Brno’s Korfball club, KK Brno, has finished in 4th place in the Korfball Champions League, the sport’s most prestigious club competition, held this year in Lisbon, Portugal. The 4th place position is the club’s highest ever finish, and confirms their place among the international top levels.
KK Brno started the tournament on top form, with excellent performances in the group stage, defeating the home team Benfica Lisbon 22:16 in the opening match, and the German team TuSS Schildgen 24:14 the following day, ensuring a place in the semi-finals after just two matches. In the battle for first place in the group with the Belgian Boeckenberg KC, Brno lost 11:30, thus advancing from their group in second position.
In the semi-finals, the Czech team faced one of the sport’s current strongest teams, the Dutch club PKC Papendrecht, delivering one of their best performances of the tournament in an evenly-balanced match, which they eventually lost 18:28.
The bronze medal match with Bec KC from London was a dramatic battle until the final seconds, as Brno rebounded strongly after the experienced British team had led for most of the match. Twenty seconds before the end of the regular playing time, Brno had a chance for a last attack, and Eliška Zieglerová brought the game level at 18:18 just three seconds before the siren, sending the match into overtime with a golden basket. However, the London team scored again within a matter of seconds, winning the bronze and leaving KK Brno in fourth place overall for the tournament.
“Before leaving for Lisbon, we would definitely have taken fourth place,” said KK Brno coach Jakub Máša. “We presented ourselves with great performances at the tournament and managed to keep up with the best teams in Europe. With a very young team, where half of the team is still playing in the youth competition, a close loss in the bronze medal match is very promising for the future. I believe that further successes await us on the domestic and international stage.”
