Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) at the table against David Alcaide (ESP)
The first day of the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships in NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, came to an end with as many as 462 straight pool matches played on 60 tables. Expectations were met on some occasions while other athletes had to settle for second best. Some hopes came treu, some were brutally destroyed.
In the men’s division, two former Champions surprisingly met on the loser’s side in the qualification round. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz and David Alcaide, both from Spain, met in a match where one of them had to go home. This was especially tough for them since they live in the same town and are good friends and training buddies for many years now, they normally even share a room when they go abroad on tournaments. But the pool gods had them meet in this do-or-die match. Sanchez had execute do the opening shot. He left an open shot on the 8-ball for Alcaide. But instead of pocketing the 8-ball, Alcaide scratched and allowed Sanchez back to the table with 0:-1. Sanchez cleared one rack and also pocketed the break shot for a 15:-1 lead. He was in a good shape and the balls were nicely spread out on the table in front of him. He pocketed another shot and then scratched on the following attempt which brought Alcaide to the table at 15:-1. With a few safety shots, Alcaide managed to get back to 15:13 with Sanchez Ruiz still being in the lead. At that score, Alcaide missed an easy cut into the side pocket. This time, Sanchez showed no more mercy for his long-time friend. he cleared the table and ran the match out with an inning of 85 points, winning the match with 100:15 to terminate Alcaide’s hopes for another straight pool medal this year.
Defending straight pool Champion Niels Feijen (NED) clearly won his opening match over Stefan Noelle (GER) with 100:0, running out in one inning after Noelle gave him a shot in his second visit at the table. Then, Feijen had to deal with Jaroslav Polach (SVK) in the winner’s qualification round. He did not quite find his rhythm as he did in the match before and Polach used his great chance, taking down the Champion with 100:26 after 3 visits to the table. Polach is now through to the single elimination stage of the last 32 players while Feijen needs another victory over Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL).
Definitely one surprise today was the grandmaster Stephane Cohen (FRA) taking down David Alcaide (ESP) as clearly as 100:5. While Cohen had smooth sailing, Albin Ouschan (AUT) really needed all his power to defeat unheralded Lukas Kovac (SVK) 100:91.
Another well known face in the European pool world is former European Champion Nick Van Den Berg (NED). For private reasons, van den Berg stopped playing the Euro-Tour and international events since the end of 2017 but since this event was on his home soil, he wanted to find out whether he is still on top of his game. The first discipline straight pool was too much of an obstacle for him though. He really had a tough draw and faced Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) in his first match. The Spaniard played well and won the match clearly with 100:19 over van den Berg. Then on the loser’s side, van den Berg ran into Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). After the break shot, van den Berg allowed Stepanov to see a shot…. and that was the end of the match and the straight pool discipline for him. Stepanov ran 100 and out on van den Berg and played a perfect match in one inning. Van den Berg must now hope to get better draws in the coming disciplines.
[photo id=49644|align=right]
In the women’s division, defending Champion Kristina Tkach (RUS) made short work of her opponents so far. After a walk-over in the first round, she smashed Melissa Kuys-Rademakers (NED) 75:40 and then Sara Iannini (ITA) even 75:9. Her toughest opponent in European pool is Jasmin Ouschan (AUT), last year’s runner-up in women’s straight pool and #2 seeded player this year. Ouschan also performed pretty strong today. She overpowered Nina Torvund (NOR) 75:18 and then Silvia Lopez (ESP) with 75:28. This means that Ouschan as well as Tkach is already in the single elimination round of the last 16 women. Though there are still several serious opponents „in the way“, they both left the impression that they want a rematch in the final from last year.
In the senior’s division, last year’s runner-up and #1 seeded player Dirk Stenten (GER) lost his opening match to a strong playing Marinus Gennissen (NED) with 46:75. However, Gennissen also could not make it into the round of the last 32 players single elimination yet since he fell to the sharp blade of Thomas Lindloff (GER) in the next round with 23:75. Another seeded player, Danilo Cipriani (ITA) lost in the first winner’’s round today with 37:75 to Sami Karttunen (FIN). The only seeded player in the senior’s straight pool division to make it to the single elimination stage yet is Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER). He took down Markku Toivonen (FIN) 75:23 and Riccardo Sini (ITA) 75:27. Portugal’s hopes Henrique Correia and Manuel Pereira are also among the players who made it over the winner’s round and can be regarded as hot title contenders.
The first day’s play also saw the future of European pool take to the stage with both the U17’s & the U19’s in action. The Straight-pool discipline has been a strong point for the Polish youth over the past few years and that looks to continue here in Veldhoven with 4 from the 5 entrants in the U17’s, still flying the Polish flag into the last 32. With Wiktor Zielinski moving up to the U19’s and running amok with his opponents, it’s time to shine for someone in this talented team. Szymon Kural, last year’s 8-ball bronze medallist is leading the way with some stern shooting earning him an elimination match against the Belarusian Mikita Paluyan starting Friday at 10 am local time.
The Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches in the straight pool individuals competition men, seniors, U17 and U19.
The Jubilee Championships are played on 60 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.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The final titles have been awarded at the 2017 Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. In the 9-ball individuals, Ine Helvik (NOR) took the title in the ladies division while Henrique Correia (POR) snatched the trophy in the seniors division. The team competition was won by Team Germany in the ladies and Team Norway in the seniors division.
The final match in the seniors division took place between Henrique Correia and Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER). Correia had the better start but then committed several easy mistakes during the match. Wirsbitzki was a always able to give him good competition but somehow Correia always seemed to be one step ahead of Wirsbitzki. After 10 racks, the score was all square at 5:5. Then Correia managed to win three racks in a row and got to 8:5. The pressure was too much for Wirsbitzki. He pulled one rack back from Correia but then the Portuguese executed almost a perfect break shot and ran the rack he needed to win the match and the title 8:6 over the German.
In the ladies division, Ine Helvik dealt with Susanne Wessel (GER). Helvik played much more confident than her opponent and took a comfortable 5:2 lead after 7 racks into the match. Wessel won another one but Helvik was simply too strong for her today. 6:3 was the final result for Helvik who took her second title this week.
The team final between Norway and The Netherlands turned out to become a thriller. Christian Johannesen won the 10-ball over Jim Telfer and brought team Norway 1:0 up. Then, Jesse Thehu equalised that by winning the 8-ball with 7:4 over Ronnie Oldervik. The score was 1:1 in the team match and the 9-ball ad to decide. Vegar Kristiansen was up against Mozes Leeflang. Though Kristiansen took a 6:2 lead over Leeflang, the Dutch proved to have nerves of steel and fought back rack after rack. He even managed to tie the match on the hill at 7:7. The final rack was really even with both players having some luck and playing safety shots back and forth. In the end, Kristiansen was the luckier player and finished the match 8:7 in his favour which brought the Gold Medal to Team Norway.
Top Eight Teams Seniors
1. Norway
2. The Netherlands
3. Germany
Finland
5. Portugal
Switzerland
7. Austria
North Cyprus
The final match in the ladies team division between Team Germany and Team France was a clear affair for the Germans. Susanne Wessel wiped the floor with Nathalie Rohmer 5:0 and handed her a whitewash. Karin Michl took down Stella Julien about as clearly with 5:2. The match was deservedly won by the German ladies.
Top Four Teams Ladies
1. Germany
2. France
3. Italy
Portugal
This concludes the coverage from the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. The next event will be the U23 European Championships which will begin on Wednesday, August 23.
The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands, Miroslav Kremenovic (SRB) ousted big guns Dirk Stenten (GER) 7:2 in the single elimination round of the last 32 players.
Kremenovic has been a bit of an underdog for clear reasons. First of all, Stenten has played the final match of the seniors straight pool last night and won the silver medal in that competition. Secondly, Serbia has just entered the European Pocket Billiard Federation and is a brand new member. For these two reasons, the advantage was definitely pointing towards Stenten. But sometimes life does not follow statistics or rules. This was exactly the case in that match today. Kremenovic got a strong start and took the first two racks. He nearly did not miss a shot. Stenten was able to win the third rack to turn the score 2:1 for Kremenovic. Then the Serbian shifted into overdrive and won another three consecutive racks to go to 5:1 before Stenten scored another point to make it 5:2. These two racks were all that Kremenovic was ready to give to Stenten today. He scored another two and proceeded into the round of the last 16 players seniors 10-ball individuals where he will face Czaba Nagy (HUN) in his next match.
In the ladies division, Nathalie Rohmer (FRA), Barbara Bolfelli (ITA), Patrizia Ignesti (ITA) and Cristina Moscetti (ITA) are already through to the quarterfinals. This demonstrates the strength of the Italian contingency this year in the ladies division at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. The opponents for the quarterfinals will be decided first round tomorrow in the following encounters:
Later this evening, two rounds of team competition have been played. In an epic thriller, team Germany defeated team Italy 2:1. All three matches were hill-hill results. While Dirk Stenten (GER) took the 8-ball match 7:6 for Germany, Marcello Valoroso (ITA) won the 9-ball 8:7 over Guido Gerber (GER). At 6:6 in the 10-ball, Danilo Cipriani (ITA) missed the deciding shot and left the 10-ball hanging over the pocket for Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) who took the victory for team Germany. In the ladies team competition, team Portugal defeated team Sweden 2:1 after a shootout.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands will continue at 09:00 CET with the 10-ball individuals.
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 23 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands, have produced the first title holder. Jesse Thehu (NED) won the Gold Medal after an exciting final match with 100:84 over Dirk Stenten (GER).
The final match featured two players which were not necessarily expected in there before the event. Dirk Stenten has two silver medals on European level: 9-ball pupils in 1986 and 8-ball seniors in 2015. Jesse Thehu has won a gold medal in seniors 8-ball in 2012 and 5 other medals, all in the seniors division. However, the „usual suspects“ such as Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER), Henrique Correia (POR) and defending Champion Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) have all been exited from the event earlier so it came to the showdown between these two underdogs. In the actual match, Thehu had the better start. He got away with the first 20 points but then he missed and allowed Stenten back into the table. The German levelled the match but when he executed the breakable shot at 20:21, Stenten made the ball but scratched so Thehu got back to the table with ball in hand and an open layout. With that gift, Thehu ran another rack and took a 15 point lead at 36:21 when he ran out of position and an exchange of safety shots evolved. Here, Stenten was able to force Thehu to leave him a shot and he used his chance, levelling the match again at 33:36 in favour of Thehu. Suddenly, an interesting scenario happened. Stenten missed a break shot and opened up the whole rack for Thehu. But the Dutch could not benefit from it this time since he miscued. That brought Stenten in the lead. He found his motor and scored 24 consecutive points before he let Thehu back to the table. And he did so in missing an easy shot to the corner pocket. Thehu was given second life by Stenten here at 57:36. And Thehu really made something out of that mistake from Stenten. He got in the zone and remained cool, making point after point. At 92:57 for Thehu, he missed an easy shot on the 9-ball in the side pocket and the story of the match was twisted again. Stenten, who looked like he was already finished, got another chance and got back to an open table this time. Thehu gave back the gift he received a few racks ago. But Stenten ran out of position when the scoreboard displayed 71:92 and left the table to Thehu again. Thehu made another 5 balls but then got no shot after the break. He attempted a safety but left a long and risky shot for Stenten who made that shot and turned the score to 84:97 before he himself missed another break shot. Again, a safety shot exchange took place between the two contestants. Stenten again went for a risky shot which was given to him by Thehu. this time, the German missed it. Thehu ran the remaining three balls and won the match and the title with 100:84 after an exciting final match.
Earlier today, the first rounds of the 10-ball individuals have been played. One high class match took place between Jim Telfer (NED) and Henrique Correia (POR). The Portuguese managed to get through by a margin with 7:6 and proceeded to the next winner’s round where he will play Thehu. Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) came up with an impressive whitewash of 7:0 over Vladimir Kolesnikov (RUS). In the ladies division, Nathalie Rohmer (FRA) defeated defending Champion Susanne Wessel (GER) 5:4 in the first winner’s round. In the all Scandinavian clash, Ann-Sofie Lofgren (SWE) remained the upper hand with 5:2 over Ine Helvik (NOR).
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands will continue at 09:00 CET with the 10-ball individuals.
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 23 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
In the straight pool competition of the current Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands, Kent Karlsson (SWE) eliminated defending Champion Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) with 75:49.
Both contestants met in the round of the last 16 players single elimination. Kristiansen as the defending Champion of course was the man to beat in this match. But Karlsson has also earned his merits in the past. As early as 2002, Karlsson won the seniors straight pool title already. Over the years, he earned another 9 medals on European Championships but no more titles so far. So Kristiansen should have been warned. The match was high quality with both players performing quite solid. Kristiansen left the table with a nice 49:14 lead over Karlsson. What he did not know in that moment was that Karlsson would not let him to the table again. He scored 61 points in a row and finished the match 75:49, kicking the defending Champion out of the competition and proceeded into the next round.
Another remarkable match took place today between Henrique Correia (POR) and Guido Gerber (GER). Correia was the clear favourite for this match but Germany is known as one of the countries where straight pool is very commonly played. So the match was much closer than expected. It even started with a dominant phase from Gerber. The German took a 43:26 lead over Correia who found back his rhythm and scored 16 points to make the score 42:43, still in favour of Gerber. The match went ahead the same way with Gerber always leading but never being able to make the advantage so big that Correia could not come back. Gerber even went on the hill, leading 74:55 with one more ball to go. He had the cue ball lying in an awkward position close to the rail but a possible shot in front of him. However, he showed nerves and missed the shot by a mile. Correia struck back and got to 67:74 when he found himself having no position to pocket any ball. He played some safety shots which Gerber could not benefit from. The German tried to go for the final ball with risky shot and missed, while Correia used that chance to run the remaining points and won the match with the closest of all possible results 75:75. That match brought Correia into the round of the last 16 players single elimination where he met Gerber’s teammate Dirk Stenten (GER). Again, Correia was down 45:74 when his opponent could not close the book and finish the match on him. This time however, Correia could not comeback and repeat the effort from the round before. Stenten won 75:52 and advanced into the quarterfinals while Correia had to settle for 9th place in the seniors straight pool individuals.
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 23 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth.
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.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
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.
Cison di Valmarino, Italy: The "Maharaja" Imran Majid (GBR) ousted local hero "Fabulous" Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 9:5 from the tournament.
Majid was the better player in the match and deserved the victory. He had balls down in 86% of his break shots with a 67% shot on the lowest numbered ball. Furthermore, he broke and ran 3 racks on Fabio. The Italian played a match of ups and downs. His break ratio was 100%, he always had a ball down on the break. But only in 29% was he able to play the lowest numbered ball.
In the early stage of the match it looked like Majid would not allow it to become a fight at all. He was leading 4:0 after four racks, not leaving a chance for Petroni so far. A mistake which Majid committed in rack five opened the door for Petroni to get the first point in his account. Majid snookered himself and gave an open table away to Petroni. As the match went on, it was obvious that Majid was the player in better shape today. He played more constant and his safety shots were more efficient than Petroni’s. Also, the break shot efficiency from Majid outscored Petroni by a mile. In the 14th rack, Majid broke the balls and had a possible layout in front of him. All of a sudden, Petroni gave up, shook hands and unscrewed his cue sticks. That was a bit strange since he was only trailing three racks at the time. However, Majid deserved the victory and will now proceed to the round of the final 16 players which will be played tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time.
All tables will be streamed LIVE throughout the event. Join in on www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/ and become a premium member in order to enjoy all features of the site.
In the past week, the EPBF has launched its brand-new website. You can check all information around European pool at www.epbf.com Enjoy!
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 http://www.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office.
