The women’s fistball national league in Austria will be decided this weekend. After the last preliminary round matches on Saturday, the indoor state championship title will be awarded on Sunday. The defending champions from Nußbach, who were undefeated on the first weekend of competition, are already in the semi-finals. Behind them, Wels, Seekirchen, Laakirchen and Arnreit still have a chance of making it into the top four. For the so far winless teams of Wolkersdorf/Neusiedl and Froschberg it goes around a conciliatory conclusion of the shortened indoor season.
Top favorite is once again the reigning champion Nußbach. With the maximum of eight points and especially with impressive performances on the first two days of the preliminary round, the Kremstal girls have set the bar high for the competition. However, they will do everything in their power to prevent the successful defense of their title. The game mode could help in this respect. The preliminary rounds and the semifinals will be played on two winning sets, which could cause one or the other surprise. Only in the third-place match and the final will the usual “best-of-five” system be used again.
With six points each, Wels and runner-up Seekirchen go into the last day of the preliminary round as the first pursuers of Nußbach. Laakirchen and Arnreit also have legitimate hopes of reaching the semifinals with four points. After all, there are still four direct duels between the top 5 teams in the final round that could shake up the standings once again.
For the stragglers from Wolkersdorf/Neusiedl, the main thing after the botched opening weekend is to get back to their usual game and bring this year’s championship to a conciliatory conclusion. In its first season in the Bundesliga, newcomer Froschberg wants to gain as much experience as possible for next year and surprise the favorites with light-hearted performances.
As in the previous week, the Bundesliga will be held in a “bubble” at the Bundesport- und Freizeitzentrum Faaker See. On Saturday, each team will play two matches on the third day of the preliminary round. On Sunday, all seven places will be played out.
No fans are allowed in Faak, but Faustball Austria will broadcast all matches via www.fistball.tv in a livestream.