Champions Crowned in Two International Minigolf Tournaments in Germany and Belgium
Two International Minigolf Championships were contested between the 15th and 18th August, with the World Minigolf Sport Federation’s Youth World Championships held in Bad Münder, Germany and the European Minigolf Sport Federation’s Senior European Championships played for in Rozemaai, Belgium.
In both championships Minigolf Titles were available in Team events and Individual Strokeplay and Matchplay categories.
92 players from 14 countries competed in the sixth edition of the WMF Youth World Minigolf Championships with Germany retaining its team titles from 2010 in both the boy’s and girl’s categories. Sweden was runner-up, with Switzerland in third-place. Austria, Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia and Portugal also competed in the eight-round contest. The girl’s team competition featured six teams and the top three places were taken by Germany, Sweden and Austria. Czech Republic, Russia and Portugal were the other competing nations.
Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Kosovo and the Netherlands also sent players to compete in the individual tournaments. In the boy’s Strokeplay World Championship, Germany took the top five places, with Andreas Schneider the winner, one shot ahead of teammate Pascal Zeller. Sebastian Piekorz was third in the 12-round tournament that featured 67 players.
In the girl’s Strokeplay World Championship, Katharina Benn won the title following a play-off with teammate Annika Dellmann as both players tied after 12-rounds of competition. Sweden’s Sara Karlsson was third in the tournament that saw 25 players take part.
In the WMF Youth World Minigolf Matchplay Championships, Finland’s Eetu Ikola took the boy’s title, defeating Germany’s Philip Lau in the final. Markus Nilsson defeated Derice Shumilov Susoho in an all-Sweden play-off for third-place. In the girl’s WMF Youth World Minigolf Matchplay Championships, Lara Jehle of Austria defeated Vanessa Peuker of Germany to take the title. In an all-Germany play-off for third-place Strokeplay Runner-up Annika Dellmann defeated Strokeplay World Champion Katharina Benn.
The European Minigolf Sport Federation’s Senior European Minigolf Championships was hosted by the Minigolfclub Rozemaai in Rozemaai, Belgium and 114 players from 12 countries competed in the tournament.
Sweden was successful in winning both the Men’s and Women’s Team Championships. Italy was the runner-up in the Men’s tournament, with Austria in third-place. Germany was second in the Women’s competition, with Austria in third-place. Eleven countries contested the Men’s title with Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Portugal and Denmark also taking part. Nine nations were in the Women’s event, with Italy, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal also competing. Luxembourg was also represented among the twelve nations in the individual competitions.
In the Senior European Strokeplay Championships, Martin Lundell of Sweden won the men’s title, finishing five shots ahead of runner-up Leuci Francesco of Italy. WMF Ranked World Number One Reinhard Schuster of Austria was third in the 77 player contest. World Number One Gaby Rahmlow from Germany was crowned women’s Strokeplay European champion. The battle for second-place was between two Swedes as Linda Lundberg defeated Lena Nilsson in a play-off after both players had tied after ten rounds of play. 37 players competed in the women’s championship.
The Senior European Matchplay Championship was won by Karl-Heinz Gerwert of Germany and Bernice Thors of Sweden. In the men’s Matchplay final Gerwert defeated the Strokeplay European Champion Martin Lundell to win the title. Thors beat Ornella Campora of Italy in the women’s final.
The next International Minigolf Tournament is the EMF European Championships to be held at the Clube de Minigolfe do Porto in Portugal from the 29th August to the 1st September.
The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the umbrella organisation of Minigolf sports association’s worldwide and continental associations in Asia, Europe and America. The WMF is a member of SportAccord, the General Association of International Sports Federations. The WMF organises biannual world championships for youth and elite players, as well as biannual Continental Championships in Europe, Asia and the USA. There are four minigolf systems recognised by the WMF; Concrete, Miniaturegolf, Feltgolf and Minigolf Open Standard (MOS). For more information please visit http://www.minigolfsport.com