Poland defeat unlucky Czech Republic to pounce to win Under-21 Speedway of Nations in Denmark

Published 29/07/2022 at 20:25 GMT

Denmark were the hosts as seven countries competed at the Under-21 Speedway of Nations competition on Friday night, but it was Poland who emerged as the winners. They exploited bike problems for the Czech Republic in the final to claim victory, with the British team taking third place in the tournament.

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Poland won the Under-21 Speedway of Nations on Friday evening after edging the final against the Czech Republic, with Great Britain finishing third.

The competition was taking place in Vojens, Denmark, as some of the brightest prospects in speedway faced off.

Teams from Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Poland and Sweden attended.

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After the first 12 rounds, the Czech team led the way with 19 points from their three races, with Poland second and Latvia third, a point behind.

Sweden and Australia trailed, joint bottom, on 10 points.

However, Poland then surged into a commanding six-point lead - looking certain for the final - as they defeated Sweden 7-2 in heat 17, and beat Czech Republic earlier 7-2 in a re-run of heat 13. The first run of the heat ended when Jan Kvech and Mateusz Cierniak hit the track at the first corner.

Great Britain’s place in the final was imperilled after a heavy surprise defeat by Australia, and they scraped into the race-off against the Czech Republic. Latvia missed out on a count-back after tying with Britain on 28 points.

It was the Czech team who reached the final to face Poland, as they beat the British 5-4, as Kvech succeeded in getting past Tom Brennan, who had been attempting to hold up Petr Chlupac, leaving himself vulnerable.

In the final, Poland were able to exploit bike problems for Chlupac to secure a 6-3 win after they had started on the back foot.

Saturday night's Speedway of Nations final will be between Sweden, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Denmark, Poland, Australia and Finland.

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Stream the 2022 Speedway of Nations live and ad-free on discovery+ with live race action also on Eurosport 2.

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