Poole No 1 Darcy Ward suffers serious shoulder injury in Sweden

Poole No 1 Darcy Ward is facing an injury lay-off after crashing out of the Swedish Grand Prix on Saturday, ameeting won by Emil Sayfutdinov.

The Australian suffered the blow on his 21st birthday when he came to grief in Heat Six at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.

The crash left Ward in serious discomfort with his shoulder and he was taken to hospital for x-rays, where it was revealed that he is likely to require an operation, pending further referral to a specialist.

Poole face two Elite League fixtures this week with Lakeside visiting Wimborne Road on Wednesday before the Pirates make the trip to Peterborough on Thursday.

Ward's team-mate Chris Holder was just edged out in the final by Russian sensation Emil Sayfutdinov, whose father Damir lost his battle with cancer just before the mereting.

Sayfutdinov only found out the tragic news after the post-meeting press conference, and he said: "When I was at home, I said to my dad 'I'll win this for you.' I did that. My family will feel much better for this hopefully.

"Everyone has helped me this week with sending messages and thank you very much to all my sponsors and fans who have done that. I can't say enough to thank them. So many fans applauded and congratulated me after the final. It means a lot."