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Austria and Russia Take Gold Medals in Team Competition

Kaserer (Coach), He, Ouschan, Lechner, Seroshtan, Ruysink (Coach),

At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal, the Women’s Team from Russia and the Men’s Team from Austria have won the Gold medals in their respective division.

 

In the men’s division, Team Austria met Team Finland in the final match. The Austrians had ousted the strong Polish Team in their semi-final 2:0 while the Finnish have taken down Team Spain 2:1. The first point for Austria was in the books very quickly. Albin Ouschan won his 9-ball match over Kim Laaksonen 9:2 in just under one hour. That brought Austria the 1:0 lead. Then, Petri Makkonen rode the winning wave over Maximilian Lechner in 10-ball with 8:4. The 8-ball match between Mario He and Jani Uski had to decide. Uski, who just won the title in 8-ball earlier this week, was down 6:7 with Mario He being at the table. The Austrian cleared the table but lined the 8-ball which was lying in a cluster of balls up for a one-rail shot in the side pocket. He missed that shot and Uski got back to the table, cleared it and turned the scoreboard to 7:7. One last 8-ball rack was deciding about fame and glory. Uski had the break shot and perfectly executed it, having some ball down and a nice option to continue. He pocketed all balls of his group except the last one. He fell out of position since he tried to open it up with the shot before but failed to touch the ball at all. So he went for a safety attempt which failed completely. Mario He had one more visit to the table and used it. Cheered up by his teammates Ouschan and Lechner, He cleared the table and pocketed the last winning 8-ball, taking the title for Austria.

 

Also today in the men’s team competition, disciplinary action was taken against one player. Daniel Kandi (DEN) has over the past week repeatedly misconducted at the table by bashing balls and/or his cue on the table among other things. Said EPBF Sports Director Anamaria Matesic: „We definitely allow players to show emotions and we want to display our sport in all its facets, but we also require a certain level of behaviour. This was broken several times by Mr. Kandi so, after having warned him through a referee on different occasions already, I decided to impose a fine of 500,-€ on him. I hope he will learn from that and in future events will conduct accordingly so we can all work for our common goal to display our sports at its best“.

 

Top 8 Men’s Teams:
1. Austria
2. Finland
3. Poland
Spain
5. Croatia
Netherlands
Denmark
Russia

 

In the women’s division, the final match was played between Team Spain and Team Russia. After a heartbreaking shootout decision in the semi-final over Team The Netherlands, the Spanish team seemed a bit out of energy. Probably the semi-final took too much out of them. On the other hands, Team Russia sailed into the final match with a nice and clear 2:0 victory over Team Switzerland. In the final, Nataliya Seroshtan finished Mayte Ropero 6:1 in 8-ball while Kristina Tkach left no chance for Amalia Matas and won her 9-ball match 7:5.

 

Top 8 Women’s Teams:
1. Russia
2. Spain
3. Netherlands
Switzerland
5. France
Poland
7. Germany
Sweden

 

Medal Table after 4 of 5 events:

 

The team competition ties the Finnish and the Dutch Team for first place in the medal ranking. They both still have promising players in the 9-ball individuals so it will be interesting to see who will be the overall winning nation tomorrow after the last ball has been pocketed.

 

Earlier today, a few rounds of 9-ball individuals were played. In the men’s division, the tournament is down to the round of the last 64 players single elimination. Here, Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) had a tough fight with defending Champion Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). The match went hill-hill at 8:8 with Fischer breaking the final rack. He executed a very powerful break and had the 1-ball and the 5-ball pocketed, having a long thin cut on the 2-ball. He went for it, missed it but got extremely lucks since the cue ball hid behind the 7-ball, making it hard for Sanchez to come up with a decent answer. The Spaniard tried to hit the 2-ball rail first and successfully did so. However, the cue ball scratched and that brought Fischer back to the table with ball in hand. Sparrenloev-Fischer used his chance and luckily took the match with 9:8 over Sanchez, advancing to the round of the last 32 players while Sanchez is eliminated out of the 9-ball individuals at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. Also in the round of the last 64 men, Marco Teutscher (NED) ousted the current 9-ball World Champion Albin Ouschan (AUT) quite clearly with 9:4. In an encounter of two very experienced players, Niels „The Terminator“ Feijen (NED) defeated Stephan Cohen (FRA) by a whisker with 9:8. Daniele Corrieri (ITA) ended Mario He’s (AUT) hope for a title in 9-ball this year with a deserved and clear 9:3 result. Joining Mario He in the group of eliminated players is David Alcaide (ESP). His destiny was sealed by Denis Grabe (EST) with 9:7.

 

In the women’s division, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes are down to the last 16 players single elimination. Today, the loser’s qualification round was completed. Kristina Tkach (RUS) remained alive in the competition by smashing Monica Margeta (SWE) 7:2. Kelly Fisher (GBR) who surprisingly lost her opening match, has also made it to the last 16 players. She defeated Vania Franco (POR) 7:3. unfortunately for Fisher, she was drawn against Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) in the first single elimination round which will be played tomorrow at 12:00 GMT.

 

In the wheelchair division, defending Champion Henrik Larsson (SWE) convincingly made his way into the semi-final, taking down Matt Duffy (GBR) 7:1. The other winner’s qualification match in the wheelchair division was fiercely fought over. In the end, Kurt Deklerck (BEL) managed to get the better of Fred Dinsmore (IRL) by taking the match 7:6. This seems not be be Dinsmore’s Championships.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes.

 

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.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Deklerck, Matas and Bijsterbosch Win 10-ball Titles

At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal, the gold medals in 10-ball have been awarded. Kurt Deklerck (BEL), Amalia Matas (ESP) and Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) have taken the titles in their respective division.

 

It is the first European Champion title for the 23-year-old Bijsterbosch. After having eliminated his teammate and favoured player Niels Feijen (NED) 10:8 in the quarterfinal match, Bijsterbosch took on Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) in the semi-final. He stood tall and took the victory with 10:6 which brought him into the final match. His opponent there was Christian Sparrenlowv-Fischer (SWE), another underdog that was not expected in the final match at all. Fischer eliminated Gabor Solymosi (HUN) clearly with 10:3 in the quarterfinal and Denis Grabe (EST) in a heartbreaking semi-final with 10:9. The final match was on between two newbies. In the beginning, both players were very concentrated and played equally strong. The scoreboard proved that none of the two was able to gain clear advantage over the other player. Bijsterbosch was leading 6:5 after 11 racks. But then he seemed to get momentum. His game worked, the table always unfolded very friendly for him and he used his chances ice-cold whereas Fischer seemed to struggle. This little proof of weakness was enough for the Dutch to run away from Fischer and finally take the match with 10:6 in the end to win his first gold medal on European level in the men’s division. However, the silver medal is also a ver high achievement for Sparrenloev-Fischer.

 

Top Eight Men:
1. Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
2. Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE)
3. Denis Grabe (EST)
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)
5. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)
Gabor Solymosi (HUN)
Ivar Saris (NED)
Niels Feijen (NED)

 

In the women’s division, Amalia Matas was also another newbie to a final match in the European Championships. On her way into the final match, she defeated strong Kristina Tkach (RUS) 7:6, then Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in the semi-final with 7:2 and took her spot in the final match. He opponent there was Ana Gradisnik (SLO) who remained victorious over Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) 7:4 and Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) 7:4. Gradisnik also had her first appearance in a final match of the European Championship in the women’s division. She collected three silver medals in the girls division back then. So the match was as open as in the men’s division. No favourite player, no underdog… all square in the beginning. But unlike in the men’s division, the women’s final was a very one-sided affair. Matas started really strong and continued to play on that level for the duration of the whole final match. She only allowed Gradisnik to snatch one single rack off her, winning the match and the title with 7:1 over a frustrated Gradisnik.

 

Top Eight Women:
1. Amalia Matas (ESP)
2. Ana Gradisnik (SLO)
3. Oliwia Czuprynska (POL)
Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR)
5. Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR)
Natalia Seroshtan (RUS)
Tina Vogelmann (GER)
Kristina Tkach (RUS)

 

In the wheelchair division, the final match was also not packed with regulars. Kurt Deklerck (BEL) encountered Roy Kimberley (GBR). The match looked for a long time as a clear affair in favour of Kimberley. After 5 racks, the score was 4:1 in favour of the Brit. But then the tide turned in the match. Deklerck got stronger and the match was on again. After 10 racks, the match was all levelled at 5:5 so the deciding 11th rack had to be played. There, Deklerck had the match ball in his hands but missed it by a small margin. He left a long shot for Kimberley who in turn also missed this shot. Probably the pressure was too high for him at this moment. He left an easy shot into the side pocket for Deklerck who pocketed the winning 10-ball and took the title in the wheelchair division.

 

Top Eight Wheelchair Athletes:
1. Kurt Deklerck (BEL)
2. Roy Kimberley (GBR)
3. Jouni Tahti (FIN)
Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
5. Tony Southern (GBR)
Manfred Gattinger (GER)
7. Daniel Luton (GBR)
David Himpe (BEL)

 

Medal table after 2 of 5 events:

 

Earlier today, 110 Men, 43 women and 14 wheelchair players have started the 8-ball competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. The defending Champion Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) had a very tough draw in his first match with Nick Van Den Berg (NED). The Dutch had already bested Daniel Kandi (DEN) in his first round match and encountered the defending Champion in winner’s round one. Having enough titles underneath his belt, too, the writing was on the wall that this match would become a thriller. Both players kept the promise. Patsura was getting a 3:1 advantage after van den Berg committed an easy mistake in rack 2. But the Dutch struck back and evened the match after six racks to 3:3. A shot-clock was assigned to the match after 7 racks since especially Patsura took very long for each shot. With the shot-clock, the match carried on a bit quicker and both players made an equal number of mistakes. The biggest mistake which in the end might have costed him the match van den Berg committed when the score was 6:6. Having two striped balls left on the table, van den Berg missed a very easy pot in the corner pocket in order to get ahead with 7:6. Instead, Patsura got his chance and benefited from it, getting the lead again. With 14 racks being played, the scoreboard displayed a hill-hill situation at 7:7. Van den Berg broke but no ball went in any pocket. Patsura got to the table and finished a complicated layout under high pressure to defeat van den Berg 8:7 and advance to the round of the last 64 players single elimination. Other remarkable results from the men’s 8-ball individuals today include Denis Grabe (EST) defeat Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 8:4. Mieszko Fortunski (POL) just made it over Andreas Madsen (DEN) by a hair’s breadth with 8:7. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) clearly destroyed Maksim Dudanets (RUS) 8:2.

 

In the women’s 8-ball individuals, Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) came up with a huge upset and wiped the floor with defending Champion Kristina Tkach (RUS) 6:1 in winner’s round 1. After a tough struggle, Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) remained the upper hand over Amalia Matas (ESP) 6:5.

 

In the wheelchair 8-ball division, Jouni Tahti (FIN) managed to overpower Fred Dinsmore (IRL) 5:4 in the first round match. That will encounter Tony Southern (GBR) in winner’s round 1.

 

Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with loser’S round 1 matches from the 8-ball individuals competition.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes starting Saturday 18th March at 09:00h GMT.

 

The event will be 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Sparrenloev-Fischer Through to Semi-Finals

Sparrenloev-Fischer (L), Gabor Solymosi (R)

The 10-ball individuals competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Albufeira, Portugal, is down to the semi-finals. Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) booked his seat in the semis with an impressive 10:3 victory over Gabor Solymosi (HUN).

 

It was probably impossible to foresee that match as a quarterfinal encounter at the European Championships. Sparrenloev-Fischer as well as Solymosi cannot be regarded as favourites for the title. But their way today showed some impressive results over strong opponents. Fischer started his day with an 8:5 victory over Sascha Specchia (SUI). Then he went on and took down Jani Uski (FIN) 8:3. In the next round, the last 16, Fischer defeated Fabio Rizzi (FRA) who had just surprisingly ousted Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) the round before. 8:2 was the clear final result that brought Fischer into the quarterfinal match. Solymosi overpowered Danilo Cipriani (ITA) 8:2, then Daniel Kandi (DEN) 8:5 and finally Geronimo Weissenberger (GER) 8:6 for his spot in the match with Fischer. Both contestants were in good shape with Solymosi having the better start. He took first blood and lead 1:0 but then there was a long road for him without scoring. Fischer snatched the following five racks from him in a row. Solymosi could not find the key to stop Fischer. He won two more rack to make the score 3:5 in favour of Fischer. Then the Swede wasted no more time with Solymosi and won five consecutive racks in order to win the match with 10:3 after an amazing performance. In the semi-final which will be played tomorrow at 18:00, Fischer will meet Denis Grabe (EST) for a spot in the gold medal match. The other semi-final in the men’s division will be played between Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) and Francisco-Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP).

 

In the women’s division, the first semi-final will be played between Ana Gradisnik (SLO) and Oliwia Czuprynska (POL). The other semi-final is a bit more of a surprise. After the elimination of Jasmin Ouschan, Kristina Tkach was the clear favourite for the title. But she had to give in to strong Amalia Matas (ESP). Matas will encounter Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in the other semi-final.

 

The semi-finals in the wheelchair division will be played between Jouni Tahti (FIN) versus Roy Kimberley (GBR) and Kurt Deklerck (BEL) versus Fred Dinsmore (IRL).

 

Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with first round matches from the 8-ball individuals competition.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.eurotouronline.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes starting Saturday 18th March at 09:00h GMT.

 

The event will be 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Defending Champions Jasmin and Albin Ouschan Ready for Title Defense

The straight pool competition has commenced at the first day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Albufeira, Portugal. After last year’s remarkable double victory for Austria through the Ouschan siblings, the focus was on them today again. And they both stood tall.

 

In the men’s division, Albin Ouschan had Daniele Corrieri (ITA) in his first match. Not an easy task for Ouschan whose scalp was up for grabs today. Corrieri opened the match with a run of 55 balls which was quite a decent inning for the Italian. Ouschan only managed to run one rack before he allowed Corrieri rack to the table. The Italian made 4 balls but then ran out of position. He attempted a jump shot but failed to pocket it. That sealed this fate in that match. The defending Champion got to the table and ran the remaining 86 balls which he needed to win the match 100:59 and advance to the winner’s qualification round, wending Corrieri to the loser’s side. In the next round, Ouschan had a lot of work to do. He was up against Maxim Dudanets (RUS) which again was anything else but an easy draw for him. To the contrary, the young Russian played very steady and self-confident and put a lot off pressure on Ouschan. After 7 innings the score was 93:80 in favour of Dudanets. He was at the table and had a promising break shot on the table in front of him. He tried to fire it in the corner pocket but missed it by a millimetre. That gave Ouschan another chance which he used to finish the match 100:93 in his favour. These two victories from today take Albin Ouschan to the single elimination round of the last 32 men in the straight pool competition.

 

Another remarkable story revolved around Andreas Roschkowsky (GER) today. The sharp-shooting German encountered „Napoleon“ Marcus Chamat (SWE) in his first match. He ran 100 balls in the first inning and did not allow Chamat to the table at all. In the next round, Roschkowsky met Niels „The Terminator“ Feijen (NED). In that match, ironically he received the same fate. Feijen only needed one inning to destroy Roschkowsky and advance to the single elimination. What goes around, comes around… On the losers side, Roschkowsky met with Cirangir Baran (TUR) who had no chance against the German. 100:31 was the clear result in favour of Roschkowsky.

 

Probably the toughest defeat of the day way handed to Denis Grabe (EST) in his match against Tomasz Kaplan (POL). When Grabe was trailing 78:81 when he got to the table. Kaplan just fell out of position and missed a shot, giving an open table to Grabe. The Estonian came in too straight for the break ball and almost did not have an angle to break the rack. But he pocketed the break ball with the cue ball rolling towards the head rail where it came to rest almost frozen. Being on 99 points, Grabe missed the last ball and gave the table back to Kaplan. The Polish showed nerves of steel and ran the remaining 19 balls he needed to win the match with the closest of all results, 100:99. On the loser’s side, Grabe took on Daniel Kandi (DEN). This match turned into a real thriller. At 98:98, both players entered into a safety battle with Grabe having the better end on his side, winning the match by a whisker 100:96.

 

In the women’s straight pool competition, defending Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) started her mission „title defence“ as usual. She showed no mercy to her opponents, winning 75:48 over Veronica Hubrtova (CZE) and 75:37 over Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). Undefeated she marched on into the single elimination round of the last 16 women. Probably her toughest opponent here, Kristina Tkach (RUS) has also shown her class today. She took down Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) 75:17, then destroyed Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) 75:6 and creamed Christine Feldmann (SUI) 75:13 for her spot amongst the last 16 women.

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes will continue at 09:00 GMT with matches from the men’s straight pool single elimination last 32 players.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.eurotouronline.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes starting Saturday 18th March at 09:00h GMT.

 

The event will be 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

2014 Deurne City Classic: The Story

After a days rest and a good night sleep, here are some final words about this years event..

As all of you probably noticed I’ve worked hard to get this edition of DCC right up there with the biggest tournaments in Europe and on the international stage. Therefore I had to get it noticed by a lot of people.. you be the judge whether I succeeded in doing my job. I know that from time to time it must have been a little but annoying to get spammed and notified every single day for the past few months, but in my opinion just a marginal downside of things, it’s simply the way marketing works nowadays. Obviously our event tries to copy one of the biggest pool-billiard happenings in the world.. the Derby City Classic. Our goal is to bring the class and variety it has to people in Europe, but these are only the first few steps towards building the same success they have. We know that there’s more to it and that we need to improve over time. Nevertheless we are proud it rose to what it is now! Couldn’t have imagined it would be such a great event just the 2nd time around..

On Tuesday and Wednesday we prepared Ames for the 2nd Annual 2014 Deurne City Classic. Starting this year themed with our new partner and main co-sponsor Predator Cues, thanks to Jimmy Worung from Loontjens Biljarts (main sponsor) for setting this up. Hope in the future we will grow even bigger together…

Tables and balls were cleaned after the Dutch Nationals so the venue looked fresh again, ready to receive players from all around Europe. The DCC saw a massive turn-up from foreign countries like the UK, Germany, Poland, France, Spain and even Austria. As the event started on Friday people were looking to prepare themselves early.. Ames had then showing up Thursday morning for some practice and in the evening they already were fighting for some hard cash. For us organizers Thursday afternoon meant last minute prepping like; getting promo material properly arranged in the DCC Arena, setting up the tournament desk and finishing off all matters regarding draws and tournament setup. I was also occupied with pickup up family and friends from airports incl. old friend Bartek Skoniecki(crew member) and Imran Majid.Harry was doing his thing and Aziz still had to put in some hard work at his company. Thursday night the early arrivals included players from Spain; David Alcaide Bermudez & Juan Carlos Exposito, who I accidentally met walking to the hotel when I dropped off some friends. Later on the Livestream/Match Recording EBillard.fr Team from France arrived, we spoke a little bit and they went on setting up their gear and installing all necessary equipment to provide the live matches that were broadcast throughout the event. They also brought along Pool-Photo celeb JP Parmentier, imo the best photographer in our business! It was an honor to meet and work together with him! More players came in after a while including the first Polish and German guys; Marek DerekKuba SawickiKonrad Piekarski, Mieszko Fortuński, his brother Marcel and Konrad Juszczyszyn. Mario He and Oliver Ortmann also came a day early. All players eager to practice for our event. Stumbled upon some Facebook faces but now in real life, that was my highlight of the day. Del Sim and friends came in and we spoke a bit and after that it was back to work. As the clock ticked on we were all still busy finishing our work and setup. Harry did all preparations towards getting the bar properly set up, I was connecting all wires for the booth and Aziz came in to support us. With the arena set and ready to be played at, the booth ready for the tournament we all went home or to our hotels to get a good night sleep.

Friday morning we arrived early and found out that the big ‘FINAL ASSEMBLY’ poster had been dropped off by the courier and to my surprise it did not disappoint! Most of the players that entered the MAIN-EVENT were displayed, some missing and some replaced due to last-minute withdrawals. But all in all a well propped and liked feature of the DCC. People were feeling proud to be placed on the main promotional poster displayed at our event.

All in all it was a great first day, with some laughs and drink in the evening.. we had ringgames and money-matches going. The setup was 2x €50,- 10ball (2 tables x6 players afterwards combined into one final table), 5x €20,- 10ball and 1x €20,- Bankpool Ringgame. Here are the winners:

€50,- STAKES (2 tables got into 1 : Karl Boyes = €275,- , Wojtek Szewczyk €175,- , Imran Majid €100,-

€20,- STAKES 10ball: Del Sim, Konrad Juszczyszyn, Jelle Kijlstra, Mark Lunn, Wojtek Trajdos and Pepijn De Wit won the Bankpool Ringgame. All of them won the entire pot with an extra entry from DCC.

 

FINAL WORDS…

I speak for myself and my co-founders Harry Charalampidis and Aziz Moussati when I say it was a great pleasure and experience to organize this great event. 
To get all those players together in the small town called Deurne @ Sportcentrum Ames. Especially great to have the big names come over from foreign countries; Ralf SouquetTony DragoOliver OrtmannDaryl PeachImran MajidKarl BoyesStephan Cohen and of course it was an honor to have our Dutch stars Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen present as well. But these are only a couple of players I was looking forward to meet, when starting the event I met new people on Facebook and was really looking forward to meet them in person as well. People who helped me out contacting others who enlisted and chatting in general about the event. Made new friends in real life like Del SimPhil Burford,Theodore BitsaxakisSven Wenkheimer, Jürgen Wulf, Elliot SandersonMark Lunn, Karl Boyes, Imran Majid and a lot more. Also had good talks with some people who know what they are talking about regarding tournament setup etc. like Ralf Souquet and others. Thank you for that. Met and befriended pool-photography celeb JP Parmentier who came along with Ebilliard.fr team and showed me the roped of marketing and internet publishing. Speaking of Ebilliard.fr.. these are some dedicated bunch of pool maniacs.. really! Kem Sen, Yannick Barrabès, Nikola Dc, Stephane Leveille and the rest of the guys that came along and helped out.. you are saints in the game of Livestreaming! We had so many people giving great feedback about the quality of your work, its just ridiculous! Big THUMBS-UP to you and hope we can count on you next year…

When creating events of this magnitude you need good people around you who help out when needed, that’s why I want to thank the following people for volunteering as crew or other ways; Gijs Van Westenbrugge, Kevin DijkstraTim De Ruyter, Lesley Weeterings, Bartek SkonieckiKonrad Piekarski, Susan Verheijen and other who I maybe forgot. Want to thank our two referees who got into the arena at the Last16 stage; Johny Vanrijkel and Tom Penrose.. a job well done ! Also want to thank the Ames Crew for doing a great job behind the Bar, especially Evy Peeters and Eveline Brinks.
A big thanks goes out to all spectators for coming to Ames and cheering on their beloved players and spreading the word to others. It really felt like the house was packed!

Obviously our event wouldn't have been a success without funding, therefore I would like to thank our Sponsors and Partners for making this event possible by contributing in all sort of ways:

Main Sponsors: Predator Cues & Loontjens Biljarts
Table fitting: Serge Das of Serge Das billiards
General: Bavaria, Savicki, AM Koeriersdienst, Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Ho-WAH, www.sixpockets.de, De Biljart Ballen (krant),
Martin Welk Custom Cues for his repairs
Q-Promotions / Bobby Boleyn

if it wasn't for these three guys this event wouldn't be a success either..

Aziz Moussati for being one of my best friends and partners in crime.. couldn't have imagined setting up DCC without you. Your input on all matters was the key to my inspiration.

Harry Charalampidis.. this guy build the best venue in Europe IMHO! Props go out to you for doing the best job in organizing all sponsors and creating the arena.. also helping me out on a personal level in the past few years!

Gino De Ruyter.. thanks to you we got the event riding on wheels! Schedules etc. ? HE is your man! Without your input and hard work the event wouldnt have started or finished on time.. ! Thank you!

thats it.. 2014 DCC is done and dusted..

Hope to see you all next year! @ the 3rd Annual ….

Martin Sawicki

Feijen takes the Main Event @ Deurne City Classic

A.Moussati, M.Sawicki, N.Feijen and H.Charalampidis

Saturday morning we started off with the MAIN 9ball EVENT…
 
1st four groups of 24 started off at 09:00h. All went well as nobody got sanctioned with a penalty, neither did anyone forfeit or no-show. 

Group A saw one of the favorites Ivo Aarts sail through to the 2nd Winners round with wins over Kaylash Persad, Olivier Vandenbohede. In the 3rd round however he got beaten by UK’s Tony Burton who did not lose a match to qualify for the last64. Marek Derek, Serge Das and Tobias Hoiß all did the same thing by defeating Kadir Turku, Hoa Nguyen, Nicolas Georgopoulos and Tom Penrose. Three of them eventually qualified for the Knock-Out stage themselves by winning their subsequent matches. So did Ivo Aarts in the end.

Group B’s 2nd Winners Round had some strong matches and some surprises as Luxemburg’s Sebastian Beuel beat German 1.Bundesliga playing Klaudio Kerec 8-4 and Karl Boyes did the same thing to Sixpocket’s admin Florian Scholl. Both losers redeemed themselves in the 3rd Losers Round by defeating Joerie van den Broeck and Stefan Sprangers, the latter one not being as slouch. Through the winners side Daryl Peach, Karl Boyes, Bartek Skoniecki and Konrad Juszczyszyn qualified for the Last64 without losing a match. From the Losers round Carlos Cabello, Raphael Keusen, Sebastian Beuel and Klaudio Kerec joined them. Unfortunately some good players went down, like: Alain Da Costa and Maurice Houben.

Group C had some strong players, winning their 1st matches with ease; Niels Feijen beat greek player Theodore Bitsaxakis 8-2, Wojtek Trajdos did the same thing to UK’s Tom Stavely. Aziz Moussati lost to strong playing Benji Buckley 3-8 and after that 7-8 to Peter Lau. This saw him drop out of the 9ball. He said he could not focus on playing because of all the things that went on regarding organization etc. I myself had the same problem. Further in this group’s losers side Matthias Blehs got rid of Walter Hottgenroth and Benjamin Baier. On the winners side Niels handed a donut to Trajdos and Stephan Cohen beat Marcel Fortunski to both qualify for the Last64. Tobias Bongers and Benji Buckley sent Kyle Van den Bosch and Martin Steinlage to the last losers round. 4 players took their last chance to qualify; Trajdos beat Peter Lau 8-4, Bitsaxakis – Steinlage 8-3, Fortunski did the same thing to Del Sim. Matthias Blehs handed out the second donut of the group to Kyle van den Bosch.

Group D featured some strong playing German Bundesliga players; Stefan Nolle and Valery Kuloyants who got rid of their opponents Gijs van Westebrugge and Edward Werlemann pretty quickly in the 1st round. 2nd Winners Round matches went pretty quickly as well when Mieszko Fortunski beat Lex Wellens 8-0, Tony Drago vs. Jan Van Lierop 8-1. Mieszko continued his strong form by winning 8-0 again in his following match against Michael Kasper. Other favorites did not have that same luck as Tony Drago lost to strong youngster Francisco Sanchez Ruiz. Ralf Souquet showed Stefan Nolle who’s boss with a score of 8-5 and Valery did the same thing to Konrad Piekarski. From the losers round the following players eventually went on to qualify for the Last64: Tony Dargo over Sean Dennis with a score of 8-1, Stefan Nolle beat Jan van Lierop 8-2, Konrad Piekarski against Lex Wellens 8-4.

In the afternoon the last 4 groups started their matches, some of the previous groups had to qualify the next morning some of them were done..

Group E surprised a bit when Micha Beuriot beat Guy Buss in the first round and one of the favs Imran Majid got beaten by Nicolas Baumanns. I got my donut handed to me by Noel Bruynooghe.. Couldn’t focus on my game with all the stuff happening around me and had to get comfortable with my new cue as well. Noel played a very good match though, missing maybe 1 ball the entire match. He later on went and qualified for the Last64 by beating Sebastian Fuhrmann. One of the other strong favorites Mateusz Sniegocki sailed through with a score of 8-0 in his 2nd and 3rd match as well. Fast playing Marko Vogel struggled a bit but in the end got through with a hill-hill against Mario Stahl, who himself also eventually got through by beating Lennaert Speijker 8-1 in the losers round. Imran Majid, Robin Cripps, Anthony Wever also went on to qualify winning their matches in the 4th losers round.

Group F consisted of some great players like Oliver Ortmann and Juan Carlos Exposito, who met each other in the latter stages. Oliver first beat fellow countryman Michael Heinz with a big score of 8-0. Think Michael couldn’t get his rhythm going as he normally played way better than that. Norman Bakker surprisingly beat JCE 8-1, Greek fury Xrhstos Davetas beat Thomas Aschauer 8-4 and strong playing Marc Bijsterbosch beat Sven Wenkheimer with easy and a final score of 8-2. In the 3rd Winners round some big matches emerged like Ramazan Dincer vs. Ortmann (8-6), Elliot Sanderson vs. Marc Bijsterbosch (8-5) and Adrian Borowiec vs. Davetas (8-4). So now the losers qualification had some great thrillers going where Exposito met with Ortmann and beat him 8-5, which caused a bit of an upset. Also Hector del Amo Garcia who lost his 1st match got through to the last round and bear Sven Pauritsch to qualify. Marc Bijsterbosch also redeemed himself and beat Waikit Kwok after a hard battle. Davetas was the last one to set his score and got through.

Group G featured some big names like Mario He, David Alcaide and Phil Burford. But also strong formed Joshua Filler who had made a name for himself at DCC by winning the 9ball Banks against Nick v/d Berg in the final. 1st round saw no surprises and all big names went through to the next one. Then we had a big match-up when Mario He drew David Alcaide in the next round and beat him on the hill. David eventually got through to the last round and got through. Joshua showed that age does not matter and shot his way through Phil Burford at the arena with a score of 8-6. Marco Teutscher also went through over Jimmy Worung (8-5). In the 3rd winner round more surprises came when Daniel Kandi beat strong favorite Mario He. Furthermore Mark Lunn beat OC Chan, Teutscher beat Jelle Kijlstra and Joshua Filler knocked his countryman Clemens Phillipen to the losers round. Last chance to qualify for the Last64.. Phil Burford, Julian Kortüm, previously mentioned David Alcaide and Ralf Mrnka did so.

Group H was the final one and had 2013 Champion Nick Van Den Berg starting his journey to defend his crown. Started off with a bye and then went on to qualify for the Last64 by beating German Bundesliga player Kevin Becker and Belgian WCOP player Moritz Lauwereyns in his 3rd match. More strong players started off well; Huidji See beat Female player Vivien Schade 8-0, Jakob Belka vs. Olivier van Loteringen went down with 8-2. 2nd round winners side had some good matches when Dennis Jansen beat Hanno Bröcker on the Hill, Wojtek Szewczyk knocked his countryman Jakob Belka to the losers-side and youngster Aaron Vancoppenolle did the same thing to strong Female Chantal Manske. Last winners round saw all the favorites go through; NvdB, Szewczyk, See and Dennis Janssen, all with ease. Losers side saw Lars Kuckherm, Belka, Becker and Mauwereyns go through.

So that was it for the groups.. Now on to the Last 64 of the 9ball MAIN-EVENT and the 9ball DROP-OUT Challenge.
Around 10:00h on Sunday some matches of the Knock-Out stage began early, but most started around 12:00h. 
Some noticeable wins were Moritz Lauwereyns beating his former WCOP team-mate Serge Das with a score of 9-5. Phil Burford beat his countryman Karl Boyes 9-7. Ivo Aarts beat Mateusz Sniegocki 9-8 after trailing 8-6. Konrad Piekarski beat Noel Bruynooghe with an easy 9-4. Norman Bakker got close with Matthias Blehs but beat him on the hill. Raphael Keusen beat strong playing Daniel Kandi on the hill as well. So did Carlos Cabello vs. Mark Lunn.

On to the Last32 where more surprises came along when Wojtek Szewczyk beat Huidji See with ease, final score of 9-5. Moritz Lauwereyns kept his form and beat last year’s Runner-Up Marek Derek 9-6. Konrad Juszczyszyn also shocked everyone when he kept his nerve on the hill against Phil Burford and beat him. More strong play by Ivo Aarts, Imran Majid, Ralf Souquet, Konrad Piekarski, Joshua Filler, Nick van den Berg, Niels Feijen, Tobias Hoiß who all went through to the Last16.

Surely now at this stage you would think only the strong favorites would emerge.. but no, Moritz Lauwereyns continued his form and beat Tobias Hoiß 9-7. Konrad Piekarski being the underdog against Ivo Aarts showed who’s who and beat him 9-5. Mario He did not disappoint and beat Juszczyszyn 9-5 as well. But the biggest surprises of them all was Wojtek Szewczyk taking his revenge on Nick van den Berg from last year at the quarter-finals. After trailing a couple of games Wojtek in the end prevailed and beat the struggling Nick 9-7. Fair to say Nick was dealing with some personal issues on the side. Nevertheless a great performance by the young Pole. More names that went through to the Last8 were Filler, Majid, Feijen and a player I would like to call the new ‘DARK HORSE’ ; Marcel Fortunski. Did not know Marcel had so much in him.. he went through to this stage by beating some big names in my book; Ramazan Dincer (5x 1.Bundesliga Champion), Normal Bakker (strong Dutch player), Elliot Sanderson (GB9 Tour) .. Well DONE!

At this stage our well prized DROP-OUT Challenge began, this tournament was created to let players have another change at some good prize-money and to let them enjoy our venue some more. Where at other tournament after losing twice you didn’t have a chance to redeem yourself.. @ DCC players still did! The Tournament had the same format and rules but shorter races and single knock-out.. so fast play and surprise results were expected. When people found out that the tournament was opened to more than 64 players, whey immediately signed up and the final field was 80.

Here are the results:

Last 16 and onwards:

Klaudio Kerec 6 vs 5 Benjamin Baier 
Mateusz Sniegocki 6 vs 1 Stefan Nölle 
Sigi Hegde 6 vs 3 Chantal Manske 
Tony Drago 6 vs 3 Sebastian Fuhrmann 
Raul Martin 6 vs 3 Cyriel Ledoux
Thomas Aschauer 6 vs 3 Marc Glatz
David Alcaide 6 vs 1 Ramazan Dincer 
Can Salim 6 vs 3 Christos Davetas

Quarter finals 
Klaudio Kerec 6 vs 4 Mateusz Sniegocki 
Tony Drago 6 vs 0 Sigi Hegde 
Raul Martin 6 vs 0 Thomas Aschauer 
David Alcaide 6 vs 1 Can Salim

Semi finals 
Tony Drago 7 vs 2 Klaudio Kerec 
David Alcaide 7 vs 2 Raul Martin

Final 
David Alcaide 8 vs 2 Tony Drago

Quarter Final TIME of the MAIN-EVENT!


Moritz again shocked everyone on the TV Table and beat strong favorite Mario He. Feijen showed who boss against Majid by beating him 9-5. Piekarski went on 6-1 against Marcel Fortunski in about 20 minutes but then lost focus and let the young player get back at him a little bit but in the end closed it off with a final score of 9-7. Joshua Filler kept cool against Szewczyk to beat him 9-5.
Semis both played on the TV tables, the match-ups were; Feijen vs. Lauwereyns and Filler vs. Piekarski. Both matches quickly showed who the better players was on Sunday. Even through the youngster match had a bigger score it was over pretty quick cus of fast run-outs and no safety battles. Niels and Moritz took a while longer as tactics came into play. Niels finally closed the deal with a 9-2 win.
So Holland vs. Germany in the FINAL! Niels quickly showed that the break in 9ball ET Style is mastered by those who regularly play the format and broke and ran most of his racks. Joshua struggled to get runs round because he lost his cue-ball a lot. Niels in front is unstoppable, I knew that from the get-go. Proved me right by winning and becoming the NEW 2014 ‘PREDATOR’ Deurne City Classic® CHAMPION !! Congrats Niels Feijen
 
Though "MASTER OF THE TABLE" title goes to Joshua Filler ! Winning the 9ball banks, 14.1 Shootout and becoming Runner-up in the 9ball MAIN-EVENT!

NEXT YEAR WE WILL HAVE A PRIZE FOR THIS!
 

Joshua Filler takes the 14.1 Shootout in Deurne

Joshua Filler with the promoters

Friday throughout the side-events players had the time to shoot their innings of Straighpool. Two tables were made available for this in the DCC Arena. After a couple of players shot some smaller runs one of the first to shoot a high break of 99 was Niels Feijen. A little while later he shot the exact same break again. More players bought-in but struggled to get a high run going. Amongst them were Mario He, Tobias Hoiß, Nick Van Den Berg, Konrad Juszczyszyn, Juan Carlos Exposito, Daniel Kandi, Aziz Moussati and Oliver Ortmann. Konrad Piekarski later on shot a 111 on his 4th run and David Alcaide took his 1st try to a 113 on the TV Table. We had 4 high runs now with a little over 100 balls when Tobias Bongers bested David’s run with a 114.

Saturday afternoon more players decided to try their form in the 14.1 Shootout and Huidji See joined the 4 best with a solid break of 140. This saw some players getting nervous so they tried another run at it.. Tobias Bongers tried to better his but failed, Joshua got into gear and shot a 148. Nick van den Berg also had some innings left. At first he shot a 106 which was too low to join the 4 best, so immediately after that run he re-focused and shot a 154 and stopped cus his 9ball Main-Event match was announced. We marked his cue- and breakball so he could finish later. Eventually he shot a 183 for the official High-Run Bonus of €100,-.

In the evening we announced the 4 semi-finalist for the shootout, which were: Huidji See vs. Joshua Filler, Tobias Bongers vs. Nick vd Berg. The youngsters both showed their form and made it through to the final with the following scores: Joshua (100)-Huidji (87) and Tobias(100, break of 85)-Nick(75).

So on to the Final where Joshua dominated in the beginning and with some small runs and safety-battles, he won over Tobias with a score of 125-89 to be crowned winner of the 2nd DCC 14.1 Shootout. The prize-fund in total consisted of 19 entries with added money: 1st: €600,- 2nd: €250,- 3rd: 100,- . Joshua now already won 2 events @ DCC!

 

Appleton continues eight plus year relationship with Predator Cues

Jacksonville, FL. – Predator Group is proud to announce the renewal of its sponsorship agreement with World Champion Darren Appleton

 

"Darren is a phenomenal player and team member. His performances and titles are clearly amazing, but many people don't realize just how much his testing and feedback have aided our product development. Darren's not just talented, he's a terrific guy to work with and we're thrilled to be continuing our relationship with him," said Kyle Nolan, Dir. of Branding and Communications at Predator Group.

 

"Predator has a great team. I've been playing and winning with their equipment for more than 8 years. They're truly committed to raising the bar with new technology and equipment," said Darren Appleton.

 

Darren just returned from China where he finished third at the Chinese Eight-Ball Masters Invitational. Look for Darren next at TAR 38 on January 17th, and then he'll be on to the Derby Classic. 

 

Predator Group, an international billiards industry leader, is focused on bringing constant innovation and game-improving equipment to billiards players worldwide. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Predator Group’s core brands include: Predator Cues® – high-end (professional level) cues with revolutionary technology to enhance performance; Poison Billiards® – recreational cues with cutting-edge designs and Predator engineering for best-in-class playability; and Uni-Loc® – precision billiards equipment manufacturer. For more information regarding Predator Group’s products, visit www.predatorgroup.com.

Niels Feijen Inaugural Longoni Capelle Open Champion

Mosconi Cup MVP Niels Feijen begins 2014 like he ended 2013, with a win.

Last weekend, the inaugural edition of the Longoni Capelle Open was held in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). The owners of the venue, Petra and Roy van Straalen, celebrated their 25th anniversary in the billiards business with this fantastic 10-ball event, as well as a 3-cushion Grand Prix. The latter was won by world Champion and Longoni ambassador Dick Jaspers. The Longoni Capelle Open counted no less than ‘147’ entries. A typical number, since Petra and Roy van Straalen contributed immensely to the growth of snooker in the Netherlands, with their five pool and renowned snooker halls. Participants from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and as far as France, Denmark and Sweden attended the event.
 
Four days of qualifications rounds saw the 32 best players emerge to advance to the main tournament on Sunday January 5th 2014. The format of the main tournament was 'double knock out’, races to 7, until the quarter finals, with races to 8, onwards. Throughout the tournament, the 'alternate break' was a in force and the balls were racked with the Magic Ball Rack. The Clash Competition pool tables by Loontjens Biljarts were re-fitted with beautiful brand new Iwan Simonis 860 cloth. The pool tables and Aramith pool balls were brushed and polished, daily, to offer perfect playing conditions.
 
To add value to the event, live streaming video coverage was brought to the audience at home by Ebillard.fr and match results were updated on Facebook. Additionally, some matches were recorded in high definition. Hundreds of fans followed the action.
 
In the end, a high standard of 10-ball was brought to the table by no less than ‘The Terminator’ Niels Feijen, ‘El Niño’ Nick Van Den Berg, ‘Kung Fu Panda’ Huidji See, many other pros and semi-pros. The audience in attendance was treated to 'break and runs’, great tactical safety play, amazing ‘kick shots’, ‘jump shots’, comebacks from near defeat and even ‘donuts’. Eventually, there could only be one winner. In the final, The Terminator bested Kung Fu Panda in an even match up to 6-6. Despite the late hour, Niels Feijen had enough energy reserve to haul in the 8-6 victory with great determination.
 
Feijen had to take a detour on his way to the final, as his fellow Dutch team mate Marco Teutscher sent him to the ‘one loss side’ in the ‘double knock out’ format. Eventually, Feijen was back on course, beating Geordie Sahilatua (7-2 in the 'final 12’), Nick van den Berg (8-2 in the quarter finals), Belgian pro Noël Bruynooghe (8-4 in the semi finals). Huidji See, on the other hand, had a smoother trip towards the final, with five straight wins: 7-1 against Geordie Sahilatua (1st round), 7-2 against Frank Spinnewijn (2nd round), a 7-6 'double hiller’ against fellow Dutch team mate Marc Bijsterbosch, another 7-6 thriller against Daniel Kandi from Denmark in the quarter finals and 8-5 against Jimmy Worung in the semis.
 
The event was more successful than expected and, with great anticipation, the intention to organise the 2015 Longoni Capelle Open has already been announced.
 
The Longoni Capelle Open was brought to you by Longoni, Loontjens Biljarts, Kamui.
 
The final ranking and payouts:
 
Winner €1.000 Niels Feijen
Runner-up €600 Huidji See

Semi-finalists €300 Noël Bruynooghe (B), Jimmy Worung

Quarter-finalists €200 Nick van den Berg, Marc Bijsterbsoch, Daniel Kandi (DK), Marco Teutscher

9th Place €150 Mitch van den Bergh, Martin Steinlage (D), Geordie Sahilatua, Gijs Van Helmond

13th Place €100 Jörgen Haglund (SWE), Hoa Nguyen, Oi Chun Chan, Otman Acharrat

17th Place €60 Joshua Harkelijn, Vincent Hoogendijk, Frank Spinnewijn, Helmut Osterloh (D), Mario Martokarijo, Anthony Wever, Elroy Janssen, Wiresh Laloe

25th Place €40 Alain DaCosta (F), Ralf Zigahn, Arco van der Velden, Nikola Dukiç (F), Lennaert Speijker, Aziz Moussati, Joram Hensens, Jelle Kijlstra