EUC Futsal 2011

LJUBLJANA – The Opening Ceremony of the 8th European Universities Futsal Championship was held on Sunday 17.7.2011 at Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre just before the opening match. Participants, 12 women´s and 24 men’s team from 19 different countries all overEurope, were very excited of coming matches and the tournament. This was the first time ever an European Universities Championship was organized in the Nordic countries, and it was at the same time the largest European Universities Futsal tournament so far.

The audience was thrilled about the ceremony and opening match since both of them gave us great excitement. The ceremony started with a welcome speech by Jussi Kuusela, President of the Organizing Committee. After Mr. Kuusela it was time for EUSA representative Mr. Wolf Frühauf to invite the Minister of Education and Science Mr. Jukka Gustafsson to declare the EUC open.

The ceremony as a whole provided the audience with a great deal of pleasure, a little bit humour with Ilkka and some eye candy for the players and audience with the amazing pole dance show and extremely skilful footbaggers. The ceremony and opening match were a great start for the tournament where all the teams want to win the gold medal. About 100 volunteers, EUSA representative Mr Fruhauf and EUSA technical delegates Mr Patrik Perosa and Mr Tomas Aftanski, together with the organization committee worked hard to make this tournament run smoothly and offer a refreshing experience to all participants.

The 8th European Universities Futsal Championship concluded on Sunday 24.7.2011 with exciting final matches followed by the Closing Ceremony at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre,Finland.

In men’s finals, the champion’s title went toValencia(Spain) which has won a thrilling final match againstMalaga(Spain). In women’s finals, the title went to Konin (Poland) which has won an exciting final match against Beira Interior (Portugal) after extra-time.

Medals and awards were presented by Mr Sauli Niinistö, President of the Football Association of Finland; Mr Risto Nieminen, Managing Director of Finnish Lottery; Perttu Pesä, Deputy Mayor of Tampere; Mr Patrik Perosa and Mr Tomasz Aftanski, EUSA Technical Delegates for Futsal, Mr Jussi Kuusela, Mr Jukka Tirri and Mr Matti Anttonen, the highest Organizing Committee officials; Ms Iida Jaakkola, Vice President of the Finnish Student Sports Federation; Mr Wolf Frühauf, EUSA Delegate and others.

The Memory Award for the Referees of the Women’s Final was given to Toni Lehtinen from Finland, Fredric Nilholt from Sweden, Frederic Hostains from France and Joaquin Tapia Sama fromSpain. The Women’s Best Scorer Award was given to Morgado Catia from University of Beira Interior-Portugal. Women’s Most Valuable Player Award was given to Morgado Catia fromUniversityofBeira Interior-Portugal, and the Women’s Fair Play Award was given to Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich –Switzerland. The Women’s Champions Cup was given to The State School of Higher Professional Education in Konin –Poland. Award was presented by Mr. Wolf Frühauf, EUSA Delegate.

The Memory Award for the Referees of the Men’s Final were given to Timo Onatsu from Finland, Shota Kukhilava from Georgia, Ilya Akimtsev from Russia and Soykan Ozan from Turkey. The Men’s Best Scorer Award was given to Morawski Marcin from The Angelius Silesius State School inWalbrzych-Poland. The Men’s Most Valuable Player Award was given to Borrego Gutierrez Jesus Antonio from University of Malaga-Spain. The Men’s Fair Play Award was given to University of Örebro-Swedenand the Men’s Champions Cup was given to University of Valencia–Spain.

At the conclusion of the event, the EUSA flag was passed to EUSA Delegate Mr Wolf Frühauf.

The next Futsal event will take place at the EUSA Games in Córdoba in 2012 and all teams are warmly welcomed to join. Next European Universities Futsal Championship will be held in Málaga,Spain in 2012.

More info about European Universities Futsal Championship 2011 can be found at and .

(Source: Andrej Pisl, EUSA Communications)

MEDALLISTS WOMEN

1. The State School of Higher Professional Education in Konin (POL)

2. University of Beira Interior (POR)

3. University of Coimbra (POR)

MEDALLISTS MEN

1. Polytechnic University of Valencia (ESP)

2. University of Malaga (ESP)

3. University of Minho (POR)