EUROPEAN GOALBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SWEDEN

Slovenia is the brand-new European men's goalball champion (one of the few sports specifically for blind persons), following the latest continental Championships, held in Stockholm (Sweden) on November 8-9th. This event, which proved an organisational success despite only four months' preparation, brought together teams from Denmark, Slovenia, Lithuania, Hungary, Spain, Germany and Poland, apart from the host team, Sweden, who were the top-ranking European teams in this sport.

As an opening ceremony, the delegations were invited by the local authorities to a dinner in the City Hall of the Swedish capital.

RESULTS

As Hakan Ryholt informed us from Stockholm, the Championship was organised in two groups; one made up of Sweden, Slovenia, Hungary and Germany, and the other comprising Denmark, Lithuania, Spain and Poland. Following the round robin system, three teams from each group qualified to go through, with Germany and Poland being eliminated.

Next, each of the six teams had to play against the other five and the top four (Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia and Lithuania, in that order) went on to the semi-finals, where Denmark eliminated Lithuania

and Slovenia beat Sweden. In the final, Slovenia beat Denmark (3-1) and Sweden won third place, beating Lithuania 6-4.

Björn Eklund, member of the IBSA Executive until the Casablanca Assembly, awarded the medals to the top three teams in a closing ceremony, followed by a farewell dinner where additional distinctions were also awarded:

* To the top scorer: Genrik Pavliukianee (from Lithuania)
* To the "all-star team" (chosen by the coaches present): Genrik Pavliukianee (Lithuania), Ivan Winkler (Slovenia) and Erlend More (Slovenia).
* To the most valuable player (chosen by the referees): Boris Samuelsson (Sweden).

SLOVENIA TRIUMPHANT IN STOCKHOLM

The Slovenian team at the medal ceremony