There could not have been a better farewell to their long cycle-ball career for 50-year-old Lars Gröer and 55-year-old Jens Wündisch.
The duo from the host club of the fifth round of the 2025 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup – HRV Chemnitz – had a wildcard to compete against some of the best in the world in their German hometown.
“We had no chance of winning the tournament,” said Gröer. “We’ve been playing in the third-tier Oberliga for 25 years, so we were clear outsiders,” stressed the two oldest players of the day.
In the opening game, Chemnitz took advantage of an early opportunity against two World Champions. The reigning World Champion Raphael Kopp (RMC Stein/GER) had to do without regular partner Bernd Mlady, but had a noble replacement in the form of Bernd’s cousin and former partner Gerhard Mlady, himself a World Champion in 2017 and 2021.
In the opening match against Chemnitz, there was an initial lack of coordination between the two experienced players, of which the local heroes took advantage after 40 seconds to make the scoreline 1-0 in their favour. In the end, Gröer and Wündisch were to lose 7-1.
“To take the lead against two UCI World Champions and not lose by double digits, that was a huge success for us,” said Gröer.
After that, Chemnitz managed two unexpected draws against the Austrians RV Sulz (6-6) and the reigning French Champions, VC Dorlisheim (4-4). “With that, our farewell was already a success,” was Wündisch’s interim conclusion. Consequently, the home team’s 2-9 defeat in their very last match for eighth place against Svitavka/CZE was bearable.
Meanwhile, the tournament victory went to the favourites of the day from RV Dornbirn/AUT, (Patrick Schnetzer and Stefan Feuerstein).
The reigning European Champions and World Championships silver medallists prevailed undefeated in the preliminary round, then beat the Kopp/Mlady duo 3-0 in the semi-finals.
Waiting for them in the final were Altdorf II (SUI), with the current World Championships bronze medallist Jon Müller and his partner Fabian Hauri. Their semi-final had been a club derby against Yannick and Timon Fröhlich – from which they prevailed 4-2.
The final was once again the highlight of the World Cup round’s evening, when approximately 350 spectators got to see no fewer than 12 goals scored as Dornbirn prevailed against Altdorf II, 7-5.
The World Cup leaders’ jersey was donned by the team from Stein, who defeated Altdorf I by a score of 4-3 in the match for third place. In doing so they replaced Großkoschen (GER) at the top of the overall ranking.
Großkoschen, winner of the fourth round in Sangerhausen/GER as recently as mid-September, were to finish last in Chemnitz. Eric Lehmann had competed without his twin brother Tim, but with second division player Oscar Müller at his side, only claiming some success with a preliminary round draw against Altdorf II, who went on to make the final.
