Cycle-ball Worlds: semi-finals set, Italy win the Challenger League

Austria beat Germany in the meeting of the group winners, and both join Switzerland and Czechia in the semi-finals. Germany's women stay unbeaten, and every title is decided on Sunday.

The men's Elite League group stage came to an end on Saturday, 31 October. In Group A, Germany's Michael Birkner and Robert Mlady added wins over Japan (9-1) and Belgium (7-3) to finish with all nine points, while France took second place after beating Belgium 7-1 and Japan 8-0. In Group B, Austria's Patrick Schnetzer and Markus Bröll defeated Hungary 17-0 and drew 5-5 with Czechia; Jiří Hrdlička st. and Jan Kripner had earlier beaten Switzerland 5-3, so both teams ended on seven points and Austria topped the group on goal difference. Switzerland's Timon and Yannick Fröhlich finished third after a 9-2 win over Hungary.

In the second round, Austria beat Germany 9-5 in the meeting of the group winners and went straight through to the semi-finals. Hungary and Japan drew 4-4 before Hungary won the 4-metre shoot-out 3-0, leaving Japan eighth and heading for the relegation match. Switzerland beat Belgium 6-0 and Czechia beat France 4-1. In the evening quarter-finals, Switzerland defeated France 4-2, Czechia beat Belgium 4-0 and Germany overcame Hungary 9-1.

In the women's tournament, defending champions Judith Wolf and Danielle Holzer beat Japan 9-0 and then got the better of Switzerland's Sava Baumann and Chiara Dotoli for a second time, 3-1. With nine points from three games, Germany can no longer be caught at the top. Italy's Elia and Renato Bianco won the Challenger League, beating Armenia 4-0 in the final. Slovakia took third place with a 6-3 win over Malaysia, and Hong Kong beat Great Britain 9-1 in the match for fifth.

Sunday, 1 November, opens with the women's games Switzerland v Japan at 10:27 and Germany v Japan at 11:45, which decide who faces Germany in the final at 13:40. In between, Italy meet Japan's men in the relegation match at 11:25, with the winner playing in the 2027 Elite League. The men's semi-finals pit Austria against Switzerland at 13:00 and Germany against Czechia at 13:20. The third-place match starts at 15:05 and the final at 16:15.