Armin Runer was voted Man of the Match in the sold-out semi-final. © pm

Fistball European Championship: Italy is now fighting for bronze

Italy impressed against Denmark at the Fistball European Championships on Friday and delivered a thrilling five-set match against Austria. On Saturday, they will face Switzerland for the bronze medal.

August 15, 2026

From: pm

The third day of the European Fistball Championships in Tondern brought Italy's national team its biggest success of the tournament so far: With a clear victory against hosts Denmark, the Squadra Azzurra advanced to the semifinals. There, they were defeated by the undefeated title favorites Austria after a thrilling five-set match. Italy will now compete for the bronze medal on Saturday.

In front of more than 2.500 spectators at the sold-out BankPark Tondern Arena, Italy went into the match against Denmark as favorites. Coaches Florian Runer and Jörg Ramel opted for Dennis Thalmann in attack, while Moritz Menz returned to the team after recovering from injury. In defense, they relied on the tried-and-tested line of Philipp Deutsch, Philipp Spornberger, and Valentin Schwarz.

No problems against Denmark

The Azzurri got off to a better start and controlled the match from the outset. With solid defense and a varied attack, they rarely gave the home team a chance. Denmark could only keep pace in phases, and in the end, they secured a comfortable 3-0 set victory. Philipp Deutsch was chosen as Man of the Match, having played a flawless game. "This was our most important match in the tournament, one we absolutely wanted to win. We accomplished that in a commanding manner. We're now looking forward to the semi-final," said Deutsch after the match.

Dennis Thalman and coach Florian Runer celebrate reaching the semi-finals. © pm

In the semi-final against the hitherto undefeated title favorites Austria, Italy fielded its most experienced lineup with Armin Runer and Moritz Menz in attack and the defensive trio of Schwarz-Deutsch-Spornberger. Despite this, the start was disastrous, and Italy was soundly defeated by the favorites in the first set.

The second set was more evenly matched, and the Azzurri even had two set points, which they failed to convert. In the third set, Italy finally broke through, impressively handing Austria their first set loss of the entire tournament. However, sets four and five were hard-fought and went to the Austrians, who thus secured their place in the final. Captain Armin Runer was chosen as the Italian Man of the Match.

Full concentration on the bronze medal match

"That was a very mixed game. At the beginning, we weren't in the game at all and made too many simple mistakes. But we fought our way back into the game from the second set onwards and even won the third set. We showed that we can compete with the best teams in the world if we play our best fistball," Runer summarized.

Italy wants the bronze medal. © pm

Germany in the final, Italy against Switzerland for bronze.
In the second semi-final, defending champions Germany prevailed against Switzerland in a dramatic seven-set thriller, thus advancing to the final. For Italy and the defeated Switzerland, this means a rematch: the two teams will meet again on Saturday in the bronze medal match.

Assistant coach Jörg Ramel outlines the strategy for the final day of the tournament: "Tomorrow we want to mobilize all our reserves once again and attack for the bronze medal." By reaching the semi-finals, Italy has already achieved its self-imposed tournament goal. Now, a medal is the crowning achievement of a strong performance in Tondern.