” explains Sports Director Englert. “Numerous employees were present during the on-site inspection in order to fulfill all the technical requirements for the World Games.” The plan is for the pitches to be completed by the end of 2024 and therefore ready for use from spring 2025. “We will have two main pitches, including a center court with stands right next to the pitch. This guarantees an excellent atmosphere,” says Sönke Spille with conviction.

As in Birmingham two years ago, the athletes will be accommodated in an athletes’ village with over 5,000 beds. “The buildings are all completely new, and there are many park-like retreats. Here, all athletes can prepare perfectly for their upcoming games, recharge their batteries – and come into contact with other athletes from a huge variety of sports and nations,” says Spille.

Following the successful premiere in 2022, there will also be a women’s fistball competition in Chengdu – with an increased field of eight teams. This means that a total of 16 fistball teams will take part in China – more than ever before in the history of the World Games. The fistball competitions are scheduled from Saturday, August 9, to Wednesday, August 13. With Germany (women), Germany, Austria, Brazil and Switzerland (men), five participating teams have already been confirmed for Chengdu. On August 7, all athletes will have the opportunity to take part in the opening ceremony. Spille: “We are convinced that the World Games 2025 will be a great event that will create great memories for all athletes.”

The men’s and women’s World Tour Finals will take place in Austria in 2025: Union Tigers Vöcklabruck will host the competition for the best club teams in the world from 24-27 July 2025.

It was the biggest success in the club’s history: the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck fistball team won the title at the 2024 World Tour Finals on 21 July, crowning themselves the best club team in the world. In one year, the Tigers will host the next world cup for club teams: from 24 to 27 July, the defending champions will host the top teams in Vöcklabruck. After 2019 (Salzburg), the World Tour Finals are thus returning to Austria.

Early awarding for better planning

“We are delighted to have found a very experienced organizer of national and international events to host the event,” says Jörn Verleger, President of the International Fistball Association (IFA): “We are convinced that we will experience a great event in Vöcklabruck next year.” With six participating teams, Austria is the country with the largest number of participating teams at the latest event in Mannheim. “There is great enthusiasm for the World Tour format in Austria. We are therefore all the happier that the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck have signaled their interest in our bidding process. We had very good discussions in which you could sense the great motivation of all those involved,” says Sönke Spille, Head of Events at IFA: “It was important to us to create clarity at an early stage and thus offer the teams planning security. We have succeeded in doing this with the award – one year before the event.”

Experienced organizer of fistball events

The Union Tigers Vöcklabruck have already hosted Austrian championships, European Cup events and European championships in recent years. In 2025, the Volksbankstadion Vöcklabruck will now host the best club teams in the world. “We were enthusiastic about the idea of the IFA World Tour right from the start, it has given the tournaments a new value and the top teams from all over the world regularly compete against each other there,” says Stefan Huemer, head of the organizing committee: “The World Tour Final is the highest title that can be won by a club team and the value of this title has also increased enormously since the finals were introduced.”

The Tigers Vöcklabruck have been at the finals without interruption since 2019 (Salzburg), and their wish to host this event themselves is now coming true. The Vöcklabruck team has experience from numerous events. “After various Final 3 competitions, a Masters World Championship, two Champions Cups and a European Youth Championship, this is the event highlight in the club’s history,” emphasizes Huemer: “On the one hand, we can offer the teams a perfect sporting ambience, and on the other hand, the area around Vöcklabruck with its lakes, mountains and cultural sites offers numerous “delicacies” that round off such a competition perfectly.” In sporting terms, the Tigers want to compete for the title in front of their home crowd – and also promote the region. Huemer: “All participating teams should share wonderful experiences together and remember the 2025 World Tour Finals in Vöcklabruck for as long as possible.”

First participants confirmed

The winners of the highest continental Cup competitions in 2024 in the regions of Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, South America and North America have qualified for the 2025 World Tour Finals. The winners of the 2024 World Tour Finals have also punched their ticket. The starting field will be completed by the best-placed teams from the 2024 World Tour, which will hold tournaments until the end of September. With TSV Dennach (GER/Winner European Cup) and TV Jahn Schneverdingen (GER/Winner World Tour Finals 2024) in the women’s competition and FBC Linz-Urfahr (AUT/Winner European Cup) and host Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (AUT/Winner World Tour Finals 2024) in the men’s competition, the first four teams have already qualified for the World Tour Finals 2025.

As part of TAFISA’s Girls Positive and Safe Coaching Pathway, the workshop on coaching girls and women took place on July 20 in Mannheim within the framework of the Fistball World Tour Finals. Gender inequalities still prevent girls and women from participating in certain sports. Girls positive and Safe Coaching pathway is a project that aims to break down these barriers by educating coaches on how to coach girls and women appropriately.

The aim of the presentation was to provide the almost 50 participants aged 15-30 with strategies to create a safe environment for young girls and women in sport, training, competition and club life. The lecture focused on verbal and non-verbal communication between coaches and athletes. Supposed taboo topics such as menstruation in sport were also addressed in order to illustrate the major impact the female cycle has on the athlete’s performance and general well-being and how important it is for coaches to be aware of this. Through interactive exercises and the sharing of their own experiences in particular, the participants were given numerous strategies and guidelines on how to best respond to and pay attention to the needs of their female athletes.

With two thrilling finals, the IFA World Tour Finals – the Fistball Club World Championships – came to an end. In the Rhein-Neckar Stadium in Mannheim TSV Dennach and TV Jahn Schneverdingen (women) as well as the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck and TSV Pfungstadt (men) fought thrilling duels for the title, which were hard to beat in terms of excitement.

Men: Thrilling to the last ball – Vöcklabruck celebrates historic club success

Only in the overtime of the deciding set was it finally decided who would take the throne as the best fistball club team in the world. After more than two hours of play and spectacular twists and turns, the Upper Austrians were crowned Upper Austrians were crowned the best fistball club team in the world for the first time in their fistball club team in the world. Already at the start, the Austrian team, which had already fought out a thrilling battle against defending champions SG Novo Hamburgo (3:2) in the semi-finals and had been beaten in the preliminary round duel against Pfungstadt (0:3) in the preliminary round, started the game better. But: After 2:0 set lead, Pfungstadt increasingly took command and turned the match turned the game into a 3:2. Vöcklabruck then made a spectacular comeback, forcing the deciding set and the deciding set and kept the upper hand here in extra time – even though although they missed three match points after leading 8:3 and it seemed that last year’s that last year’s finalist from Germany could still win the match. In the end, it was a ball from Patrick Thomas that decided the match.

The bronze medal went to to SG Novo Hamburgo, who clearly won their match 4:0 (11:5, 11:5, 11:6, 11:2) against TV Enns from Austria. The President’s Cup was won by DSG UKJ Froschberg, who prevailed against UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (4:11, 11:6, 12:10, 11:5). Sogipa Porto Alegre finished the World Tour Final in seventh place, ahead of TV Käfertal (13:11, 11:7, 14:12).

Women: Dennach takes the title from Schneverdingen in a high-class final

Already on Saturday evening the final was not for the faint-hearted. In the clash between the eternal German rivals TSV Dennach and TV Jahn Schneverdingen, the spectators saw a duel at eye level in which only nuances in which only nuances made the difference. Dennach went into the set (15:14), before the defending champions from Schneverdingen equalized (12:10). Schneverdingen equalized (12:10). After that, TSV proved to be stronger and stronger, was was hardly to be overcome in defense and was often successful with a multi-faceted attacking play (11:9, 11:4). It even looked like a 4:1 victory for TSV, who already had three match points in the fifth set. These TV Jahn fought them off with strong nerves, reduced the deficit to 2:3 – and also equalized a clear a clear deficit once again in the sixth set. In the end, it was a ball from TSV captain Sonja Pfrommer that brought the acclaimed decision.

Bronze went to Sogipa Porto Alegre. The Brazilians were in their duel with SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter, the Brazilians started the match a set behind but then turned on the heat and held their nerve, especially in the extra sets (9:11, 12:10, 11:6, 15:13, 11:8). The victory in the President’s Cup (place 5) was secured by FBC Linz-Urfahr (Austria) with a clear 3:0 (11:7, 11:3, 11:6) victory against the Swiss team FG Elgg-Ettenhausen. Seventh place seventh place went to Faustball Kreuzlingen (Switzerland), who beat UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting 3:0 (11:9, 12:10, 11:2).

It was probably one of the best fistball matches in recent years: in a thrilling final against defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen, the women of TSV Dennach won the title at the World Tour Finals. The team prevailed 4:2 (15:14, 10:12, 11:9, 11:4, 10:12, 13:11) at the Rhein-Neckar Stadium in Mannheim. The bronze medal was won by Sogipa Porto Alegre, who prevailed against SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter. he men’s winner will be determined on Sunday between TSV Pfungstadt and Union Tigers Vöcklabruck. The year’s winners SG Novo Hamburgo will play the bronze medal match against TV Enns.

Women: Dennach takes the title from Schneverdingen in a high-class final

It was a final that had pretty much everything to offer: spectacular defensive actions, impressive attacking shots, unexpected twists and turns – and overjoyed winners in the end. V t the beginning, it was clear what the fans in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium could look forward to – a duel at eye level in which nuances made the difference. s Dennach took the lead in the first set with the very first point (15:14), before the defending champions from Schneverdingen equalized (12:10). After that, TSV proved to be stronger and stronger, was almost impossible to overcome in defense and was often successful with a multi-faceted attacking game (11:9, 11:4). It even looked like a 4:1 win for TSV, who already had three match points in the fifth set. However, TV Jahn fought them off with strong nerves, reduced the deficit to 2:3 – and also equalized a clear deficit once again in the sixth set. In the end, it was a short ball from TSV captain Sonja Pfrommer that brought the celebrated decision.

The bronze medal went to Sogipa Porto Alegre. The Brazilians had started the duel with SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter with a set deficit, but then turned on the heat and held their nerve, especially in the extra sets (9:11, 12:10, 11:6, 15:13, 11:8). de Victory in the President’s Cup (5th place) was secured by FBC Linz-Urfahr (Austria) with a clear 3:0 (11:7, 11:3, 11:6) win against the Swiss team FG Elgg-Ettenhausen. The seventh place went to Faustball Kreuzlingen (Switzerland), who won 3:0 (11:9, 12:10, 11:2) against UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting at the end of the event.

Men: Vöcklabruck and Pfungstadt in the final on Sunday

Defending champion SG Novo Hamburgo had to bow out of the race for the gold medal on Saturday. The Brazilians lost 2:3 (8:11, 11:9, 9:11, 11:9, 4:11) in a thrilling duel against the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (Austria) in the semi-finals. he first four sets in particular were extremely evenly matched – but Vöcklabruck scored the points in the decisive phases. he Austrians will meet last year’s finalists TSV Pfungstadt in the final. di ser defeated TV Enns 3:1 11:2, 11:6, 12:14, 11:4) in their semi-final. Sogipa Porto Alegre and TV Käfertal will face each other in the match for 7th place, while the final of the President’s Cup will be contested by the two Austrian teams DSG UKJ Froschberg and UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting.

There is a German-German final in the women’s fistball World Tour Finals: TSV Dennach and TV Jahn Schneverdingen won their semi-final matches in Mannheim’s Rhein-Neckar Stadium and will play the final on Saturday evening. In the men’s competition, defending champions SG Novo Hamburgo, TSV Pfungstadt, TV Enns and Union Tigers Vöcklabruck made it through to the semi-finals.

Women: German teams win in the semi-finals

The defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen have their sights firmly set on winning the title again. fter successfully finishing the preliminary round against FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (11:9, 11:5, 11:5), the Schneverdingen women initially fell behind against Sogipa Porto Alegre in the semi-finals (4:11), but turned the game around impressively with an improved performance (11:8, 11:9, 11:8). In the final, TV Jahn will face TSV Dennach. The latter initially fell behind in sets against SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter, before they got more and more into the match and prevailed 3:1 (9:11, 11:3, 11:8, 11:7). FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (Switzerland) and FBC Linz-Urfahr (Austria) will play in the final for the President’s Cup (5th/6th place) at 3.45 p.m., before which UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting and Faustball Kreuzlingen will meet in the match for seventh place (2.15 p.m.).

Men: Austrian duo challenges Novo Hamburgo and Pfungstadt

Meanwhile, the eight men’s teams have completed the preliminary round. Last year’s finalists SG Novo Hamburgo (3:0 against Sogipa) and TSV Pfungstadt (3:0 against Union Tigers Vöcklabruck) both won their respective groups and will therefore avoid each other in the semi-finals. Nov Hamburgo will face Vöcklabruck (11:30 a.m.), while Pfungstadt will play TV Enns at 10 a.m. The The Austrians prevailed against rivals UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (11:7, 11:8, 11:9) in the decisive duel for a semi-final ticket. UFG are now in the President’s Cup and will face local heroes TV Käfertal (11.30 a.m.). 0 o’clock Froschberg and Sogipa Porto Alegre will play their match.

The first semi-finalists of the 2024 World Tour Finals in Mannheim have been determined: on the first day in Mannheim’s Rhein-Neckar Stadium, six of the eight men’s and women’s teams have already secured their tickets. he TV Jahn Schneverdingen, TSV Dennach (women) and the Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (men) did not lose a set. he first semi-finals for the women are already on the program on Friday evening.

Men: Pfungstadt and Vöcklabruck duel for group victory

The defending champions are on course in the men’s competition. SG Novo Hamburgo celebrated two victories against Austrian representatives UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (11:7, 11:4, 11:7) and TV Enns (10:12, 11:5, 11:7, 11:7) to top the preliminary round group. D Behind them, the two Austria teams will duel for second place (2.30 p.m.). gipa Porto Alegre, on the other hand, remained without a win against Enns (6:11, 6:11, 8:11) and Grieskirchen (11:5, 3:11, 6:11, 10:12) and occupy fourth place.

The clash between TSV Pfungstadt and Union Tigers Vöcklabruck on Friday promises to be an interesting one. Both Pfungstadt (11:8, 6:11, 15:13, 11:5 against Froschberg / 5:11, 11:4, 11:7, 11:6) and Vöcklabruck (15:14, 11:7, 11:9 against Käfertal / 11:9, 11:6, 11:9 against Froschberg) remained unbeaten in their matches and will play out the group winner on Friday (1 p.m.).

Women: Schneverdingen and Dennach without losing a set

Clear conditions with a look at the table of the preliminary round group A: The TSV Dennach and Sogipa Porto Alegre lead the group with four points each, with Den ach remained without a set loss with victories against UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (11:8, 11:9, 11:5) and Faustball Kreuzlingen (11:6, 11:5, 11:4). However, the Brazilians had to stretch themselves mightily in the opener against Kreuzlingen (11:7, 14:15, 13:11, 8:11 11:7), followed by an unchallenged 3:0 (11:8, 11:4, 11:2) against Grieskirchen. .

Defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen have already secured their ticket to the semi-finals. After defeating FBC Linz-Urfahr (11:9, 11:7, 11:3) and SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (11:2, 14:12, 11:7), the team celebrated two fairly unchallenged victories and will not be displaced before the match against FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (0 points) on Friday morning. who secures the last of the four semi-final tickets will be decided in the direct duel between SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter and FBC Linz AG Urfahr. Sowo he SVD (11:9, 11:6, 11:6) and the Austrians (11:7, 9:11, 9:11, 11:6, 12:10) won their matches against Elgg. The winner of the direct duel (11.30 a.m.) remains in the title race.

The semi-finals are already on the program at the end of the day (6 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.). zuvo (The two matches in the President’s Cup are on the program at 4.30 pm.

All teams have arrived at the venue and were welcomed by Ralf Eisenhauer – the mayor of Mannheim reponsible for sports matters – and IFA President Verleger Joern.

In his opening speech at the official welcome dinner Verleger thanked the host of VfR Mannheim 1896 e.V. and the Stadt Mannheim for their support of the event. Today the competition started at 9.00 a.m. and all participating teams are fighting for the title best Fistball club team in the world.

The men’s and women’s World Tour Finals are returning to Germany. From 18 to 21 July the best club teams in the world will meet in Mannheim – at the same venue where the men’s Fistball World Championship took place a year ago.

It is almost exactly a year since the fistball world looked to Mannheim. The men’s world championship was a sporting spectacle – which will now be repeated this summer. From July 18 to 21, the IFA Fistball World Tour Finals – the Club World Championship – will take place in the Rhein-Neckar Stadium. Eight women’s and eight men’s teams will compete to determine the best club teams in the world. The two defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen (women) and SG Novo Hamburgo (men) will also be taking part in the four days of competition. They will first have to assert themselves in one of the two preliminary round groups, from which only the two best teams will remain in the title race and make it through to the semi-finals.

Women: Defending champions TV Jahn Schneverdingen hungry for another title win

The women from TV Jahn Schneverdingen (Germany) are currently the measure of all things: After triumphing at the 2023 World Tour Finals, the reigning German champions also won the European Cup for the first time since 2006 at the beginning of July. “We want to attack again this year and have our sights firmly set on the gold medal,” says Laura Kauk, captain of TV Jahn: “The demands on ourselves have risen enormously in recent years, the goal is clearly to bring the World Cup back to Schneverdingen!” In the preliminary round, the team will face FG Elgg-Ettenhausen (Switzerland), the newly crowned Austrian national champions FBC Linz-Urfahr and SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter, who are currently unbeaten at the top of the league table in Switzerland.

In the second preliminary round group, the winner of the South American Cup, Sogipa Porto Alegre (Brazil), will face the 2023 European Cup winners, TSV Dennach (Germany), among others. The group is completed by Faustball Kreuzlingen (Switzerland) and UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting (Austria).

Men: Big challenges for local hero TV Käfertal

The men’s preliminary round groups also promise plenty of excitement. TSV Pfungstadt, serial winners of German championships in recent years and European Cup winners in 2023, will face Union Tigers Vöcklabruck (Austrian champions in 2024), DSG UKJ Froschberg (3rd place Austria 2024) and the local heroes from TV Käfertal, who recently finished fourth in the European Cup, in their preliminary round group. Nevertheless, the starting position for TVK is not ideal. There is still a question mark behind the two attackers Nick Trinemeier and Marcel Stoklasa due to injury. However, defensive specialist Nico Müller is back in the squad. “That’s good for our squad,” emphasized Nick Trinemeier: “On the other hand, the boys put in a great performance at the Champions Cup. We accept the situation as it is.” The world champion rates the group as extremely strong: “We have two candidates for the final in Pfungstadt and Vöcklabruck, and Froschberg were also very successful in Austria. That means we have three tough games, but we want to give our best performance and win the games.”

Defending champions SG Novo Hamburgo (Brazil) are also likely to be among the favorites. In the preliminary round, the team will face their Brazilian opponents Sogipa Porto Alegre and the two Austrian teams UFG Grieskirchen/Pötting and TV Enns.

Organizers are looking forward to the event– After-work ticket on Thursday and Friday

Meanwhile, the preparations for the organizers have entered the home straight. VfR Mannheim, the City of Mannheim and the Förderverein Faustball² are looking forward to the start, which will take place on Wednesday evening with the traditional Welcome Dinner. “We are looking forward to a great event,” says Christoph Oberlehner, Secretary General of the International Fistball Association and head of the organizing committee. With VfR Mannheim, a soccer club has become heavily involved in the organization. “We at VfR were very enthusiastic about last year’s World Championship and the sport of fistball. This gave rise to the idea of us getting involved in the organization of an international fistball event,” explains Boris Scheuermann, President of VfR Mannheim: “We are delighted that we will be hosting the best club teams in the world over the next few days.” And the city of Mannheim is also looking forward to the event in the “world capital of fistball”, as Ingo Kirrinnis, Head of the Sports & Leisure Department, said: “It’s impressive that three German Championships and the 2023 World Championship have taken place since 2018 and that the next fistball event is now taking place here in Mannheim.”

Tickets for the matches are available at the box office, including the Feierabend-Ticket: This gives you the opportunity to watch the matches on Thursday and Friday from 5 pm for 5 euros each – with matches such as the classic men’s match between TSV Pfungstadt and TV Käfertal (Thursday, 6 pm) and the two women’s semi-finals on Friday (6 pm and 7.30 pm).

SWR broadcasts final matches in livestream

The men’s and women’s competitions start on Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19, with the preliminary round matches. The 40 matches of the 2024 World Tour Finals will be broadcast live on www.fistball.TV. SWR will also stream the four semi-finals and medal matches live. The commentator will be Patrick Stricker.

WEBSITE WT FINALS

Sportastic is continuing its commitment to international fistball. The Women’s Fistball World Championship in November and the IFA World Tour Finals 2024 and 2025 will be played with Sportastic fistballs. This means that the collaboration between the Austrian sports equipment manufacturer and the International Fistball Association will continue.

When the best women’s national teams determine the new women’s world champion in Montecarlo, Argentina, from November 7 to 10, the Sportastic ball will once again be in the spotlight. For the first time since the inaugural event in 1994, a Women’s World Championship will be held in Argentina. Twelve nations are set to take part in the international fistball highlight. As at the last two World Championships in 2018 and 2021, the twelve participating nations will play with the official Sportastic match ball. “We are expecting the biggest Fistball World Championship in history in Argentina,” says Jörn Verleger, President of the International Fistball Association: “We are all the happier that we can rely on the proven quality of Sportastic for the match ball.”

World Tour Finals also with Sportastic balls

The Women’s Fistball World Championship is not the only highlight on the 2024 fistball calendar. The IFA World Tour Finals will also be played with Sportastic balls. “Sportastic has provided the official match ball for our Club World Championship since the first event in 2018. We are very pleased that we can continue this trusting cooperation – even for the next two events,” says IFA Secretary General Christoph Oberlehner. The 2024 World Tour Finals – featuring the eight best men’s and women’s club teams in the world – will take place in Mannheim (Germany) from July 18 to 21. The 2025 event will also take place in Europe. Sportastic will also provide the match ball for the men’s and women’s competition.

“It is with great pleasure that we are once again providing the balls for the World Tour Finals and the Women’s World Cup in Argentina,” says Sportastic Managing Director Thomas Stadler: “The decades-long success story between IFA/EFA and Sportastic is now entering the next round. It’s great that the international sport of fistball has trusted our ball quality for so long. To the next decades!”