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UNSTOPPABLE TEAM SCANDINAVIA AXE TO BACK-TO-BACK TITLES WITH EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP SUCCESS
4 September 2023 – A combined Scandinavian team of Sweden’s Emil Hansson, Ferry Svan Edvin Karlsson and Denmark’s Esben Pedersen followed-up from last year’s success to claim the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® European Nations Cup for the second time topping the teams of France and Poland. The competition took place on Sunday 3rd September in front of an excited crowd in Seefeld, Austria.
Swedish prodigy Edvin Karlsson sawed his way to victory in the Rookie competition with Denmark’s Esben Pedersen also securing a top four finish, before Emil Hansson held his nerve in the Pro competition to take top honours and steer Team Scandinavia to the overall title, outperforming France and Poland despite their strongest efforts. The European Nations Cup featured two exhilarating contests, with 27 of Europe’s best Rookies and Pros axing it out for glory to score valuable points for their respective nations. The morning started with the Rookie competition, followed by the Pro competition.
Swede Edvin Karlsson makes early statement in opening Rookie competition
Sweden’s Edvin Karlsson was mind-blowing throughout the Rookie competition, finishing first in each of the four disciplines to see off the challenge of France’s Loic Voinson. The Swede came out of the blocks flying, with an impressive clean-cut time of 12:27 seconds in the Stock Saw, ahead of Denmark’s Esben Pedersen and Voinson who asserted themselves with a solid early showing. Six athletes achieved new personal bests in the Standing Block Chop, but Karlsson continued to solidify his status as the man to beat with two additional top finishes in the Standing Block Chop and Single Buck as Frenchman Voinson moved up to second ahead of the Dane Pedersen, and home-talent Lukas Wagesreiter (Austria) sat closely in fourth in the overall standings going into the final discipline.
Karlsson leaves no room for error
In the Underhand Chop, Karlsson registered the fastest time of 26:66 seconds to secure overall victory. Voinson (France) finished third in the discipline to seal second place in the overall standings and with a fourth place finish, Wagesreiter (Austria) pipped Pedersen (Denmark) to the final podium spot.
Poland’s Michał Dubicki makes his mark
The afternoon saw the start of the Pro competition and Poland’s Michał Dubicki set the tempo in the Underhand Chop, recording a personal best time of 19:92 seconds to take an early lead. Switzerland’s Christophe Geissler, Austria‘s Armin Kugler and Sweden‘s Emil Hansson all made a solid start, occupying the top four spots. France’s Pierre Puybaret then made an impressive statement in the Stock Saw, before the Standing Block Chop saw Kugler (Austria), Italy’s Michel Perrin and Germany’s Marcel Steinkämper clock new personal best times, but the powerful Pole, Michał Dubicki took charge to win the discipline with a staggering time of 17:25 seconds.
Hansson triumphs with rapid cut in the final round
The field was cut down to the top eight athletes for the next two disciplines and Hansson laid a marker, winning the Single Buck ahead of the Dubicki brothers. In the Springboard, Michał Dubicki showed his tenacity to come out on top to lead the overall standings. Heading into the final event, the Hot Saw, all was to play for with Hansson marginally behind Dubicki, while Kugler and Puybaret trailed close. Hansson dealt with the pressure to produce the quickest time of 6:20 seconds, putting him into first ahead of Dubicki. Although finishing fourth in the discipline, Kugler retained third place in the overall rankings over Puybaret.
Despite Ferry Svan's 10th-place performance, Hansson’s first place triumph was enough to hand Scandinavia the overall European Nations Cup title following Karlsson’s earlier triumph and Pedersen’s top four finish. Puybaret’s fourth place finish secured France second ahead of Poland in the unique team format. The final rankings of the nations were combined from the Rookie and Pro competitions, with each nation's total score being divided by the number of athletes representing. Edvin Karlsson, 2023 European Nations Cup champion, said: “I think we can all be very proud. We all had a good time this entire weekend and we helped each other a lot.” Ferry Svan, who was part of Scandinavia’s winning team added: “I didn’t show my best performance today. But if you mess up, the other team members can pick you up and compensate for this".
Full results and final standings for the 2023 European Nations Cup can be found on the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® database.
