Sport Austria Finals inspire associations: We'll be back!
Sunday is not a day of rest at the Sport Austria Finals powered by Intersport & Holding Graz. But on the contrary! The program included decisions in 15 sports. The fans were offered talent tests in rapid chess and inline speed skating, experienced the best artistic gymnasts in the country on the individual devices and once again saw top-class martial arts. When it comes to padel, the country's number 1 didn't have any fun. Even the rain couldn't dampen the joy of all sports facilities.
KARATE
“We'll be back!” Was the Karateka's promise on the final day of the Sport Austria Finals. "We are already looking forward to 2022, next year we will be launching a few hundred karateka", says Karate Austria General Secretary Ewald Roth.
“This Sport Austria Finals project got off to a perfect start and really has a future. It is important that we can be there. We were optimally looked after and it was a pleasure to finally be able to fight in front of spectators again. There was a spirit of optimism among all athletes ”, summarizes Roth after two days of national championships in the ASKÖ-Halle Eggenberg.
“The infrastructure here with the large booths, two warm-up halls and the large auditorium is ideal. The hall management was perfect, which is why we can also host the championships in all junior classes here in 2022. "
On the final day there was also fighting in the team competitions. In the women's final, Karate-do Wels prevailed 2-0 against Karate Leistungszentrum Pinzgau. In the men's category, the Salzburg regional association won gold with a 2-1 win against LZ Steiermark, while Pinzgau went to bronze.
CHESS
Title double for Felix Blohberger! The 19-year-old Viennese also won the state championship in blitz chess on Sunday as part of the Sport Austria Finals. With 9,5 points from 11 games, Blohberger managed to relegate Austria's number 1, Markus Ragger, to second place, just like the day before.
The bronze medal went to Marc Morgunov, a 16-year-old talent from Vienna. A total of 200 participants took part.
The 19-year-old Blohberger started in the Stefaniensaal in the Graz Congress in the fight for the title with a surprising defeat in the 2nd round against Emanuel Frank, but then put on a winning streak that was only interrupted in the 10th round with a draw against Ragger . Ragger, for his part, lost to Philipp Enöckl in round 4 and had to allow points to be shared two rounds later against Florian Mostbauer. In the end, he was half a point short of the title.
There was also a tight decision among women. Annika Fröwis and Denise Trippold each achieved 7 points. Thanks to a better second ranking, gold went to Fröwis. The bronze medal went to Anna Christina Ragger, the winner in rapid chess.
INLINE SPEEDSKATING
"The organizational effort was incredibly high due to Covid-19, but it paid off," says organizer Hans-Peter Kraus from SC Highlanders. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, the Graz club applied to host the Austrian State Championships as part of the Sport Austria Finals - and won the bid.
In addition to a lot of work, there was also great sport. "Unfortunately without spectators, we had more inquiries than ever before," said Kraus, who was able to look forward to many medals for his protégés. “Those were the most successful title fights in five years!” Above all, the young hopes cleared away: Tanja Wachswender won gold four times in the youth class, Ariana Softic won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
In the general class, Vanessa Herzog won four national championships - the Tyrolean was also in a class of her own in the elimination race over 10.000 m on Sunday - and Christian Kromoser won three gold and one silver.
"It was cool to finally be racing again - the organization team did a great job," said Herzog, who is setting off for a six-day training camp in Italy on Monday. The long-term goal is getting closer and closer: "The anticipation for the summer season is huge, but my focus is already completely on Beijing 2022."
The most successful clubs besides the hosts were ÖISC Vienna, STU Eisenstadt and SC Wörgl. The spaghetti Bolognese was a complete success, for which more than 12 kilograms of minced meat were cooked - on Sunday lunchtime the last portion was sold despite the rain.
ART EXERCISE
The 75th Art Tower State Championships were concluded on Sunday in the Raiffeisen Sportpark with the device finals. Seven different gymnasts on a total of ten pieces of equipment (four women, six men) won the gold medals. Marlies Männersdorfer was named the most successful athlete of the anniversary edition with four gold medals (team, all-around, uneven bars, balance beam). In the men's category, local hero Alexander Benda was the big winner with three titles (all around, floor, horizontal bar).
Vinzenz Höck proved with the rings that he is one of the absolute world class. After a top freestyle on Saturday with 14.900 points, the double World Cup winner and vice-European champion of 2020 did not have to show his full difficulty program in front of his home audience in the finals on Sunday in order to still win clearly with the renewed daily high score of 14.500.
“I came here to show nice exercises and to win the rings title, I succeeded. I am very satisfied with the exercises, three medals is a great result. State championships are always something special, especially in my home town of Graz. I think the idea of the Sport Austria Finals is great, there was a special sporting flair in the whole city ”, said Höck, who is going to the World Cup in Osijek (CRO) next week.
ÖFT sports director and overall event manager Eva Pöttschacher sums it up with satisfaction: “We have made another significant improvement in level. There has never been such a strong performance in recent years. "
KICKBOXING
Zimmermann Festival at the State Kickboxing Championship in the Union Sports Hall. The exceptional talent Eric Zimmermann won five individual and team titles on two days of competition. “The weekend couldn't have gone better for me. I am very satisfied with my performance and overjoyed that I can take home six gold medals. That makes you want to go to the upcoming tournaments, ”said the delighted 17-year-old Carinthian double European champion. Raphael Wassertheurer, Zimmermann's team colleague at the Union Velden wellness and martial arts club, won a total of three gold medals. Johannes Weninger from the Point Fighters Thermenregion won the title in the Pointfight +94 kg category.
Nikolas Gstättner, Management Director of the Association for Kick and Thai Boxing, took stock after two days of competition with more than 100 athletes: “We are more than satisfied. Our athletes pushed themselves to top performance. The organization was great. We hope that we will be part of the Sport Austria Finals again in 2022. "
PADEL
David Alten and Christoph Krenn have once again impressively demonstrated their supremacy in Austria. The duo confidently won the title at the Padel Championships in the Racket Sport Center Graz.
On the day of the final, the two Viennese made short work of them: First of all, the two finished off Georg Hubich and Andreas Spreitzer 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals. In the second semi-final, Michael Moitzi and Patrick Ludwig prevailed against Niklas Schmutz and Martin Schmidt.
In the final, Alten / Krenn left the local heroes Moitzi / Ludwig no chance and won again 6: 0, 6: 0. With this they secured their second championship title in a row.
“We have decided to play at full throttle. There's nothing to give away at a championship, ”smiled Krenn, who had headed the Racketlon world rankings for years before he dared to switch to padel a few years ago. His partner added: “Big compliments to all players, the level is getting better and better. Even if the result was clear today, there are some couples who definitely challenge us. "
In the women's final, the final turned into a real thriller: Barbara Prenner and Elisabeth Seehofer were already 5-1 ahead of Rebeca Fernandez Niederacher and Mirjam Gartner in the third and decisive set before the latter managed to catch up. Match balls were blocked, suddenly it was 5: 5. In the end, Prenner / Seehofer still got the upper hand with 7: 5 and celebrated their first joint title.
“We're just relieved, the two of them did a great race to catch up and made it really difficult for us. The final was great fun, ”said Prenner, paying tribute to the final opponents.
Her partner was also relieved: “As the saying goes: suddenly we started to think. It can happen that quickly and a tour is gone. Luckily it was enough. ”Meanwhile, her standard partner, Christine Seehofer, was playing in the Racketlon competition:“ Unfortunately she couldn't be there this time, she is clearly the best player in Austria. Hopefully Chrissi will be able to play again next time. "
Running the championships as part of the Sport Austria Finals powered by Intersport & Holding Graz turned out to be spot on. Christoph Krenn explains: “This is a sensational idea, many thanks to Sport Austria and everyone involved for letting us take part. There were cameramen and photographers in the competitions, the games were broadcast live. This is priceless added value for our sport. "
In the future, Krenn / Alten want to focus on the international tournaments again. Alten: “There is a big tournament in Milan at the end of June, after which we will go to Valencia. Training camps in the south are also planned, we just need these strong opponents in Spain to develop further. Our dream is to enter the main competition of the World Padel Tour, that's what we're working for. "
All information, news and results from the Sport Austria Finals powered by Intersport & Holding Graz can be found online at www.sportaustriafinals.at - The live streams of the title decisions are collected on www.sportpassaustria.at!
