10-Ball Champions Crowned

The winners (l.t.r): Vitaly Pavlukhin, Darya Sirotina, Jim Chawki Foto: EPBF/DK

Chawki, Pavlukhin and Sirotina go for the Gold

Tuesday, 02 August 2011: The 10-ball competition has come to an end with the finals in the juniors, pupils and girls division tonight. Jim Chawki (SWE), Vitaly Pavlukhin (RUS) and Darya Sirotina (RUS) are 10-ball European Championships 2011 in their division.

The junior’s final started out unexpected. Jim Chawki was down with 2:0 to Alain Da Costa (FRA) and seemed to not be able to get the necessary momentum. He took a time out when he was trailing 0:2. That obviously gave him the necessary speed and he won the next seven racks, winning the match and the title with 7:2.

In the pupils division, Vitaly Pavlukhin defeated Tian Zhang (SWE) with 6:3. Zhang, who played very strong and solid in the semi-final match against Andrey Seroshtan, made too many mistakes in the final and left shots for Pavlukhin. The Russian, who is coached by Filipino superstar player Francisco Bustamante, played as cold as ice and used every single chance that Zhang offered him. “I travel to Manila 3-4 times a year”, said Pavlukhin after the match, “and I learn a lot from my coach.” “I knew when I entered the competition that I was going to be in the top spots”. “I have the feeling that this was not the last medal for me this week. I am especially keen on getting the gold medal in 8-ball as well”. Pavlukhin destroyed Zhang’s hopes for the title and won the final with 6:3.

Darya Sirotina had to face her Russian teammate Nataliya Seroshtan. Both young girls seemed to be quite nervous in the beginning. At a score of 2:2, Seroshtan took a timeout. After that, Sirotina got on the roll. She played much better than before and did not give one more single rack to her opponent, winning the match with 5:2.

The European Championships are 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.epbf.com , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.