IWRF ANNOUNCE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE FOR METRO 2021 IWRF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – DIVISION B (30.06 – 03.07.2021)
Warsaw, the capital of Poland, will be the venue for the first fully sanctioned International Wheelchair Rugby Tournament to be held since the outbreak of the pandemic. The sport has been eagerly awaiting the return to competition and the host nation will feature in the opening fixture against near neighbours and fierce rivals, the Czech Republic.
Just seven places in the IWRF World Rankings separate four of the Teams, Poland, Finland, Switzerland and Russia. The other two Teams, Israel and the Czech Republic were promoted from Division C and the step up in levels will be a tough hill to climb. However, the lack of competitive opportunities for all of the Teams in the past 18 months will no doubt be a great leveller and we could be in for some shocks, which will make it hugely exciting.
Sponsors Metro have supported the sport of Wheelchair Rugby for many years and the Metro Cup has been a long-standing fixture in the calendar. IWRF President, Richard Allcroft announced “I am delighted that Metro continue to invest in our sport and have been instrumental in elevating the long-standing Metro Cup to a Championship event. The Local Organising Committee have been outstanding in the face of great difficulties created by Covid-19. When the event had to be postponed in 2020, they continued to work tirelessly and closely with the IWRF to make sure that the Championship would be held as soon as it was safe for athletes and officials, whose health and safety remains everyone’s primary focus. I, along with many others who have seen little or no competitive wheelchair rugby for well over a year now, cannot wait to watch the live-streaming and see these six teams do battle.”
President of the Polish Federation, Peter Kaluba, stated “It is fantastic to be able to play International Wheelchair Rugby once again and for Poland to host its first European Championship event is a real honour and a privilege. We are looking forward to some extremely competitive matches between the Teams. Our Federation motto is the ‘Power of Fair Play’ and to us the most important aspect is that the Championship upholds and promotes that ideal for the entire wheelchair rugby family.”
Unusual times have created an unusual Tournament Schedule. The six teams competing will all play each other in a Round Robin format comprising 15 matches. The two teams placed first and second in the League at the end of the Tournament will be promoted to Division A but there will be no relegation as all the remaining teams, along with Austria and Ireland, who were not able to participate due to the disruption caused by Covid-19, will join Spain and Italy from Division C to compete in a combined “Division B and C” Championship in 2022. It will be strange not having an actual final to determine the Tournament winner but with six teams, this format provides the purest way to rank them as there are no Pool games where one might avoid other Teams.
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
22 | Gosteli Patrick | M | 0.5 |
5 | Moser Adrian | M | 1.0 |
1 | Langhard Yves | M | 1.0 |
2 | Hähnel Christian | M | 1.5 |
7 | Mazee Dave | M | 2.0 |
9 | Jenal Jeremy | M | 2.5 |
13 | Schillig Anton | M | 2.5 |
20 | Dautaj Armend | M | 3.0 |
25 | Frei Roger | M | N |
23 | Krauer Fabian | M | N |
Function | Name | Gender |
Co-Coach | Härdi Christian | M |
Co-Coach | Diederich Steve | M |
Staff | Thalmann Andre | M |
Staff | Wieland Roland | M |
Physiotherapist | Schweizer Christina | F |
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
8 | Azenkot Meir | M | 0.5 |
15 | Guwetta Adi | M | 0.5 |
2 | Nigri Alon | M | 1.5 |
6 | Koren Yosef | M | 1.5 |
12 | Baruch Chen | M | 1.5 |
11 | Zidkiyahu Mordechai | M | 2.0 |
3 | Tereza Shir | M | 2.0 |
5 | Gips Ofer | M | N |
9 | Ben Ishay Ziv | M | N |
1 | Shimshilashvili Binyamin | M | N |
7 | Karsenty Neria Moshe | M | N |
Function | Name | Gender |
Coach | Hauben Eliezer | M |
Assistant Coach | Spivak Shlomi | M |
Manager | Weinreb David | M |
Mechanic | Buzaglo Asher | M |
Physiotherapist | Maladziozhkin Milena | F |
Staff | Ben Ishay Uri | M |
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
2 | Lukes David | M | 0.5 |
11 | Moravik Tomas | M | 1.0 |
10 | Oppenauer Petr | M | 1.5 |
4 | Plesko Jiri | M | 1.5 |
8 | Varton Filip | M | 2.0 |
1 | Flisak Jaroslav | M | 2.0 |
6 | Vasa Marek | M | 2.0 |
3 | Ronisch Valter | M | 2.0 |
5 | Mikeska Jan | M | 2.5 |
Function | Name | Gender |
Manager | Moravcova Lucie | F |
Physiotherapist | Frohlichova Jirina | F |
Staff | Kozdera Jan | M |
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
8 | Kosider Krzysztof | M | 0.5 |
24 | Depciuch Tomasz | M | 2.0 |
3 | Kapusta Krzysztof | M | 2.0 |
20 | Łachmanowicz Leszek | M | 2.0 |
22 | Sierakowski Paweł | M | 2.0 |
35 | Stankiewicz Piotr | M | 2.0 |
31 | Szałabski Łukasz | M | 2.0 |
4 | Szostak Paweł | M | 2.0 |
21 | Brudek Łukasz | M | 2.5 |
10 | Rękawiecki Łukasz | M | 3.0 |
1 | Książek Tomasz | M | N |
7 | Bartniak Maciej | M | N |
Function | Name | Gender |
Coach | Kozak Janusz | M |
Manager | Magdalena Wójkiewicz | F |
Mechanic | Kosider Marian | M |
Physiotherapist | Zuszek Agnieszka | F |
Physiotherapist | Spychała Michał | M |
Physiotherapist | Skibiński Krzysztof | M |
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
4 | Pasanen Anna | F | 0.5 |
55 | Tella Tuomas | M | 0.5 |
6 | Sinisaari Antti | M | 1.5 |
2 | Nisso Tuukka | M | 2.0 |
25 | Räsänen Jouni | M | 2.5 |
31 | Nuotio Juuso | M | 3.0 |
Function | Name | Gender |
Coach | Peltola Toni | M |
Manager | Mört Risto | M |
Mechanic | Janhunen Teemu | M |
Staff | Sinisaari Heli | F |
Staff | Pasanen Maria | F |
Staff | Hörkkö Mia | F |
Number | Name | Gender | Class |
13 | Krivov Valery | M | 0.5 |
53 | Khamov Dmitry | M | 1.0 |
55 | Bushmanov Sergei | M | 1.0 |
14 | Tsvetkov Vladimir | M | 1.5 |
9 | Ishin Artem | M | 1.5 |
8 | Tsibulskii Ivan | M | 2.0 |
5 | Mysliaev Ilia | M | 3.5 |
1 | Kuznetsov Vladimir | M | N |
Function | Name | Gender |
Coach | Glushakov Sergey | M |
Coach | Leonhard Andre | M |
Manager | Prima Mikhail | M |
Physician | Chashchina Olga | F |
Staff | Kurbanov Ramazan | M |
Staff | Lokshin Mikhail | M |
Staff | Efimov Mikhail | M |
Staff | Simakin Mikhail | M |
Matches start from the morning on the 30th of June and run for four days till 3rd of July at the Arena Ursynów. The full Schedule is detailed below:
Rank | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Points | Tries For | Tries Against | Tries Difference |
1 | SWITZERLAND | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 252 | 179 | +73 |
2 | POLAND | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 256 | 202 | +54 |
3 | RUSSIA | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 235 | 208 | +27 |
4 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 212 | 246 | -34 |
5 | ISRAEL | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 213 | 250 | -37 |
6 | FINLAND | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 167 | 250 | -83 |