Semi Finals

WORLD PAIRS SEMI FINAL (in Italy)

An impressive victory for New Zealand in this Semi with Bart Williamson providing excellent support to their star rider Fillippe Chong and many might well see them as dark horses for the final itself now. As expected England cruised through, although they relied heavily on Liam Reay and will need to find a better supporting performance for the final. The third qualifiers were Russia, who will host the final, with Dvoynev leading a display that suggests they will be a threat on home shale. Down the field the non-qualification of Poland was a shock, even without the injured Kryznowek; Tercjak and Irzyk both scored solidly but they just fell short of a top 3 place and lost out in a run-off for 4th. Matija Petkovic won the run-off to put his Croatian side into 4th but disappointment followed as it was confirmed they would miss out on a place in the final only by way of scoring less bonus points than the 4th placed nation in the other Semi Final! Had Asanovic stepped up from reserve earlier perhaps the Croats would have qualified by right but Ilijas had started the meeting well and it was a case of so near but yet so far. Romania and hosts Italy were never really in the running although once again Draghu and Innacone both showed that they compete at the international level with solid returns.

NEW ZEALAND 23 - QUALIFIED

1. Bart Williamson........... 2* 2* 1* 1 2 2 10+3

2. Fillippe Chong............ 3 3 2 3 1* 1* 13+2

3. Darren Moore.............. Did not ride

ENGLAND 21 - QUALIFIED

1. Liam Reay................. 3 3 3 3 3 2 17

2. Hayden Wood............... 2* 0 2* R 0 - 4+2

3. David Bedford............. 0 - - - - - 0

RUSSIA 20 - QUALIFIED

1. Boris Dvoynev............. 2* 2 3 3 0 3 13+1

2. Nikita Federenko.......... 3 1* 0 1 1 1 7+1

3. Oleg Yelesnev............. Did not ride

CROATIA 18

1. Matija Petkovic........... 3 2 2 2 1* 0 10+1

2. Eugen Ilijas.............. 2* 1* 0 0 - - 3+2

3. Roberto Asanovic.......... 2 3 - - - - 5

POLAND 18

1. Maciej Tercjak............ 1 0 3 0 3 3 10

2. Gabrys Irzyk.............. 0 3 1 2 2* 0 8+1

3. Marek Czaja............... Did not ride

ROMANIA 14

1. Florin Luntraru........... 1 0 1* 1* 0 1* 4+3

2. Sorin Draghu.............. 0 1 2 2 3 2 10

3. Alexandru Constantin...... Did not ride

ITALY 12

1. Donato Dragotto........... 0 0 2* 1 - - 3+1

2. Enzo Innacone............. 1 1 1 3 3 Fx 9

3. Lorenzo Turati............ 0 R - - - - 0

No. Results

1: Matija Petkovic, Eugen Ilijas, Enzo Innacone, Donato Dragotto

2: Liam Reay, Hayden Wood, Maciej Tercjak, Gabrys Irzyk

3: Nikita Federenko, Boris Dvoynev, Florin Luntraru, Sorin Draghu

4: Fillippe Chong, Bart Williamson, Enzo Innacone, Donato Dragotto

5: Liam Reay, Matija Petkovic, Eugen Ilijas, Hayden Wood

6: Gabrys Irzyk, Boris Dvoynev, Nikita Federenko, Maciej Tercjak

7: Fillippe Chong, Bart Williamson, Sorin Draghu, Florin Luntraru

8: Liam Reay, Hayden Wood, Enzo Innacone, Lorenzo Turati

9: Maciej Tercjak, Matija Petkovic, Gabrys Irzyk, Eugen Ilijas

10: Boris Dvoynev, Fillippe Chong, Bart Williamson, Nikita Federenko

11: Enzo Innacone, Sorin Draghu, Florin Luntraru, Lorenzo Turati (R)

12: Boris Dvoynev, Matija Petkovic, Nikita Federenko, Eugen Ilijas

13: Liam Reay, Sorin Draghu, Florin Luntraru, Hayden Wood (R)

14: Fillippe Chong, Gabrys Irzyk, Bart Williamson, Maciej Tercjak

15: Enzo Innacone, Donato Dragotto, Nikita Federenko, Boris Dvoynev

16: Sorin Draghu, Roberto Asanovic, Matija Petkovic, Florin Luntraru

17: Liam Reay, Bart Williamson, Fillippe Chong, Hayden Wood

18: Maciej Tercjak, Gabrys Irzyk, Donato Dragotto, Enzo Innacone (Fx)

19: Roberto Asanovic, Bart Williamson, Fillippe Chong, Matija Petkovic

20: Boris Dvoynev, Liam Reay, Nikita Federenko, David Bedford

21: Maciej Tercjak, Sorin Draghu, Florin Luntraru, Gabrys Irzyk

22: Matija Petkovic, Maciej Tercjak

WORLD PAIRS SEMI FINAL (in Finland)

Sven Svensson led a wonderful Swedish performance, finishing with a run-off win to claim 1st place in the Semi Final and see his nation safely into the World Final. Svensson won the run-off when Denmark's Leon Jeppesen suffered bike problems but both he and partner Steen Eriksen had scored double figures from their 6 heats and this was enough to see them progress comfortably. Norway also turned in a class pairs display with both riders, Ove Dalasen and Olle Bjorn Thoresen, hitting double figures, all the top 3 separated by just a single point at the end of 21 races. The Czech Republic finished 4th with 18 points and, with the highest scoring 4th placed side progressing, all eyes turned to the result of the other Semi Final. It became clear that Croatia had also scored 18 and so the nations were split on the number of bonus points scored with the Czech's 4 just out-pointing Croatia's 3 and the efforts of Tibor Nemecek and Josef Gavenda proved enough to see their side reach the Week 23 Final in Russia. Ila Niemi was excellent for the hosts Finland but he didn't have enough support and they finished a point behind the Czechs. Australia relied too heavily on Ryan Irwin and American likewise on Jack Hagen with neither side ever looking like getting enough point together to go further in the competition.

SWEDEN 22 - QUALIFIED

1. Sven Svensson............. 2* 2 1 3 3 3 14+1

2. Gote Nordvall............. 3 0 3 1 0 1 8

3. Lars Magnussen............ Did not ride

DENMARK 22 - QUALIFIED

1. Leon Jeppesen............. 2* 3 2* 3 1* 0 11+3

2. Steen Eriksen............. 3 1 3 0 2 2 11

3. Jens Isaksen.............. Did not ride

NORWAY 21 - QUALIFIED

1. Ove Dalasen............... 3 3 3 1* 0 1 11+1

2. Olle Bjorn Thoresen....... 2* 1 2* 2 3 0 10+2

3. Rudi Juritzen............. Did not ride

CZECH REPUBLIC 18 - QUALIFIED

1. Tibor Nemecek............. 1 1* 1 3 1* 2* 9+3

2. Josef Gavenda............. 0 2 0 2* 2 3 9+1

3. Janek Bartousek........... Did not ride

FINLAND 17

1. Ila Niemi................. 3 1 1* 2 3 3 13+1

2. Yrjo Eskelinen............ 2* 0 2 0 0 - 4+1

3. Hannu Helinen............. 0 - - - - - 0

AUSTRALIA 15

1. Jason Isaacs.............. R 0 - - - - 0

2. Ryan Irwin................ 1 3 3 X 1* 1* 9+2

3. Josh Montsach............. 0 2 2 2 - - 6

AMERICA 11

1. Braxton McChesney......... 0 0 - - - - 0

2. Jack Hagen................ 1 2 0 1 1* 3 8+1

3. Ricky Antunovich.......... 1 0 2 0 - - 3

No. Results

1: Ila Niemi, Yrjo Eskelinen, Tibor Nemecek, Josef Gavenda

2: Steen Eriksen, Leon Jeppesen, Ryan Irwin, Jason Isaacs (R)

3: Gote Nordvall, Sven Svensson, Jack Hagen, Braxton McChesney

4: Ove Dalasen, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Ila Niemi, Yrjo Eskelinen

5: Ryan Irwin, Josef Gavenda, Tibor Nemecek, Jason Isaacs

6: Leon Jeppesen, Jack Hagen, Steen Eriksen, Braxton McChesney

7: Ove Dalasen, Sven Svensson, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Gote Nordvall

8: Ryan Irwin, Yrjo Eskelinen, Ila Niemi, Josh Montsach

9: Steen Eriksen, Leon Jeppesen, Tibor Nemecek, Josef Gavenda

10: Ove Dalasen, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Ricky Antunovich, Jack Hagen

11: Gote Nordvall, Ila Niemi, Sven Svensson, Yrjo Eskelinen

12: Tibor Nemecek, Josef Gavenda, Jack Hagen, Ricky Antunovich

13: Sven Svensson, Josh Montsach, Gote Nordvall, Ryan Irwin (X)

14: Leon Jeppesen, Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Ove Dalasen, Steen Eriksen

15: Ila Niemi, Ricky Antunovich, Jack Hagen, Yrjo Eskelinen

16: Sven Svensson, Josef Gavenda, Tibor Nemecek, Gote Nordvall

17: Olle Bjorn Thoresen, Josh Montsach, Ryan Irwin, Ove Dalasen

18: Ila Niemi, Steen Eriksen, Leon Jeppesen, Hannu Helinen

19: Josef Gavenda, Tibor Nemecek, Ove Dalasen, Olle Bjorn Thoresen

20: Jack Hagen, Josh Montsach, Ryan Irwin, Ricky Antunovich

21: Sven Svensson, Steen Eriksen, Gote Nordvall, Leon Jeppesen

22: Sven Svensson, Leon Jeppesen (R)