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Andersen adamant his men will shine
PANTHERS hero Hans Andersen reckons he has an outstanding chance of getting his hands on the Speedway World Cup for the second time.
PANTHERS hero Hans Andersen reckons he has an outstanding chance of getting his hands on the Speedway World Cup for the second time.The Danish skipper is oozing confidence ahead of his nation's opening involvement in the competition tonight when they take on Great Britain, Sweden and the Czech Republic in Event Two at Coventry.
Andersen lifted the trophy when Denmark roared to glory back in 2006 and then endured the painful experience of seeing host nation Poland take the title amid much acrimony last year.
Now the Danes are intent on re-capturing the gold in front of their own adoring public (the race-off and final are at Vojens) and Andersen has not been afraid to talk up his team's chances.
He is convinced the line-up of himself, reigning world champion Nicki Pedersen, Poole star Bjarne Pedersen, fellow Panthers man Kenneth Bjerre and Peterborough asset Niels Kristian Iversen compare favourably to all their rivals.
Andersen said: "Anything other than victory will be a major disappointment for everyone in Denmark.
"We have the strongest team on paper and individually as riders we come out on top against every other country in the World Cup.
"We have to be confident of getting the title back and it will be really special if we can win it in front of all the Danish fans at Vojens.
"Being on home soil could bring some extra pressure because we won't want to let anyone down, but having lots of support can also act as a great boost. All the Danish riders love performing at Parken in our GP and it is the same for the British boys at Cardiff.
"It is not a massive advantage because we rarely ride at Vojens ourselves - infact it probably about as level a playing field as you could get for a final.
"But we put a big score on the board there in Event One last year and hopefully we can do the same again."
Those 'British boys' Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris stand in Denmark's way tonight as they prove the spearhead for the home nation.
Britain will be no pushovers around Coventry as team boss Jim Lynch (the former Panthers manager and co-promoter) has selected a side full of Brandon track knowledge.
Lee Richardson and current Coventry riders Simon Stead and Olly Allen complete the GB line-up with Sweden and the Czech Republic also expected to be competitive.
Andersen is not expecting a doddle for the Danes, but he has set his sights on roaring straight into the final despite many recent winners (his own country included) having gone through the race-off en-route to glory.
"Everyone knows that Coventry is not my favourite place in speedway but I still normally managed to bang in some big points there," added Andersen. "And make no mistake, we are going there to win tonight.
"The World Cup winning team might usually come through the race-off but it is not a meeting we want to be involved in this year and we will gladly buck that trend.
"One thing it won't be tonight is a two-horse race like Event One between Australia and Poland on Saturday.
"Every team has riders who can win races round Coventry and it should be an excellent meeting."AUSTRALIA claimed a dramatic success over Poland in Event One on Saturday.
Aussie skipper Leigh Adams overcame the host nation's Jaroslaw Hampel in a nail-biting run-off at Leszno to send his team directly into the final this Saturday.
Poland must now negotiate the race-off with Russia who won plenty of admirers with a plucky performance led by teenage sensation Emil Sajfutdinov.
Panthers legend Ryan Sullivan scored eight points from five rides for Australia while brief Panther Norbert Magosi failed to score for Hungary.
Scores
Australia 56: Leigh Adams 20+3, Jason Crump 11, Chris Holder 11, Ryan Sullivan 8, Davey Watt 6.
Poland 56: Jarek Hampel 15+2, Rune Holta 13, Tomasz Gollob 12, Krzysztof Kasprzak 10, Wieslaw Jagus 6.
Russia 36: Emil Sajfutdinov 14, Denis Gizatullin 7, Grigory Laguta 7, Danil Ivanov 5, Renat Gafurov 3.
Hungary 10: Matej Ferjan 9, Jozsef Tabaka 1, Sandor Tihanyi 0, Norbert Magosi 0, Laszlo Szatmari 0.
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