A glitch in the Svemo webpage, the official site for Swedish speedway, meant than the nomination heats and final result were missing from the page for at least 18 hours.
But now everything’s online and we can see how the riders faired on the big night.
Team Småland 78 v Team Rapid 102
Top rider for the winners Team Rapid, was Victor Palovaara (picturedriding for Vetlanda). In the home leg he scored a paid maximum of 14+1 and in the 45-45 draw in Vetlanda he led with 11 from six heats.
Pontus Aspgren and Linus Eklöf, who also ride for Elitserien outfit Smederna based at the same ground in Eskilstuna, were also top scorers in these semifinals.
All three will be needed in the club’s fight for the Allsvenkan trophy.
Team Småland did the right thing in bringing in Filip Hjelmland (Vetlanda) for their playoff run. He was their top scorer with 9+2 in the away defeat that would eventually cost them the semifinals, whilst at home in Vetlanda he potted 10 points, just one behind Danish guest rider, Jonas Jeppesen.
All four of the Swedish riders named above will be featuring in the Elitserien semifinal match next week when Eskilstuna Smederna travel to meet Vetlanda.
Vargarna 88 v Griparna 92
Peter Ljung (Västervik) scored a 15 point maximum in the first semifinal for Griparna and lead the team with 13 points from six heats in the decider in Norrköping.
The 37 year old is having the season of his life in Elitserien and Poland’s Nice 1 and even got to wear national colours at the Speedway of Nations finals. The Nyköping club will need him to ride at this level if they are to defeat favourites Team Rapid in the final.
Oliver Berntzon (Dackarna) also played a key role for Griparna in both matches with 11 in Nyköping and 11+1 away from home. 11 years younger than Ljung he is also having his best ever season which has been his first full season in Nice 1. This is also his first year in the Elitserien with Dackarna where Ljung is his rival in the semifinals which will conclude next week.
And finally, Kim Nilsson (Masarna) was in top form for Vargarna leading the team by scoring 15 in both matches. In the first match in Nyköping he dropped just two points, while at home last night in Norrköping he scored a maximum winning all five heats he competed in.
This has also been an exceptional good season for the 29 year old, but now he will a chance to put his feet up as all three clubs he represented in Sweden and Poland have finished for the 2019 season.
Griparna will take on Team Rapid in the two final matches on 12 and 19 September.
