European Drone Soccer Championship : Let the brawl begin in the International Club Challenge !
The second supporting competition of this European championship, the Club Challenge is likely the tournament with the most diverse field in the event. As the original Drone Soccer format developed by FIDA, this challenge brought together 9 clubs and schools on the sidelines of the European Cup. It was a true free-for-all, bringing together all the players competing in this championship.
Four French teams, two Slovakian teams, two Hungarian teams, and one Romanian team. This is the lineup for the European Club Challenge’s first phase, known as the “Championship,” where anything is possible. Each team faces every other team at least once, which means 8 matches per team and 2 hours and 30 minutes of continuous competition. This Club Challenge also marked the debut of three teams: Drone Soccer France Association, Romania Drone Soccer, and the FIDA Slovakia association team. While the level of play varied, the top contenders emerged or solidified their positions following the School Challenge.
A Tight Race at the Top
After 36 matches played on the two Skyfence fields in this European Championship, NKE HZSE has taken the lead in this stage of the tournament with a hard-fought 18–16 victory over FIDA Slovakia 1. DSFA and Romania Drone Soccer are in 3rd and 5th place, respectively. Next come the three French middle school teams in 6th, 7th, and 8th place, followed by FIDA Slovakia 2, whose run ends in 9th place.
Another Slovakia-Hungary Showdown
In the quarterfinals, NKE HZSE, FIDA Slovakia, and Gimnazium Fulek easily advanced to the semifinals. DSFA, for its part, also secured its spot in an all-French matchup against Skyfive and joined Slovakia in the final four. Four teams vying for three medals—and inevitably, one will be left disappointed. The first semifinal featured a friendly rivalry between Fulek and NKE, the favorite heading into the match after the first round. And in just two sets, Fulek suffered a decisive defeat, handing the spot in the final to NKE, which was determined to take down Slovakia following their victory in the School Challenge. For its part, Slovakia faced stiff resistance from DSFA but ultimately prevailed, 20–16, 17–14.
In the third-place match, Fülek and DSFA treated us to an extremely close three-set contest. Although the French team took the first set 18-16, Arthus Collet’s teammates were let down by their mechanics. When it wasn’t the battery failing, it was the propeller coming loose or the engine overheating. Constantly outnumbered throughout all three sets, the French team lost the second and third sets and were forced to concede defeat to the young Hungarians, who were overjoyed. Their joy stood in stark contrast to the disappointment felt by French captain Arthus Collet: “In the first phase, we may have played our best match of the tournament against this team. We were fairly confident going into this third-place match—maybe a little too confident… Then our equipment let us down, and we came up against a very tenacious team. Congratulations to them.” And in the final, while everyone was expecting a tight showdown between the top two teams, it was a shock. NKE couldn’t establish its rhythm, lost its offensive edge, and conceded the first set decisively, 21–10. Unfortunately, it was too late for Mihaly Sos’s players to turn things around; they hung in there in the second set but ultimately lost by three points, 17-14. Another victory for Slovakia, which continues to cement its dominance ahead of the competition’s final and most important tournament: the European Cup.
