Yes, bandy in May is possible when you have access to exciting ideas, enthusiastic people and teams who think it’s fantastic fun with bandy this late in the normal bandy season.
Hungarian Bandy Federation is arranging the first Hungarian Bandy Cup this weekend. It is part of the development of bandy in general and the Hungarian bandy in particular. The competition will be held on this Sunday, May 22 in Mátyásföld’s ice rink. Three teams start in the Hungarian Cup and play four matches each. The three participating teams are Budapest Kings, Dynamo Budapest and Észak-Pesti Bandy Club.
The tournament is unique in that it is not played with traditional rink bandy rules but with bandy rules. Despite the fact that the Hungarian Cup is played on a smaller pitch than the regular bandy pitch, we can see, for example, corners and larger goals to make it look and feel as close to the bandy as possible.
Attila Ádámfi, chairman of HBF, can only say positive things about the upcoming Hungarian Cup:
– “It is a great pleasure for us to hold the first Hungarian Cup this weekend. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it has not been possible to compete internationally since the 2020 Group B World Championship, which the Hungarian team won and made it to Group A. The national team was optimistic about this year’s World Championship, but unfortunately the event planned in Russia was canceled at the last minute. That’s why it was especially important for us to give athletes a chance to compete, if not at a world championship level. We hope that not only more, but also a women’s team will compete in Hungarian championships, and we would like to involve the teams of the surrounding countries into the life of Hungarian bandy.”