Senior European Championships Begin

Stefano Bazzana (ITA) Foto: EPBF/DK

Straight Pool as the opening discipline

Sunday, 05 August 2012
: In Brandenburg a. d. Havel, Germany, the next big event in
pool-billiards was launched: The Dynamic Billiards European Championships for Seniors and Ladies.

The event started today with the straight pool discipline. Straight pool is only played in the senior's division. The defending Champion from last year is Stefano Bazzana (ITA). He and 56 other competitors will play off the 2012 Champion in the upcoming days. Bazzana had a walk-over in the first round and then had to deal with Rune Espeland (NOR). Espeland found his way into the match earlier than Bazzana. He started with some nice shots and accomplished a 32:11 lead over the defending Champion. But Bazzana could do better; he had proven it last year. So he obviously focussed more on his shots and started hitting the balls better. On top of that, Espeland played some aggressive shots which he missed and left several open options for Bazzana. The Italian did not have to be asked twice to accept these gifts. He pocketed some nice series and took a 52:43 lead in the match. One could feel how his confidence got back into his performance. Espeland seemed to be impressed with Bazzana's play. He had one more chance in the match, trailing 43:65. He could have pocketed the 14th ball and shoot the break ball for the next rack but he missed it by a mile! Bazzana got back to the table, made the 14th ball, played a good break position and opened the next rack, making all remaining balls for him to take this match 75:43.

Other notable results include Steffen Gross (GER) defeating Tomasz Malinowski (POL) with 75:41. Pascal Budo (BEL) won over Paulo Costa (POR) with 75:42.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.