The fistball players celebrated their victory.

Italy's fistball players: Great emotions at the end

– The Italian national fistball team avenged its narrow opening loss to Chile at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu. In the match for fifth place on Wednesday, the Azzurri prevailed 35-3 in sets after nearly two hours of play in another sweltering 2-degree heat.

August 13, 2025

From: pm/det

The opening match was initially unfortunate: Despite an early 3-0 lead, the South Americans narrowly won the first set. However, Italy responded strongly, equalizing at 1-1 and then taking a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, the Azzurri lost their momentum, suffering a decisive 4-11 defeat.

In the decisive set, Italy mobilized all its strengths. With intense concentration and clear dominance, they won the fifth set comfortably – a well-deserved reward for a solid team performance.

The youngsters excel

"It was an incredible team performance and a tremendous effort from each individual. Especially the youngest players, Philipp Deutsch and Leo Kuen, conjured up an absolutely top-notch game," praised coach Florian Runer.

“We are the winners of the middleweight division.” Captain Armin Runer

Captain Armin Runer assessed the success: "If you look at the fistball landscape and see the Big 4 – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Brazil – as fistball heavyweights, we are the winners of the middleweight division. This victory is the laurels of a long journey."

Big emotions

Match winner Leo Kuen spoke of a special moment: "This victory is tremendous and an incredible feeling. The hard work of the last few months has paid off. We want to enjoy and celebrate this day today."

Great cheers from the fistball players.

Philipp Deutsch added: "Today was definitely not our best game, but the one with the most fighting spirit and will to win. Every single person on our team desperately wanted this win, and in the end, we achieved it. It's incredible."

Brazil outshines all

With fifth place, Italy finished the World Games as the best-placed team behind the Big 4 – and with a clear exclamation mark for the future.

Brazil secured the title at the 2025 World Games. The reigning world champions defeated Germany in the final. Third place went to Austria, which defeated Switzerland in the small final.