EKSTRALIGA | WROCLAW REACH FINAL TO END LESZNO REIGN

Polish icon Maciej Janowski raced to 12 points for Wroclaw as they ended Leszno’s four-year reign as PGE Ekstraliga champions to reach next week’s play-off final.

Wroclaw triumphed 47-43 over the Bulls at the Olympic Stadium to seal a 106-44 aggregate victory that denies Leszno a fifth straight title.

Janowski led the charge, with SGP World Championship leader Artem Laguta backing him up on 11, while Tai Woffinden added 11 paid 12.

Aussie ace Jason Doyle produced a sensational performance for Leszno, scoring 17 from six rides, while Piotr Pawlicki notched nine paid 10. Junior sensation Damian Ratajczak impressed on seven paid eight, with SGP star Emil Sayfutdinov scoring seven.

In the other semi-final, Lublin matched the greatest season in the club’s history as they defeated Gorzow 47-43 to secure a 106-44 aggregate win and set up a final showdown with Wroclaw.

Lublin’s best-ever league performance came in 1991, when Danish great Hans Nielsen led them to silver.

Thirty years on and they are guaranteed at least that, after current Danish star Mikkel Michelsen led them to victory on 11 points from four races. Polish international Dominik Kubera tallied 10, while Krzysztof Buczkowski collected eight paid nine and Jaroslaw Hampel scored seven paid nine.

But Lublin’s hopes of winning gold suffered a setback after Grigorii Laguta crashed out of the meeting in heat 11, picking up some unwanted drive going into turn three and collecting Gorzow star Szymon Wozniak.

The Pole was relatively unscathed, while early reports suggest Laguta was conscious. He was placed into the ambulance for further checks.

World champion Bartosz Zmarzlik topped Gorzow’s score chart on 16, with Martin Vaculik and Wozniak adding eight paid nine apiece. Danish champion Anders Thomsen scored a straight eight.

Lublin host Wroclaw in the first leg of the final next Sunday, while Leszno welcome Gorzow in the bronze medal play-off. The return legs take place a week later on September 26.

For full details of the day’s results and scorers in Poland, click here: http://bit.ly/2uoK8OX.