The qualifiers to the European Cup will be completed today with the final games. They are playing in a best-of-three format with the results of game one already determined in the preliminary round.
Brno, Czech Republic:
As already expected, the BERN CARDINALS will face KRANJSKI LISJAKI in the final of the qualifier in Brno today. The Slovenian team stunned host MZLU EXPRESS 2-1 in ten innings to go to 4-1. The CARDS had won also their fifth game in the morning, by beating ZAGREB BC 10-8. Now they are the favorite to win the qualifier, as they have won the preliminary round duel against LISJAKI 8-4 and due to the format they have a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series. Behind the two front runners, UNION KUFSTEIN VIKINGS, MZLU, ZAGREB and the ANGELS TRNAVA finish in third to sixth.
Kutno, Poland:
With victories against the AVEIRO UNIVERSITY and the OSLO PRETENDERS, KAUNAS LITUANICA and MKS AMZ KUTNO reached the final of the qualifier in KUTNO. Both faced each other on Thursday with KAUNAS winning 3-2. They now have the 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three set. KUTNO reached the finals with the same 3-2 record like SUNDBYBERG and AVEIRO, as they had the better tie breaker. The Swedish team now finishes in third with the Portuguese, ESPOO EXPOOS and OSLO behind them.
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria:
The participants for the final in Blagoevgrad were decided in the last possible inning on Friday. BEOGRAD 96 upset host BLAGOEVRGAD 6-5 in ten innings and kicked them to third in the standings. In the morning, the VIENNA METROSTARS had defeated DINAMO 7-6. Both teams had four victories in the tournament and reached the final on Saturday. As a matter of fact due to the win on Friday, the Austrian champion already has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and needs just one victory to clinch the promotion. BEOGRAD finishes in third, before the host and surprisingly SPARTAKOS, which upset BK APOLLO on Friday with a 14-13 win.
Brest, Belarus:
Tiebreaker rules decided the preliminary round standings in Brest too. BREST ZUBRS defeated KNTU on 4-3 on Friday and advanced into the final with a 4-1 record. However they will be joined by the Ukrainians, which has the same three victories like the ZURICH CHALLENGERS and STOCKHOLM, but has the tiebreaker in their favor. Nonetheless due to the loss of Friday, KNTU has to overcome a 0-1 deficit in the final best-of-three series to win the title.