CZECH REPUBLIC TAKES JUNIOR EVENT IN RUSSIA
2005-07-21

The six-day European Championship Cadette Girls 2005 concluded this past weekend in Tuchkovo (Moscow region), Russia. The Czech Republic edged the Netherlands, 6-5, to win the event, with the host country coming in third. Poland and Romania finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Greece and the Ukraine having had to withdraw in the week leading up to the tournament.

The final game was a fitting matchup, with the Czech Republic and Netherlands teams having gone a combined 13-3 (won-lost) in the qualification round. In the playoffs, Russia beat Poland to eliminate the latter, and the Czech Republic beat the Netherlands, setting up the final day of play when the Netherlands eliminated Russia and then advanced to the final game, which would be their third matchup with the Czech Republic. The third time would not be a charm though, as all three games ended in one-run losses for the Netherlands.

The event was last played in 2003 in Prague, where Italy won the gold medal, followed by the Czech Republic and Russia. The European Championship Cadette Girls tournament began in 2002 in Italy, with the Czech Republic having won, followed by Russia and Italy.

The Russian Softball Federation’s Marina Dubinskaya, who indicated that State TV companies were doing reports on this year’s event, said, “We hope that by hosting European competitions here we will shed the image of Russia as being an unsafe country, and we are looking forward to hosting yet a bigger event in the future with more teams attending, as this always has a very positive impact on our sport in Russia and many of the CIS countries.”

Elsewhere in Europe, the Intercontinental Cup begins tomorrow in Madrid, with the women’s national teams from Argentina, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and USA all set to compete. The Intercontinental Cup is an ISF-sanctioned event.

That tournament will end next Wednesday, July 27, less than a week before the European Championship begins in Prague, with the women’s national team from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Sweden all expected to compete in the “A” Pool and Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Israel, Slovakia, and Ukraine all scheduled to play in the “B” Pool.

European Championship Cadette Girls & European Championship