| The Swiss win the Nations Cup |
| The appetizer to the World Championships has come to an end and the home team surprised everyone by making it to the podium for the first time in Nations Cup history; the Italians proudly accepted the Silver after an emotional final against the triumphant Swiss |
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(05/29/07)
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The closing ceremony of the first Nations Cup tournament ever held in Italy was indeed a great celebration of the event. Yesterday evening against the breathtaking backdrop of Legnano’s (Milan) historic Palazzo Leone da Perego, the World Minigolf Federation’s (WMF) sport director Gerhard Zimmermann performed the awards ceremony in a climax of great excitement for all present. «I want to thank the organization –said the director- for all their hard work in putting together the logistics of this tournament, not to mention all the problems they helped work out tied to the bad weather conditions of the last few days. In the end they were able to organize one of the most exciting Nations Cup of the last few years».
Also to do the honours of welcoming the guests was the president of the Italian Minigolf Federation (FIGSP), Giuliano Banfi. The president, who was visibly moved, expressed his extreme satisfaction for both «the great results of the sporting event» and for «the final results of the Italian national team». This was the first time in the history of this particular tournament that the Italians ever went home with a medal. In fact the hosting team received the silver, following only Switzerland, which proudly went home with
the gold, and Sweden bringing up the third position.
The final day of the competition was played under some of the worst weather conditions in NC history, with the continual suspensions, 9 in total, acting as a bad joke to the favourites. Above all, Sweden which was expected to take home the gold because they were the only nation who had 2 teams in the finals, in the end had to kneel down to both Italy and the victorious Switzerland. The Swiss, one of the favourites together with Sweden, Finland and Germany, were not once discouraged by the bad weather conditions: at the critical moment when Italy and Sweden were in the lead and sure winners, the Swiss kicked it up a notch with a series of “aces” (holes in one); enough to intimidate any self-respecting team. In the final eliminations Switzerland bypassed Italy 3 and Germany 3 to make a secure place for themselves in the final round, much thanks to the hard work of Swiss Samuel Hofer, who ended up winning the prize for the individual male category.
The Italians made it to the finals thanks to a “perfect game” in the semi-finals: the Swedish team 2, made up of Peter Eisenschmidt and Karin Wiklud had a one stroke advantage when the performance of the Italian Rudi
Giroldini and Sara Marchiani put and end to it; in the final round of the semi-finals these two Italians didn’t let their nerves get to them and completed the 9 holes in only 9 strokes. Then the fatal error of Jonas Gustafsson on the eighth hole of miniature proved to be devastating for the Scandinavians: their one stroke advantage was soon over when Marchiani came out fighting and finished the semi-final to a round of applause from the mostly Italian audience.
The finals proved to be just as exciting and exhilarating as the semi-finals, with Switzerland 1 and Italy 1 fighting it out for first place. At the end, the Swiss rose to the top, taking the gold from the hosting Nation, but by the sound of the applause resonating from Relax Time in Canegrate, all were happy and the event was a true success, now players and fans alike are patiently awaiting the World Championships in August.
Classifications:
Teams: Switzerland 1, Italy 1, Sweden 2
Individual men: Samuel Hofer (Switzerland) - 176 colpi; Massimiliano Crespi (Italy) - 180;
Rudi Giroldini (Italy) - 185
Individual women: Sandra Nordin (Sweden) - 195;
Karin Wiklud (Sweden) - 196;
Claudia Schuster (Austria) - 199
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