At the goal of dreams: Denmark’s Nikolaj Richelsen holds the World Cup trophy aloft.

Switzerland wins World Cup bronze with Golden Goal

Switzerland makes sporting history in powerchair hockey: In the match for the World Championship bronze medal, the team of national coach Daniel Pulver and assistant Raphaël Mathis wins against Finland 5:4 after overtime. Nelson Braillard scored the golden goal in the 46th minute. In the final, Denmark beat top favourite the Netherlands 4:3 after extra time. Anders Berenth scored his 32nd goal of the tournament to win the World Cup.

The Swiss national team is riding a wave of success. In the match for third place at the 5th IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Championships in Sursee, the host team won against Finland 5:4 after extra time in a thriller in the Stadthalle that could hardly be surpassed in terms of suspense. 600 spectators saw the decisive “golden goal” by Nelson Braillard. The player from Torpedo Turicum poked the ball over the line after 5:25 minutes in overtime. For the first time in powerchair hockey history, Switzerland won a World Cup medal.

The architect of Switzerland’s remarkable success was goalkeeper Raphael Bachmann, who made 15 saves in the face of the Finnish attack. The captain of the Helvetic ensemble was delighted with the great success: “I am proud of what we achieved as a team in Sursee. This was the well-deserved reward for four years of intensive training.” Bachmann added: “We managed to pick ourselves up within a short time after the disappointing defeat in the World Cup semi-final against Denmark and to show a strong collective performance.” The 34-year-old Aargau native wants to take the momentum of this World Cup with him. “We want to establish ourselves in the top three in the world in the next few years.”

Swiss national coach Daniel Pulver praised his charges after the historic success: “We deserved to win the medal thanks to excellent team spirit. Everyone ploughed for everyone else, it was a pleasure to watch the game.” The successful Swiss coach now hopes that many people will discover powerchair hockey. “And I also hope that the ten Swiss World Cup cracks can infect the remaining 120 licensed in Switzerland to emulate them.”

At the closing ceremony, Jan Schäublin and Dave Inhelder once again had reason to celebrate: the Swiss top scorer (21 goals in the tournament) was named best handstick-player, while teammate Dave Inhelder won in the category of the best T-stick.

In the final, Denmark beat top favourite the Netherlands 4:3 after overtime, contrary to many predictions. The golden goal was scored by top scorer Anders Berenth in the 41st minute – his 32nd goal in the tournament. His outstanding team-mate Alexander Pedersen ranked second in the World Cup top scorer list with 24 goals.

It was only the fourth defeat for the Netherlands in the history of the association. Since its foundation in 1998, the Dutch powerchair hockey artists have now lost four times: the 2010 World Cup final against Germany (6:7 n.V.), the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Denmark (3:4), the group match on the same occasion against Switzerland (4:5) and now the World Cup final in Sursee against Denmark (3:4 n.V.).

Sursee (Sz). 5th IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Championships.

Placing matches. For 7th place: Spain – Belgium 8:5 (2:3). – For 5th place: Italy – Germany 7:0 (4:0). – For 3rd place: Switzerland – Finland 5:4 n.V. (4:4, 3:1). – Final: Netherlands – Denmark 3:4 n.V. (3:2, 3:3).

Final: Netherlands – Denmark 3:4 after overtime (3:2, 3:3)

Stadthalle. – 500 Spectators. – Referees Rosche (Sz)/Käch (Sz)/Matijasevic (Slo). – Goals: 3. Pedersen 0:1. 10. Heere 1:1. 18. Heere 2:1. 20. Berenth 2:2. 20. Van der Heijden (Van den Boomen) 3:2. 30. Pedersen 3:3. 41. Berenth 3:4.

For third place: Switzerland – Finland 5:4 after overtime (4:4, 3:1)

Stadthalle. – 600 spectators. – Ref Imparato (It)/Iotti (It)/Vanhove (Bel). – Goals: 6. Braillard 1:0. 6. Zenhäusern (Schäublin) 2:0. 10. Mursu 2:1. 12. Schäublin 3:1. 22. Vuorinen 3:2. 23. Vuorinen 3:3. 33. Schäublin (Zenhäusern) 4:3. 40 (39:03). Palonen 4:4. 46. Braillard 5:4.

Switzerland: Bachmann; Spirig, Schäublin, Zenhäusern, Braillard; Melder.

Did not play: Inhelder, Affolter, Rolli, Conceição.

For 5th place: Italy – Germany 7:0 (4:0)

Stadthalle. – 100 spectators. – Referees Virtanen (Fi)/Borgers (Ho)/Siiki (Fi). – Goals: 1. Granzotto 1:0. 4. Fierravanti (penalty) 2:0. 11. Fierravanti 3:0. 20. Fierravanti 4:0. 25. Ramina 5:0. 30. Comino 6:0. 34. Comino 7:0.

For 7th place: Spain – Belgium 8:5 (2:3)

Stadthalle. – 50 spectators. – Referees Stormark (Dä)/Laakso (Fi)/Menz (De). – Goals: 4. Van Nerum 0:1. 8. Camps Butgos 1:1. 11. Van Nerum 1:2. 13. Rodriguez 2:2. 15. Kahya 2:3. 24. Sanchez 3:3. 27. Kahya 3:4. 29. Sanchez 4:4. 33. Sanchez 5:4. 34. Valle Grau 6:4. 34. Valle Grau 7:4. 39. Badia Calm 8:4. 39. Van Nerum 8:5.

World Cup top scorers (number of goals)
1st Anders Berenth (Denmark) 32
2nd Alexander Pedersen (Denmark) 24
3rd Jan Schäublin (Sz) 21
4th Rodi Feller (Ned) 19
5th David Huber (Germany) 18
6th Kasper Vuorinen (Fin) 17
7th Tim Heere (Ned) 16
8th Dennis Van den Boomen (Ned) 15
9th Jules Van der Heijden (Ned) 15
10th Lucas Schell (Ned) 14

Best handstick: Jan Schäublin (Sz)
Best T-stick: Dave Inhelder (Sz)
Best Goalkeeper: Jessica Trommer (Germany)

Applause: The Swiss cracks celebrate after winning World Championship bronze. From left: Manuel Melder (with cap), Nelson Braillard, Noé Spirig, Veronica Conceição, Jannis Affolter, Raphael Bachmann, Daniel Rolli, Jan Schäublin, Dominik Zenhäusern. Behind: Assistant Raphaël Mathis and national coach Daniel Pulver (with cap).