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European Youth Team Wins Two Out Of Three Titles

Tomas Brikmanis, Moritz Neuhausen, Valeriia Trushevskaia, Sanjin Pehlivanovic, Jonas Souto, Gabi Ham

The European Youth squad won two out of three titles during the recent WPA World 9-Ball Championships. Moritz Neuhausen (GER) took the title in the Under 17 division while Jonas Souto (ESP) defeated Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) in the final of the Under 19 division. Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS) won the bronze medal in the girls division.
 
The WPA Youth World 9-Ball Championships 2019 were held in Nicosia, Cyprus. Team EUROPE consisted of 7 local players plus 13 players from the EPBF nomination system. The team was accompanied by the Youth Sports Director of the EPBF, Tomas Brikmanis from Estonia and Germany’s Gabi Hammer. The nominated players through the EPBF were:
 
GIRLS
My Nguyen (SWE), Aleksandra Guleikova (RUS), Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS), Nina Torvund (NOR) and Bojana Sarac (SRB)
 
UNDER 17
 
Emil-Andre Gangfløt (NOR), Dominik Jastrzab (POL), Szymon Kural (POL) and Moritz Neuhausen (GER)
 
UNDER 19
 
Christoffer Lentz (DEN), Froehlich (GER), Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) and Jonas Souto (ESP)
 
The draw was generally not in favour of the Europeans since they played each other pretty early during the event. However, the result is more than successful for team Europe. The nomination of the players took place after this year’s European Youth Championships in Veldhoven, The Netherlands. The EPBF covered all costs for players and both coaches such as travel, transfer and daily allowances. Hotel costs were covered by the organiser so all participants were able to have all costs being taken care of.
 
In the Under 17s, there was no real favourite before the event. Neuhausen, who took the title in the end was among the stranger players together with Joey Tate (USA) and Khalid Alghamdi (KSA). The field however was pretty levelled and saw many close results. To his horror, Neuhausen lost his first round match to Alghamdi with 6:7. He had to go to the loser’s side straight away. There, he eliminated teammate Szymon Kural 7:2 and whitewashed Haydar Capo (CAN) 7:0. In the loser’s qualification round, Neuhausen once more had a close encounter. He barely stayed alive against Dominik Jastrzab and won 7:6 to advance to the single elimination stage. There, he took down Yushi Muramatsu (JPN) 9:0. He went on and took revenge from Alghamdi, winning 9:6 in the semi-final. The final match was won by Neuhausen with 9:5 over Huan Fu (CHN).
 
In the Under 19s, Jonas Souto funnily enough also lost his opening match. He fell to the sharp blade of Shamir Tremus (CURACAO) with 5:9. Then he took down Stylianos Loukaides (CYP) 9:1 to then eliminate last year’s Champion Makheal Parris (USA) 9:5. The victory in his next match with 9:8 over Lukas Fracasso-Verner (USA) booked Souto a seat in the single elimination stage. He continued his quest to take down Kaiden Hunkins (USA) 11:8 and Robbie Capito (HKG) 11:9 to enter the final match against teammate Sanjin Pehlivanovic. Some favourites like Christian Froehlich and Robbie Capito started their tournament out very well but their performance went down towards the end of the eevnt. Pehlivanovic and Souto were the last two athletes standing in the Under 19 division. The final match turned into a thriller one more time with Souto having the better ending on his side. 11:9 was the final result that brought the title for the Spaniard.
 
The girls division saw a deserved victory of Yi-Hsuan Lu (CHN). The Chinese dominated the field together with last year’s runner-up Seoa Seo (KOR). Lu finally defeated Sea in the semi-final with 9:7. Valeriia Trushevskaia lost her semi-final match also 7:9 to Tamami Okuda (JPN). In the final match, Lu defeated Okuda 9:5.
 
Stated EPBF Youth Sports Director Tomas Brikmanis after the event: „The end result for team Europe was very good. 2 golds out of three is a fantastic result. Unfortunately, some players were not able to get medals, but this is sports. Maybe high hopes did not help Emil Andre Gangflot, My Nguen and Christoffer Lentz. There is a good potential with Alexandra Guleikova and Bojana Sarac and both polish athletes. If they get some experience, then I am sure they will win something in the future.“
 
The President of the EPBF, Gre Leenders, congratulated also all participants for a great job representing Europe: „Looking at the results of the EPBF delegation I can only congratulate all athletes with their achievements. 2 Gold medals (U17) & (U19), 1 silver medal (U19) and one bronze medal (Girls), is a proof of the high playing level these young athletes already have. The competition is not easy with high quality athletes from continents like Asia and North America. Also the “younger” continental bodies like Latin America and Africa presented already a good level of athletes. These results also mark that the structures, build in the 40 years history of the EPBF, are working. The work done in the national federations is very important and the seamless cooperation between the National EPBF Federations and the EPBF itself does help these young athletes to develop in the best environment. Therefore, we must also express our appreciation towards these National bodies who are responsible for this tremendous job. Congratulations also to all our EPBF members.“

Europe Announces 2019 Atlantic Challenge Cup Team

The European Pocket Billiard Federation today announced its team to face the Americans during this year’s staging of the Atlantic Challenge Cup taking place 28th to 30th November 2019 in Treviso Italy at the BHR Premier Best Western hotel.  
 
The European team this year consists of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Sanjin Pehlivanovic, Netherlands Jan Van Lierop, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, and making up the final boys spot this year is Germany’s Christian Froehlich. On the girls’ side representing Europe this year are Sweden’s My Nguyen and the Ukraine’s Darya Siranchuk. The European players are selected on their results at the European and World championships along with the highest ranked U19 player on the professional men’s Eurotour. Jan van Lierop received his spot on the team through the Eurotour rankings while the other five team members won at least one gold medal at the European Championships in 2018 to make the team.
 
After last year’s win, the EPBF youth sports director Tomas Brikmanis said, “It’s another amazing team that has been assembled for this year’s event in Italy. I am quietly confident of another victory, but I will not let my guard down. I know the Americans are hurting from last year’s result and I am aware of the potential of an upset. My players are as hungry as ever and will be ready when November comes.”
 
Team USA and both team captains will be announced soon.  
 
Launched in 2015, the Atlantic Challenge Cup features the best youth players from Europe and America in a Mosconi Cup style event for the U19’s age category. Six players on each team, four boys and two girls, battle it out on an annual basis to see who has bragging rights across the Atlantic. The event is the result of a joint venture between the European Pocket Billiard Federation and the Billiard Congress of America. 
 
Stay tuned to AtlanticChallengeCup.com for continuous updates on the 2019 event. 

EPBF squad for Youth World Championships Announced

EPBF Youth Sports Director Tomas Brikmanis

After the conclusion of the Dynamic Billard European Youth Championships in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, yesterday, a huge BBQ party was held by the EPBF for all athletes, coaches and team. During the party, the EPBF Youth Sports Director Tomas Brikmanis announced the names of the players who qualified for this years’ World Championships to be held in Cyprus in November.
 
The qualified players are:
 
Girls
 
Aleksandra Guleikova RUS (European Champion 8-ball)
 
My Nguyen SWE (European Champion 9-ball)
 
Valeria Trushevskaia RUS (European Champion 10-ball)
 
Nina Torvund NOR (qualified through medal points)
 
U17
 
Dominik Jastrzab POL (European Champion 8-ball)
 
Emil-Andre Gangflot NOR (European Champion 9-ball)
 
Szymon Kural POL (European Champion 10-ball)
 
Moritz Neuhausen GER (European Champion straight pool)
 
U19
 
Christian Froehlich GER (European Champion 8-ball and straight pool)
 
Christoffer Lentz DEN (European Champion 9-ball)
 
Sanjin Pehlivanovic BIH (European Champion 10-ball)
 
Jonas Souto ESP (qualified through medal points)
 
The composition of the squad has been decided upon according §5 and §1.2 of the EPBF Qualification Criteria for WPA event.
 
For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Lechner Waves The Austrian Flag High

Ralf Souquet (left), Wojciech Szewczyk (middle) and Maximilian Lechner

Maximilian Lechner (AUT) has booked his spot in the round of the last 16 players in the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019 with a 9:7 victory over Petri Makkonen (FIN).
 
Lechner will be accompanied in the round by his teammate Mario He (AUT) who managed to eliminate „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:6 in the last round today.
 
Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) whitewashed his opponent Stefan Huber (AUT) 9:0. Young Dutchman Tim De Ruyter (NED) sent Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) home with 9:6.
 
Joshua „Killer“ Filler (GER) is also among the last 16 men standing. He defeated Christian Froehlich (GER) 9:3.
 
BCA Hall of Fame Ralf Souquet (GER) took down Miguel Silva (POR) with 9:7 and kept a foot in the door to take a shot at the title here in St. Johann im Pongau.
 
Last 16 players
 
Eklent Kaci ALB v Wojciech Szewczyk POL
 
Konrad Juszczyszyn POL v Maximilian Lechner AUT
 
Radoslaw Babica POL v Ralf Souquet GER
 
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ESP v Konstantin Stepanov RUS
 
Tim De Ruyter NED v Damianos Giallourakis GRE
 
Marc Bijsterbosch NED v Mario He AUT
 
Ruslan Chinakhov RUS v Ivo Aarts NED
 
Oliver Szolnoki HUN v Joshua Filler GER
 
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
 
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open will commence tomorrow, June 15th, at 10:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
 
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open are played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
 
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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.