Emil Sayfutdinov was on his way to victory in the first round of Speedway European Championships in Toruń. In the regular phase he didn’t know the bitterness of defeat and with a maximum of fifteen points qualified directly to the final. In it, however, he was beaten by Nicki Pedersen and Paweł Przedpełski.
"Just after the competition I said Nicki that this is sport. It seemed that after a great regular phase I would be easily able to win in the final. That didn’t happen. I would like to congratulate Nicki and Paweł because they put the really tough conditions. The final heat was amazing, the fight went on four laps. Today, fans see the real essence of speedway. Of course I'm happy with my performance, because only recently I have dealt with the injury and I was not quite sure how it all works. "
Despite taking the third place Sajyutdinov is the leader in the general classification with 16 points. Right behind him is the winner from Toruń, Nicki Pedersen.
"I'm happy with the scored points, but this is just the first meeting. In every tournament you have to score equally to enjoy the medal at the end. Today I am happy, but I think about the next round in Landshut "- ended Emil Sayfutdinov.