New Zealand win titles in Men’s and Women’s Competition of 2018 Asia-Pacific Fistball Championships (APFC) in Melbourne. The New Zealand women’s team continued their dominance over much-improved team Australia, taking the final in a deceptively-close 4-0 straight sets final.
In the men’s competition, New Zealand had to valiantly battle and scrap for the maximum amount of sets, as they finally turned the tables on the more-experienced Aussies, winning a thrilling back-and-forth final in 7 sets over more than 2 hours of play, in what was undoubtedly the greatest fistball match ever played Down Under.
In third place finished the Fistball Federation Of India, after they used their experience to overcome the newest fistballers in our family – the Samoan Fistball Association – in a tight 4-1 tussle. Despite having only played for 6 weeks prior to the tournament, the Samoans showed incredible improvement as the tournament went on.

IFA Administrative Director Christoph Oberlehner was part of APFC and used the time in Australia for meetings with all participating federations to discuss their future plans, as well as how IFA could help them in their further development. One major topic was also the organization of international events in the Asia-Pacific Area in the future. All Federations put a lot of efforts and passion in the development of our sport in their region and IFA is very glad to see the progress of Fistball here.

Congratulations to the organizers for an excellent Championship and to all participating teams for their performance on and off the pitch. A large fistball family was formed at this event, and friendships have been formed that surely last the rest of time. Together we are Fistball!

All the matches from the last day can still be watched at the tournament website: https://apfc2018.com/tournament/livestream/

Women’s Championships:
Q1. IFA All-Stars def ️New Zealand 3:1 (15-14, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8)
Q2. IFA All-Stars def ️Australia 3:0 (11-6, 13-11, 11-9)
Q3. ️New Zealand def ️Australia 3:0 (11-5, 11-5, 12-10)
Q4. IFA All-Stars def ️Australia 3:1 (14-15, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5)
Q5. IFA All-Stars def New Zealand 3:2 (11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4)
Q6. ️New Zealand def Australia 3:0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-4)
Q7. ️New Zealand def IFA All-Stars 3:0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9)
Q8. Australia def IFA All-Stars 3:2 (7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 11-3)

Women’s Championship Final – New Zealand def Australia 4:0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4)

Men’s Championships:
Q1. Australia def ️Samoa 4:0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5)
Q2. ️New Zealand def ️Samoa 4:1 (11-6, 11-8, 13-15, 11-6, 11-6)
Q3. New Zealand def ️India 4:0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6)
Q4. ️Australia def ️India 4:0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4)
Q5. India def Samoa 4:0 (11-9, 11-5, 15-13, 11-6)
Q6. New Zealand def Australia 4:3 (5-11, 4-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 14-12, 11-3)

Semi-Final #1 – ️New Zealand def ️Samoa 4:1 (11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10)
Semi-Final #2 – Australia def ️India 4:0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-3, 11-2)

Third Place Playoff – India def Samoa 4:1 (14-12, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8)

Men’s Championship Final – New Zealand def Australia 4:3 (3-11, 15-13, 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10)