Pipe World Cup Italy 2026: Ruscalla dominates the individual event, team title goes to Hungary
At the end of October, the Italian town of Abano Terme became the centre of the pipe-smoking world. Pipe World Cup Italy 2026 brought 292 competitors from 23 countries to the spa town. Home favourites led the individual standings, with Gianfranco Ruscalla at the top, but the team event was dramatically won by Hungary’s 424 PC Dombóvár. The Czech competitors also held their own in the strong field.
The World Cup returns to Italy
On 24 and 25 October 2026, the Hotel Alexander Palace in Abano Terme hosted one of the biggest events on this year’s pipe-smoking calendar. The CIPC World Cup returned to Italy after eleven years.
The championship slow-smoking competition took place on Sunday, 25 October. It attracted 292 competitors, with 69 teams competing in the team category.
The competition pipe was a special Savinelli 114 KS, and the tobacco was Peterson Sherlock Holmes.
Two and a half hours decided the winner
The Italian hosts put in an outstanding performance in the individual standings. The top two places stayed in Italy, and no fewer than four Italian competitors made the top ten.
The competitor who kept his pipe lit the longest was Gianfranco Ruscalla of Cerea Pipa Club, who finished exactly on the time limit of 2:30:00.
Simone Roggiolani of Florence’s Corsellini Pipa Club came second. He was just three minutes and one second behind the winner. Third place went to Spain’s Antoni Pascual Cadena of Barcelona Pipa Club.
The top ten also included two Austrians, a Pole, a Swiss competitor and a Hungarian. One notable result was Austrian Elisabeth Dobnig’s tenth place: with a time of 2:06:50, she joined the world’s elite.
Top ten in the individual standings
| Place | Competitor | Country | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Gianfranco Ruscalla | Italy | Cerea Pipa Club | 2:30:00 |
| 2. | Simone Roggiolani | Italy | Corsellini Pipa Club Firenze | 2:26:59 |
| 3. | Antoni Pascual Cadena | Spain | Barcelona Pipa Club | 2:22:31 |
| 4. | Paolo Simioni | Italy | Calumet Pipa Club Cornuda | 2:19:06 |
| 5. | Ferenc Varga | Hungary | 424 PC Dombóvár | 2:18:48 |
| 6. | Werner Dobnig | Austria | Lienzna Pfeif'nracha | 2:10:39 |
| 7. | Michal Perczynski | Poland | WLFC | 2:10:08 |
| 8. | Hanspeter Bosshard | Switzerland | Pfeifen Club Uster | 2:08:35 |
| 9. | Christian Dal Bo' | Italy | Pipa Club Castello Conegliano | 2:07:04 |
| 10. | Elisabeth Dobnig | Austria | Lienzna Pfeif'nracha | 2:06:50 |
The gap between first and tenth place was just 23 minutes and 10 seconds. For a competition involving more than two hours of smoking, this shows just how closely matched the very best competitors at this year’s World Cup were.
The team event offered even more drama
Under CIPC rules, the World Cup is primarily a competition between club teams. A team can consist of three to five competitors, and the result is based on the three best individual times recorded by its members.
And it was the team event that provided one of the most exciting moments of the entire championship.
The winner was Hungary’s 424 PC Dombóvár, with a combined time of 6:03:22. The decisive performances came from Ferenc Varga, with a time of 2:18:48, Szilárd Hegyháti, with 1:58:10, and Csaba Borbély, with 1:46:24.
Austria A finished just 3 minutes and 13 seconds behind them. The battle for second and third was even closer: the Austrian team beat Italy’s Castello di Conegliano A by just 13 seconds.
Nor was fourth-place Calumet A far behind. The top four teams were separated by just 6 minutes and 16 seconds.
Top ten teams at Pipe World Cup 2026
| Place | Team | Country | Combined time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 424 PC Dombóvár | Hungary | 6:03:22 |
| 2. | Austria A | Austria | 6:00:09 |
| 3. | Castello di Conegliano A | Italy | 5:59:56 |
| 4. | Calumet A | Italy | 5:57:06 |
| 5. | Cerea PC A | Italy | 5:08:57 |
| 6. | Aranyfüst A | Hungary | 5:06:06 |
| 7. | PC Uster A | Switzerland | 5:00:00 |
| 8. | PC Vicenza A | Italy | 4:54:51 |
| 9. | PC Brno | Czechia | 4:53:40 |
| 10. | Castello di Conegliano B | Italy | 4:50:49 |
The results also clearly illustrate the difference between individual and team success. Cerea PC A had the individual champion, Gianfranco Ruscalla, in its ranks, with an outstanding time of two and a half hours, yet it finished only fifth based on the combined times of its three best members.
By contrast, the winning Dombóvár team had no individual champion, but delivered three very strong and consistent results. And that is exactly what the World Cup team event is all about.
A great performance in the women’s event too
The women’s standings were also ranked separately. Austrian Elisabeth Dobnig won with a time of 2:06:50, which also earned her an excellent tenth place overall, regardless of gender.
Switzerland’s Sandra Bosshard came second with a time of 2:01:45, placing twelfth overall. Another Austrian, Loni Suntinger, finished third with a time of 1:42:40.
Kateřina Hubaczová of Pipe Club Dymka.net recorded a time of 1:19:11 and finished fourth among the women.
Czech success: Krýsa 15th and Brno in the top ten
The Czech delegation certainly held its own in the exceptionally large international field. The best Czech individual result was achieved by Jan Krýsa (home club: Havlíčkův Brod Pipe Smokers’ Society) who competed for PC Ostrava and finished 15th overall with a time of 1:52:10.
Just two minutes behind him was Břetislav Kotulán Jr. of Pipe Club Brno. His time of 1:50:10 earned him 17th place. Michal Hubacz of Dymka.net also made the top forty, finishing 31st with a time of 1:40:09. Břetislav Kotulán Sr. came 37th with a time of 1:36:13. Martin Štěpánek also made the top fifty (home club: Havlíčkův Brod Pipe Smokers’ Society) with a time of 1:26:02, competing in the championship for Pipe Club Dymka.net.
The most successful Czech team was PC Brno, which, thanks to the times of Břetislav Kotulán Jr. (1:50:10), Břetislav Kotulán Sr. (1:36:13) and Viktor Sinajský (1:27:17), achieved a combined time of 4:53:40 and an excellent 9th place.
Brno was just one minute and eleven seconds behind eighth-place PC Vicenza A from Italy. It finished two minutes and 51 seconds ahead of tenth-place Castello di Conegliano B.
Dymka.net A finished sixteenth with a time of 4:14:28, PC Ostrava placed 21st with a result of 3:51:29, and Dymka.net B came straight after them in 22nd place with a time of 3:51:16.
More than a competition: a gathering of the global pipe-smoking community
Pipe World Cup Italy was about more than just a few hours of competition on Sunday to see who could keep their pipe lit the longest.
An international Pipe Expo also took place at the hotel throughout the weekend, showcasing pipe, tobacco and accessory manufacturers. The programme included guided tastings, an Italian Tasting Area, a social Gala Dinner and events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Savinelli brand.
The organisers also arranged trips to Padua and the Euganean Hills, making the weekend a blend of competition and what traditionally makes an international pipe-smoking gathering special: bringing together clubs, manufacturers, collectors and friends from different countries.
