The European Motoball games started in Cameret and Valreas, in France.
In the first day, the Referee Meeting was held at 10:00 in Cameret. Pascale Reschko Jacquot, Chairwoman of FIM Europe Motoball Commission and André Cast (Clerk of the Course) welcomed the 6 participating Nations: Belarus, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia and Ukraine. André Cast made a detailed presentation of the rules which changed from last year.
All photos © Ray
1st Game 15:00 – Russia – The Netherlands 11:0
Russia was showing its strength and the Netherlands tried to fight back. After the 1st Quarter the score was 2:0 and at the half time already 5:0. Finally the Russian Team scored 6 times more and won clearly. Russia did not play with their first selection to save some power for the following match against Germany.
2nd Game 17:00 – Germany – Russia 2:4
The participants of the Final 2016 played a very intense game, mostly at the limit. Germany scored 1:0 at the beginning, but then Russia had a penalty and scored 1:1 in the 1st Quarter. In the 2nd Quarter Russia scored again and passed ahead for the first time. In the 3rd Quarter Russia scored 2 more times. In the last Quarter Germany fought back and scored once more.
Opening Ceremony 19:00
All the Teams walked into the Stadium in Valreas guided by a brass band and young French girls showing the Nations’ names on a table. After the speeches of the Major and ofthe Chairwomen of the FIM Europe Motoball Commission Pascale Reschko Jacquot, the last game of the day started.
3rd Game 20:30 – France – The Netherlands 6:0
The local heroes of the French Team were welcomed by their enthusiastic fans, but also the Dutch Team had a respectable fan community which travelled up to France. In the first 2 Quarters The Netherlands was able to annoy the locals, but France scored twice. During this game there was an unintentional accident in which the French player Stephane Fraysse was seriously injured at his finger. The game was stopped and the medical service took care of the injured player. In the last two Quarters France scored 4 more times, so that it was a clear result at the end.
