South American flair triumphs over Swiss efficiency
Watched by a large crowd and VIPs from Linz, four teams from the leading group fought to put themselves in the best possible position for tomorrow's quarter finals.
Brazil - Chile 3:2 (11:1, 11:6, 10:12, 10:12, 11:4)
The first match was one of two all-South American contests. On a heavy pitch, Brazil were barely troubled and cruised to victory in the first two sets against Chile. But in a completely unexpected turnaround, the third and fourth sets went to Chile, before Brazil comfortably took the fifth set 11:4.
Switzerland - Argentina 1:3 (11:5, 10:12, 13:15, 7:11)
Then the Swiss produced the first surprise of the 2011 Fistball WCH. Although they won the first set with their usual style, their cohesion seemed to desert them utterly in the following sets. The match remained exciting with the result in doubt for a long time, until the Argentinians clinched the final set with a clear margin of 11:7.
Chile - Argentina 0:3 (5:11, 8:11, 11:13)
The second South American clash in Linz saw Chile face Argentina. Both teams rested their main attackers for long periods with an eye to tomorrow's quarter finals. Despite this they both produced top quality fistball. The lead changed hands frequently, but was lost each time owing to careless errors. In the end, the result was a clear 3:0 win for the favourites from Argentina.
Brazil - Switzerland 3:2 (8:11, 11:8, 7:11, 11:8, 11:9)
But it was the day's final match that really gave the large crowd of fistball fans a treat. Brazil and Switzerland went head to head in a battle for a better position for the knock-out stage. Brazilian flair was pitted against Swiss efficiency. In the first set, Switzerland's main attacker Cyrill "Fausto" Schreiber scored an incredible number of points on his service, but in the following sets the Brazilians set about withstanding the barrage with some truly spectacular picks. In the fifth and decisive set the Brazilians opened up a 10:5 lead before the Swiss rallied and gave everything they had one last time. With the score standing at 10:9 Brazil finally scored the winning point to seal a deserved victory.
Linz is now looking forward to what will doubtless be exciting quarter finals, which will be played in front of a sell-out crowd.