The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and Opinions
SWEDEN 34: 1 Antonio Lindback 7, 2 Andreas Jonsson 12, 3 Linus Sundstrom 4, 4 Fredrik Lindgren 11.
DENMARK 32: 1 Peter Kildemand 13, 2 Nicki Pedersen, 3 Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, 4 Kenneth Bjerre 6.
POLAND 27: 1 Bartosz Zmarzlik 3, 2 Krzysztof Buczkowski 4, 3 Maciej Janowski 11, 4 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 9.
AUSTRALIA 26: 1 Chris Holder 8, 2 Jason Doyle 8, 3 Nick Morris 2, 4 Troy Batchelor 8.
Sweden have won the FIM Speedway World Cup Final in Denmark on Sunday night, after the initial meeting for Saturday was postponed due to rain.
For Sweden, it was their first World Cup win side 2004, and captain Andreas Jonsson said that it was his side’s teamwork that helped them win the competition.
Poland and current holders Denmark have been the dominant sides in the competition since Sweden last won, and last year’s winners had to settle for Silver, whilst a young Poland side, without captain Jaroslaw Hampel, claimed Bronze.
Denmark, as both hosts and current holders, went into the meeting as favourites, but the Swedish underdogs team spirit carried them through.
In one of the greatest finals in recent years, Sweden were four points behind the Danes with two races remaining in heat 18, but when Denmark’s Kenneth Bjerre broke down for the start of heat 19 and captain Niels-Kristian Iversen was excluded in the heat 20, AJ’s side went ahead.
The poor results from Denmark meant that Swedish captain Jonsson needed to finish second or better to win in the final race. Despite the immense pressure, AJ raced home claiming the chequered flag, and winning the World Cup for the Swedes for the first time in eleven years.
Iversen was the hero last year in Bydgoszcz, but his final heat exclusion cost the reigning Champions.
With the World Cup over, attention turns back the the Speedway Grand Prix, with the next event at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on July 4.
