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Luxembourg’s national sports centre, D'Coque, was the setting for the western division of the first shared IKF European bowl.
Four of the six teams made their IKF tournament debut in the round-robin competition, and Wales emerged victorious with victories over all the other nations, to become the first ever winners of the challenge cup for the western nations.
The tournament went down to the wire; at the start of the last game between Ireland and Wales, three teams were still in with a chance of winning the competition.
An Ireland win by 6 or more would give them the trophy on goal difference, winning by 3, 4 or 5 would hand the tournament to France, whereas Wales could afford to lose by 1 or 2 and still claim the title.
Ireland started strongly, racing into a 2:0 lead in the opening minutes, but Wales used all their experience to come back and eventually win the game 11:8 and the tournament overall with 5 wins out of 5.
France took the runner-up spot by virtue of their 12-8 win over Ireland.
They played some excellent team korfball throughout the weekend with their only loss being a narrow defeat to the Welsh.
The IKF’s newest member Ireland, led by former GB-International Tom Brady finished third.
Scotland ended on the fourth place with victories over the hosting Luxembourg team and the Swedish team.
For the neutrals, the most exciting match was the game between Luxembourg and the debutants from Sweden. After 40 minutes of normal time the score was 6-6 and the Golden-Goal-period of five minutes didn’t deliver a decision.
The penalty shoot-out was eventually won by the hosts, but the Swedish team will be pleased to claim their first ever international point.
The tournament was superbly organised by the F.L.K.B. with excellent accommodation and facilities and a very friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere.
Photo: The winning team
Statistics are available for download in the PDF files.
Match statistics:
Final ranking:
|
|
W |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
| 1. |
Wales |
5 |
0 |
49 |
28 |
15 |
| 2. |
France |
4 |
1 |
46 |
32 |
12 |
| 3. |
Ireland |
3 |
2 |
41 |
34 |
9 |
| 4. |
Scotland |
2 |
3 |
37 |
38 |
6 |
| 5. |
Luxembourg |
1 |
4 |
25 |
41 |
2 |
| 6. |
Sweden |
0 |
5 |
23 |
46 |
1 |
|
