Floorball Masters entertained Prague and finally 100 teams from 10 countries arrived to the tournament. In the end, players from Latvia, Sweden and Finland were celebrating.

Autumn Prague is slowly becoming a place, where the veteran teams are traditionally coming to play floorball with the Masters label. For the first time in 13 year history of Prague Masters more than 100 teams were introduced with 1200 players. Moreover, not a single trophy remained in the home country.

Floorball veterans from 10 countries fought for the Masters title from 8th to 10th of November. According to the results, it is obvious that the traditional super players do not come only from Sweden but also players from Latvia are staying in exceptional condition after they turn 30 or 40.

In Men’s 45+ category Bauska, lead by Normunds Grunckis, was celebrating. Grunckis assisted 13 goals and became a winner of Canadian scoring even though he scored only twice. The final against Slovak team Forever young ended 3-2 for Bauska.

The second gold medal for Latvia was taken by the team Riga in M35+ category, where former representatives Ainars Juskevics and Peter Freimanis were standing out. Riga fabulously won the final against Bohemka in which former key players of the Czech national team, namely Milan Fridrich and Martin Richter were playing. Latvians were about to lose the game, when numbers after 20 minutes were 2-5.  Still, the Latvians celebrated the trophy after the penalties.

Finland was able to get to the podium, thanks to SBS Kings Old Farts, who took control of M40+ category. They won the final 3-1 against FBŠ Hattrick Brno and completed eight matches with the best defence in the tournament.  The Finnish goalkeeper Jarmo Mäki protected his goal, letting only two shots behind his back.

Runar Snellingen was the third best shooter in M40+ cateogy, although his team Sagene did not make it to the quarter finals.

Both gold medals in the women’s categories were won by Sweden. Team IKSU managed to play in the women’s 30 and 35 categories, winning both. Team which was dominating the European floorball ten years ago, also winning three Champions Cup titles, introduced itself in a great condition once again.

Therese Andersson was one of the most entertaining  players who managed to play double amount of matches with Hanna Karlsson, who scored 11 goals and was also one of the stars of W35+ category.

The tournament was highly popular social event for all the players who could recall their recent floorball moments in many Prague pubs and bar.

Results:

M35+

Final:

Riga /LAT/ – FBŠ Děkanka Bohemka /CZE/  6:5

Semifinal:

Riga /LAT/ – FA Mladá Boleslav /CZE/ 6:2

FBŠ Děkanka Bohemka /CZE/- Dynamoo /CZE/ 7:1

Canadian scoring:

1. Martin Houšť /Dynamo/ 23 (11+12)
2. Martin Richter /FBŠ Děkanka Bohemka/ 22 (9+13)
3. Ladislav Dufek /Dynamo/ 20 (15+5)

M40+

Final:

SBS Kings Old Farts (FIN) – FBŠ Hattrick Brno (CZE) 3:1

Semifinal:

SBS Kings Old Farts (FIN) – Umea City IBK (SWE) 2:1

FBŠ Hattrick Brno (CZE) – Enebybergs IF II (SWE) 2:0

Canadian scoring:

1. Ladislav Dufek (FBŠ Hattrick Brno) 20 (11+9)
2. Runar Snellingen (Sagene ibk) 19 (10+9)
3. Saku Sintonen (SBS Kings Old Farts) 16 (8+8)

M45 +

Final:

Bauska (LAT) – Forever Young (SVK) 3:2 PS

Semifinal:

Bauska (LAT) – Umea City IBK (SWE) 3:2

Forever Young (SVK) – Black Stars (SWE) 6:1

Canadian scoring:

1. Normunds Grunckis (SC Mēmele) 15 (2+13)
2. Dušan Rošťák (Forever Young) 12 (8+4)
3. Patrik Sundstrand (Husqvarna IK) 10 (10+0)

W30+

Final:

IKSU (SWE) – Elite Elements Team (CZE) 3:0

Semifinal:

IKSU (SWE) – Vítkovice Selection (CZE) 4:3

Elite Elements Team (CZE) – Future (CZE) 2:1

Canadian scoring:

1. Hana Poláková (FUTURE) 12 (10+2)
2. Therese Andersson (IKSU) 10 (6+4)
3. Tereza Chvátalová (FUTURE) 10 (6+4)

W35+

Final:

IKSU (SWE) – Lilvreta (SWE) 4:1

Semifinal:

IKSU (SWE) – IBF Backadalen (SWE) 1:0

Lilvreta (SWE) – Rotebro IS IBK (SWE) 4:0

Canadian scoring:

1. Hanna Karlsson (IKSU) 15 (11+4)
2. Therese Andersson (IKSU) 12 (5+7)
3. Gabriella Moritz (IKSU) 11 (7+4)

Source and photos: Kristýna Matoušová/Prague Masters

If your team is looking for a next edition for floorball veterans to play in next year, check out the European Masters Games 2019 which is an event open for all! Floorball is one of the sports in EMG 2019 and you do not have to be a national team player to participate, but over 30 to play in the women’s category or over 35 to play in the men’s category. More information can be found from here.