by Michal Hanus
Last Sunday, February 14th, the third of three tournaments of the first annual Czech Winter League was scheduled. This time Lokomotiva Louny hosted the event municipal sport hall, which has an impressive size in comparison with the gyms, which were used in the previous two tournaments.
Seven teams came to Louny, split into two groups. The format was same as in Modrany and Krc. Group A was set by Lokomotiva Louny, Tempo Titans Praha, SaBaT Praha and Kotlarka Praha 2 with Louny being the big favorite. Lokomotiva didn’t allow their opponents to score and without any troubles won Group A to advance into the finals. The Titans finished in second, SaBaT in third and Kotlarka 2 took fourth.
Group B had only three members, Kotlarka Praha 1, Eagles Praha and Sparks Mlade Buky, which had skipped the previous tournament in Modrnay. The results of this pool brought a big surprise. The favorite of this group, Kotlarka 1, lost their game against the Eagles as well as versus Sparks and had to settle for third. The Eagles had a big and strong squad on hand in Louny. They also took advantage of the fact that for the Sparks it was the first game after three hours in a car. So the Eagles won Group B and followed Louny into the final.
In the game for fifth place everybody expected a strong performance by Kotlarka Praha 1 after the two losses in the preliminary phase. They didn’t suffer another defeat and crushed SaBaT 15-3. The game for third place between the Tempo Titans Praha and Sparks Mlade Buky was a very close affair in the first half, but towards the end the Titans looked better and beat Sparks 10-4. The final between Lokomotiva Louny and Eagles Praha was a real highlight of the whole tournament, a good game, which got the crowd excited. Louny again presented itself with excellent defense and power bats and although the Eagles played very well, Lokomotiva prevailed 7-0. They not only won the event “Lounske Tycko”, but also the whole Winter League.
After the final game the major of the city Louny Mr. Kerner awarded all participating teams and of course the best teams of the Lounske Tycko tournament. After that the director of the Winter League Michal Hanus recapped whole Winter League and awarded all teams.
Standings of Lounske Tycko Tournament:
1. Lokomotiva Louny
2. Eagles Praha
3. Tempo Titans Praha
4. Sparks Mlade Buky
5. Kotlarka Praha 1
6. SaBaT Praha
7. Kotlarka Praha 2
Final Standings of the Czech Winter League:
1. Lokomotiva Louny
2. Eagles Praha
3. Kotlarka Praha 1
4. Tempo Titans Praha
5. Sparks Mlade Buky
6. SaBaT Praha
7. Kotlarka Praha 2
8. ZSJW Storms Praha
8. DDM Modrany Zhingy Sharks
10. Tempo Titans Praha 2
All information about Czech Winter League can be found at www.winterleague.cz, final standings and the results of Lounske Tycko tournament.