Team Australia improved round-on-round to extend their history making run, winning a record 10th STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Team World Championship – and their sixth in succession. The Chopperoos treated first-time hosts Milan, Italy, to a masterclass in elite logger sports, defeating Sweden in their first ever global final. Poland completed the podium, claiming the bronze medal by defeating New Zealand on a night which featured a strong European challenge and plenty of surprise results.
The Team World Championships saw 18 of the best wood chopping and sawing nations around the globe once again come together to do battle in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 in the Allianz Cloud Arena in a knockout format across four of the six TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines: Stock Saw, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and Standing Block Chop.
Any doubts over Australia being the team to beat were soon dispelled as they set a season best score of 43.93 seconds in the Time Trial. And while they wouldn’t threaten that score again, they improved round-on-round during the competition proper, sweeping aside Hungary, on their World Championships return, and Switzerland in the Round of 16 and Quarter Finals respectively.
Those victories paved the way for a mouthwatering Semi Final showdown with New Zealand, who ultimately proved no match for the Chopperoos either, with Australia defeating their antipodean rivals by almost 23 seconds.
Australia faced their stiffest challenge last, up against a Sweden team appearing in their first ever World Championships Final. The Swedes set a personal best in their Round of 16, following that up with victory over Belgium and then Poland, who were on the wrong end of a time penalty which cost them a place in the Final.
Despite the heroic efforts of the Swedes – led by European heavyweight axemen Ferry Svan and Emil Hansson – it was Australia who prevailed when it mattered most, scoring a time of 47.45 seconds to claim another world crown.
On a night of strong performances from the European nations, team Poland secured the bronze medal, recovering from their transgression against Sweden in the Semi Final to defeat New Zealand in the Small Final with their best score of the competition, 53.55 seconds.
New Zealand’s Small Final loss was one of a number of shock results for the overseas nations, with Great Britain knocking out Canada in the Round of 16 after a time penalty and, in the night’s biggest upset, Poland pipping USA by just 0.26 seconds to send the Americans home at the Quarter Final stage.
Elsewhere, another time penalty in the Round of 16 saw Czechia’s challenge end earlier than anticipated, while Italy fell at the same stage despite being cheered on by a vociferous home support.
Brad De Losa, of Team World Champions Australia, commented: “It was a great competition and we were lucky enough to keep getting better and better, get right through to the final and win. There were a few hiccups along the way, a few surprises, and we had to face Sweden in the final in a first for them. We had a really dominant day, led all the way and so it’s great to get the gold.
“It’s very close here at the arena so it was a great atmosphere and a really good crowd here. All the boys enjoyed every moment of it.”
Ferry Svan, of runners-up Team Sweden, said: “We had a really good start today with a good Time Trial which set up the competition for us. We had really good times all through the competition so we’re really happy with the performance today. The key was we scored almost the same time in every round and we didn’t make any big mistakes. We delivered when we had to.
“The atmosphere here was really good, we really felt the crowd.”
Szymon Groenwald, of bronze medalists Poland, said: “The crowd was very good here in Milan. We are very happy because this is only the second time on the podium for our team. We are… the best!”
Having witnessed a thrilling Team competition, the Allianz Cloud Arena will be packed again on Saturday as the top 12 athletes in the world return to compete across all six disciplines in the Individual World Championship.
Full results and final standings for the Team World Championship can be found on the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® database.
