On 21st and 2nd January 2017 the 57th "White Bear of Berlin" took place.
As the year before the venue was the House of German Sport in Olympia Park Berlin. The final battles started on Sunday 22nd January 2017 at 2pm in the historic dome hall. The unique atmosphere under the name giving dome, connected with fascinating fencing sport, were leave nothing to be desired for the spectators and sportsmen.
This year the “Kleiner Weißer Bär” (Small White Bear) took place parallel on Sunday in the House of German Sport. The student tournament was held in foil and the finals also took place in the dome hall.
Media partner hauptstadtsport.tv reported exclusively from the fencing weekend in the sport metropolis Berlin.
We would like to thank all partners, sponsors, supporters, organisers and helpers for the great support. Especially we would like to thank our financial supporter sport metropolis Berlin.
Tag 1
Day one of the 57th “White Bear of Berlin” trails us. This morning at 9 o’clock 304 fencers from 32 nations started into the first rounds. 22 pistes in 5 halls, including the dome hall, were built by the organisers from the fencing club Grunewald and the Berlin Fencing Association together with the company Uhlmann, to cope with the run.
At 6 pm the halls were empty again. 64 fencers from 17 nations are left. Along for the ride the terrific Czechs with Olympia participant Jiri Beran, Richard Pokorny, the runner-up of the preceding year, and the 40th of the world list Martin Rubes. But also, French, Spanish and of course Germans are high in number. We will see tomorrow who will be way out in front.
The quarterfinals start at 2pm in the historic dome hall, presented by Christian “The Voice” Holzmacher. The premium partner Eventtation will provide the perfect lights and the necessary sounds. The 400 expected guests will bring the atmosphere.
The media partner hauptstadtsport.tv was on site today. You will find the spot in our Mediathek veröffentlicht.
Day 2 / Finals
Unfortunately, the remaining German fencers did not make it into the quarter finals and therefore into the historic dome hall. Shortly before, in the 16 direct elimination, Peter Bitsch (Darmstädter FC, 11th), Toni Kneist (PSV Berlin, 15th) and Falk Spautz (TSV Bayer Leverkusen, 16th) were defeated by their opponents.
Toni Kneist not only again received the special price of the “Berlin Best”, sponsored by the district Berlin-Charlottenburg and handed over by the district’s councilman Arne Herz. He also had his best results in this tournament ever by making 15th place. Far from a matter of course the 30-year-old from PSV Berlin has been a fixed part of the organisation team.
On Friday installation until 11pm, then back home, 20km through the capitol. Back again net morning. During the tournament and parallel to his own battles always thinking about the progress of the event and the coordination. The guests appreciated his fencing performance and his great commitment with standing ovations.
Winner of the 57th „White Bear of Berlin” became finally Aymerick Gally (FR). He ensured the win in the thrilling final against Niko Vuorinen (FIN) with 15:13. 3rd place was shared by Olympic participant Jiri Beran (CZE) and newcomer Alvaro Ibanez (ESP). Gally wins the traditional tournament as the first French and is the second EFC U23 fencer after Frederick Von der Osten (DEN) in 2015 to win the whole tournament. He now belongs to the proud owners of the White Bear, the porcelain figure of the Kingly Porcelain Manufacture.
We thank our funding authority the Land Berlin for the again great support and cooperation.
The same applies to the premium partner EVENTTATION GmbH & Co. KG. They were the key to modern lighting and sound engineering, but especially for the communication between five fencing halls including the dome hall in the House of German Sports as well as to the “outside” to the internet. A technical challenge in the historic walls from the 1930s.
Moreover, we would like to thank the relentless helpers, sponsors and the organisation team (Fencing Club Grunewald e.V. and Berlin Fencing Association e.V.) for their great work when realising this fencing event. We are already looking forward to the next year and the 58th “White Bear of Berlin”.
Program 57th White Bear of Berlin 2017
Press overview
- Tagesspiegel: Der Weiße Bär wird immer internationaler
- Berliner Morgenpost: Deutschlands junge Wilde wollen beim Weißen Bär überraschen
- Berliner Morgenpost: Französischer Degenfechter Gally gewinnt 57. Weißen Bären
- Tagesspiegel: Jiri Beran: Von Rio nach Berlin
- Rheinische Anzeigenblätter: TSV Sportler überzeugen nur teilweise
- Focus: Französischer Degenfechter Gally gewinnt 57. Weißen Bären
- swiss-fencing.ch
Berliner Woche
