The 2022 Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Seniors wrapped up today in Lasko as Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (Spain) and Ine Helvik (Norway) claimed the final gold medals in the 9-ball division. In contrasting finals, Diaz-Pizarro put on a blistering display of potting, while
Helvik battled back from an early deficit to come on strong in the home straight.
Diaz-Pizarro was a beaten finalist in this same event last year and had previously claimed 9-ball gold on two occasions at the non-seniors’ men’s ECs. This week he travelled to Slovenia just to compete in the 9-ball division, a decision that was fully vindicated. In addition to the gold medal and the title, the Spaniard also bagged a spot at next year’s World 9-Ball Championship.
He said, “Last year I made second place and this year finally I won! It could be bit of a disadvantage not playing in the other tournaments but I felt it was an advantage as I came fresh. The other players played many days and maybe they got tired. There was a chance to get qualification for the World 9-Ball Championship so I tried to win so I could go.”
Sini, a previous winner of this title in 2019, got the game underway but he was blocked on the 1-ball and pushed out. He left a one-rail escape and Diaz-Pizarro gave it back to him. Sini left the 1-ball into the centre pocket and the Spaniard looked good for the runout. Despite losing position, his potting skills sealed the opener.
After a powerful break off, the 5-ball crept into the path of the 2. However, a super jump shot kept Diaz-Pizarro at the table and a top-class bank on the 3-ball kept it going. Potting at pace, it soon became 2-0.
Sini came with an illegal break and the following exchange of safeties was ended with another marvellous jump shot as Diaz potted the 1-ball, leaving a shot on the 2. His pocketing skills were hard to live with as he ran out for a three-rack lead.
Diaz sent the 1-ball into centre pocket as he looked for another runout. He seemed in total control of his game with no pot too difficult and pin-point positional play. In no time he had cleared the table to reach the halfway stage of the match.
Sini needed to find something fast but his break yielded nothing as well as being illegal. With the 1-ball blocked, Diaz-Pizarro gave the table back and Sini pushed out. Again, the table was handed back to the Italian and his jump shot on the 1-ball made contact but left it on for his opponent. With very little hesitation, Diaz increased his lead to 5-0.
Diaz made his first mistake of the match as a delicate attempt on the 2-ball clipped the 6 on route to the pocket. Sini however, missed the 2 using the rest as his match went from bad to worse. In no time, Diaz had made it 6-0 as he looked unassailable.
There was more of the same from Diaz-Pizarro as he put himself on the hill at 7-0 and was breaking for the match. The win came in a flash. The 1-ball disappeared into the centre pocket and left a simple 2/9 combination which Diaz-Pizarro dispatched for the title.
Ine Helvik, by her high standards, was having a terrible week at this European Championships. Having gone two and out in both the 10-ball and 8-ball, she saved her best to last as she overcame a rocky start to claim 9-ball gold, defeating Germany’s Susanne Wessel in the final.
The German took the early lead at 2-0, before Helvik forced her way back into the match as she tied it up at 2-2. They split the next two racks between them as it became a race to three racks.
Both players had plenty of visits in a difficult fifth rack before it came down to the 7-ball. Ultimately, a gutsy bank shot from Helvik set her up to take the lead for the first time at 4-3. A good break-off from Helvik gave her a difficult attempt on the 1-ball which she missed it. Wessels also fell short with an attempt but this time left it hanging for her opponent.
They both had shots on the 2-ball before Helvik rolled it in, leaving the possibility of a clearance and she kept it together superbly to run out for a two-rack lead and put herself on the hill. There was another illegal break from Wessels but Helvik missed the 1-ball trying to force position for the 2 up-table. With everything at stake, neither player could assert themself.
It came down to the 9-ball and after several attempts by both players, Wessels deposited it to stay alive at 5-4. Helvik, breaking for the match, made a good show of it and was soon eying up a possible 2/9 combo. It wasn’t the easiest but with the title on the line, she delivered it perfectly for the gold medal.
Commented Helvik, “This is my fifth title and I’m very happy about this as it’s been a while. I last won in 2019 and then the year after I was really struggling. In 2021 we were in Treviso and that was really a tough tournament and I went away with a bronze medal, so this was a big thing.
“At the beginning of the tournament, I had two out and two out so I didn’t really play that much before the 9-ball and I got a bit lucky too, I must say. My opponents had some bad rolls and stuff so it goes both ways but they had the bad ones at the right moment for me.
“I had some good support, not just my Norwegians but I also had a lot of other people rooting for me which was so nice. During the national anthem my team were actually singing and I almost broke into tears so that was really, really nice,” she added.
Alexandra Cunha (Great Britain) and Germany’s Sigrid Glatz claimed the two bronze medals.
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Seniors and Ladies comprises nine separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool for men and teams.
Harald Stolka’s marvellous week continued in winning style as the 47-year-old German took 10-ball gold at the 2022 Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Seniors to add to the straight pool title he claimed on Sunday. This time he defeated Jorge Tinoco (Portugal) by 7-4 to give him a 100% record at the annual gathering of Europe’s over-45 players.
Stolka travelled to Slovenia on his first ever visit to the European Seniors and it was likely beyond his widest dreams that he would win the opening two events. Today he was up against a player who collected two golds himself at this same event last year but the German’s determination and all-round play saw him through.
“I’m pretty happy today because this is my 20th match right now and I felt the pressure today. I didn’t play real free earlier but played good enough to give my opponents a strong fight and when I came to the semis I started to play well so that was great and thank you very much, billiard god!
Stolka won the lag to get the final underway but could not drop a ball off the break. Tinoco missed a difficult long 2-ball, leaving it on for Stolka, The German ran out of position going from 4 to 5 and missed the cut into the centre pocket. Tinoco stepped up to steal the rack for 1.0. Tinoco delivered another dry break and Stolka looked set for the run out but again missed a cut on the 8 ball into the centre pocket to gift the rack to Tinoco.
A superb snooker from Stolka saw a great escape attempt from Tinoco miss the 1 ball by a hair’s breadth to give ball-in-hand, from where Stolka made no mistakes to get onto the scoreboard. A missed 1 ball from Tinoco allowed his opponent to level things up at 2-2 and then Stolka ran out from the break to take the lead for the first time at 3-2.
A good safety in the next allowed Stolka to increase his lead to two-racks and the seventh game was the longest of the match as both players went back-and-forth on the 2-ball before Tinoco nailed it but with a 7/9 cluster down-table it was no formality. However, some excellent positional play enabled the Portuguese to run out for 4-3.
A failed kick on the 1-ball from Tinoco in the next gave ball-in-hand to Stolka but he missed a tough 2-ball. It was Tinoco’s turn to miss next, this time on the 4-ball and Stolka took his chances to restore his two-rack lead. Stolka came with some championship winning form in the next as he ran out from the break to put himself on the hill as he moved the score to 6-3.
Tinoco won the next as Stolka missed the 4-ball, trying to squeeze it past the 9. It was a lifeline for Tinoco who dished up to reduce the deficit. In what would be the final rack of the match, a safety from Stolka left the 1-ball on for Tinoco. With no room for error, Tinoco played safe on the 5-ball and it was a good effort. There were multiple visits and safeties but the Portuguese always had the advantage until a loose one allowed Stolka a good look at the 5. He made it and gained position on the 6-ball and from there, he ran out for the gold medal.
Stolka added, “I’m staying here for two more disciplines but I won’t feel the pressure as every discipline is a new tournament and there are so many strong players. I can’t believe that I’ve won twice right now but I won’t be giving up for the next ones.”
Bronze medals went to Markus Kamuf of Germany and Norway’s Jorgen Nilsen.
In the ladies’ 10-ball it was the Netherlands’ Melissa Rademakers who claimed her first ever European Championship gold medal as she defeated Tuuliina Paluna (Finland) by 5-2. It was a welcome change of fortunes for the Dutch girl as she had earlier been beaten by the same opponent in the Winners’ Qualification stage.
Rademakers had the ideal match, racing out of the traps for a 4-0 lead in the race-to-five final. Paluna pulled two back but a missed 10-ball from the Finn gave her opponent a long look at the championship ball and she firmly planted it in the corner pocket for the gold.
Commented Rademakers, “She came back at me but I didn’t do anything wrong at that point and I knew I was waiting for a chance and I got it! 8- ball is my game but it’s hard to say how that will go but 10-ball was not a priority but 8-ball, I love to play so I hope I can go far in that one.”
Rademakers also looked shaky in her semi-final match, trailing 3-0 to Karin Michl (Germany) but managed to turn it around.
“It was tough but I was playing well and trusted in that. The 3-0 was probably not the way the match went but I felt good and that I could come back at any time. It’s only a race to five and anything could happen. “
Bronze medals went to Alexandra Cunha (Great Britain) and Birgit Heidorn of Germany.
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Seniors and Ladies comprises nine separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool for men and teams.
Play continues later today with action in both the mens’ and ladies’ 8-ball divisions.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
In the final day’s play on the 2021 EPBF calendar, the destination of the 9-ball medals was decided at the EPBF / Dynamic Billiards European Seniors Championships, taking place at the BHR Treviso Hotel in Italy. In the men’s, it was Portugal’s Jorge Tinoco who won his third gold medal of the championships, while Alexandra Cunha (Great Britain) ruled the ladies division.
For Jorge Tinoco, 44, it was the culmination of a magnificent week in Treviso as he won the opening discipline, the straight pool, as well gaining gold as part of Portugal’s winning squad in the emotion-packed team event.
He said, “I’m feeling awesome and I don’t have words. I didn’t expect to win three medals and to win this one was special as I played against Paquito (Diaz-Pizarro) and he is an amazing player. I think I played very well in the semi-final and the final I enjoyed my game and took great joy playing pool so three gold medals are amazing for me.”
Facing off against Spain’s Francisco Diaz-Pizarro, the Portuguese won the lag, but a dry break immediately got the Spaniard to the table and wasting no time, he ran through the balls but leaving himself a slightly more difficult angle on the 9 ball than he would have liked, he missed it to hand the rack to Tinoco.
With four balls clustered around the 1 spot there were multiple visits as each player searched for an opening. Diaz manged to split them but the white unfortunately rolled into the centre pocket. With ball in hand and the table open, Tinoco cleared for a 2-0 lead.
A terrific bank shot from Diaz saw the 1 ball pocketed in the next and he was able to lay the cue ball behind a cluster leaving his opponent reaching for the jump stick. Tinoco scratched with his escape and from there Diaz ran out for his first rack of the match.
In the next, Diaz committed a shirt foul, whereby his garment rested on a ball whilst bridging, and Tinoco took full advantage to take a 3-1 lead. There was more jump stick action from Tinoco in the next and he got lucky leaving the 1 ball behind the 8. Diaz escaped but left the object ball on. Tinoco, who has been the star player of the championships, made no mistakes as he cleared up for 4-1.
An illegal break from Diaz piled on the misery for him and facing one or two problems in the layout, Tinoco played it perfectly for a 5-1 lead. An illegal break from Tinoco saw Diaz back at the table, facing no margin for error given his predicament, and he played the rack perfectly to keep his dreams alive.
A terrific jump shot under the pressure of the clock saw Tinoco pocket the 1 ball but with no available pocket for the 2 ball he played a safety. A difficult pot was missed by Diaz and that gave Tinoco all the space he needed to run out for a 6-2 lead.
Another illegal break from the Portuguese left a cut on the 2 ball on for Diaz but he over cut it. Tinoco uncharacteristically missed the 3 ball and Diaz won the rack with a 4/9 combination. A successful break from Diaz gave him a chance in the tenth game and he played his best rack of the match to get back to 6-4.
Tinoco, though, broke and ran the next to get himself to the hill at 7-4 and disastrously, Diaz scratched when breaking to save the match. With the balls out in the open, the gold medal was there for Tinoco’s taking and he executed the run out perfectly to cement his place as player of the tournament with an excellent 8-4 victory.
Tinoco added, “My head was very focused and I could control my emotions. In the semi-final, I was losing 4-1 but I still kept my composure and turned the game in my favour. In the final I just tried to play my best and I didn’t feel any pressure. I’m going to have a big celebration with friends and family when I get home.”
In the ladies’ final, both Karin Michl (Germany) and Britain’s Alexandra Cunha were looking to add gold to the bronze medals they won in the 8-ball and 10-ball divisions respectively. It was a cagey match with neither player asserting themselves with so much on the line.
Michl had gone into a 2-0 lead in the race-to-six match but Cunha fought back to level the match. They shared the next two to leave the title finely poised at 3-3. The German lady looked set for 4-3 with four balls left on the table but ran the cue ball into the black 8 to lose position.
She subsequently missed the 8 into the top left pocket. Cunha made it but left herself with a very tough 9 ball and to her credit, she potted it to lead 4-3 in the race to six. With two balls left on the table in the next, a long 7 ball failed to drop for Cunha, but Michl’s pot saw the cue ball cannon into the 9 to make the shot more difficult than she would have liked but with rest in hand, she rolled it in to level.
With two balls left on the table in the ninth game, Michl failed to pot the 8 ball and then scratched with ball-in-hand, and Cunha took them both to reach the hill at 5-4. The British representative saved her best till last as, under some pressure, she ran the remaining five balls on the table to record a 6-4 victory and with it her first ever European Championships gold medal.
Cunha was delighted with her win; “I’m really emotional as I can’t believe this just happened. I’m so pleased! I’ve been having some coaching and I’ve been trying to rely on the things I’ve been learning.
“I’ve tried to improve my game and keep my head away from the score. I was 5-1 down in the semi-final and got it back so I was really pleased with my focus given the circumstances I always want to learn more and improve more and try and be the best I can be,” she added.
Medals – Ladies 9-Ball
Gold – Alexandra Cunha (POR)
Silver – Karin Michl (GER)
Bronze – Ina Helvik (NOR)
Susanne Wessel (GER)
Team Portugal – Henrique Correia, Manuel Pereira and Jorge Tinoco
The Portuguese trio of Jorge Tinoco, Manuel Pereira and Henrique Correia took the team gold medal today at the EPBF / Dynamic Billiards European Seniors Championships in Treviso, Italy in a thrilling encounter with Italy. With three matches played simultaneously in 8, 9 and 10 ball, the first team to win two took the crown and it was Portugal who prevailed after a drama-packed evening.
The Italians got to the scoreboard first in the 10 ball before wins in the 6 ball and 9 ball gave the Portuguese the coveted gold medal.
For Tinoco it was his second gold medal of the week following his straight pool victory and it meant more than anything; “This is the main objective, that we come here to win the team event. I have no words as this is my first European Seniors and I have two gold medals, but this one is the most important for us. It’s for us and it’s for Portugal and it was our dream to win this.”
With the tension mounting, at the mid-point of the three matches, the Portuguese were in the ascendancy, leading 3-2 and 4-1 in the 8 ball and 9 ball and trailing 2-4 in the 10 ball. However, there were plenty of twists and turns to come.
In the 10 ball, Henrique Correia was 4-1 down to Gianluca Boni but got back to 4-3 to take the wind out of the Italian’s sails. A dry break from Boni was his downfall in the eighth game as Correia cleared to level it at 4-4. That was to be the Portuguese player’s last meaningful contribution to the match as shot-maker extraordinaire, Gianluca Boni, took the necessary three racks to seal the first point for Italy.
In the remaining two matches, Portugal was on the hill. Straight pool gold medallist Jorge Tinoco sealed the levelling point for his country, beating Fabio Petroni with three racks to spare in the 8-ball match.
That left it all down to the 9 ball and Portugal’s Manuel Pereira had reached seven racks first with a couple to spare in the race-to-eight match. The speedy Andrea Grosso, though managed to find something as he levelled the match at 7-7 to leave the destination of the gold resting on a final rack.
A dry effort from Grosso left the table to the excellent Pereira. However, he couldn’t quite make position from the 2 ball to the 3 but his safety left it on for the Italian. He made it, but with no pot on the 4 ball, Grosso played a weak safety. It was nail-biting stuff with so much depending on the rack.
The 4 was on for Pereira but he missed a difficult attempt and left a tough jump shot which Grosso slammed home. With the title within his grasp, inexplicably, the Italian scratched into the centre pocket, potting the orange 5 when anywhere else on the table would have done the job.
With the remaining balls out in the open, but no formality under the circumstances, Pereira held himself together to win the gold for the Portuguese. Unsurprisingly, the moment got to him and he went absolutely wild with joy and relief. It was a fitting conclusion to an absolutely thrilling contest.
A delighted Henrique Correia commented, “What can I say? I really tried. I came from 4-1 to 4-4 and then he made amazing shots so I could only congratulate Gianluca. But thank God, I have the two most amazing guys in the world next to me and they did the job this time. We always wanted to win this one as it’s all about our country.”
Finally, match-winner Manuel Pereira said, “My fifth title in eight finals in ten years which is incredible but this gold was our main objective so we are so delighted to succeed!”
Jorge Tinoco, the 44 year-old Portuguese was the recipient of the opening gold medal at the EPBF / Dynamic Billiards European
Championships as he put in a series of solid performances to win the Straight Pool division, overcoming Germany’s Reiner Wirsbitzki 75-30 in the championship match.
Hailing from Lagos, on the Algarve coast in southern Portugal, Tinoco got the better of a strong field of 62 players, running undefeated through the tournament. With seven wins in total, the Portuguese was the best player there although he had some close matches en route to gold. The European Seniors Championships is for players of 40 years and over.
Commented Tinoco; “I have no words to describe how I’m feeling as this is my first time in the Seniors. This is a difficult competition in straight pool as it was my first time playing competitively. I practiced for two weeks and worked hard and I’ve won a gold medal which means that my work was well done.”
Entering his 11th European Seniors Championship, Wirsbitzki lost his opening game against Italy’s Riccardo Sini (75-28) and needed to battle his way through the losers’ bracket, playing ten matches in total.
Tinoco enjoyed a comfortable 75-6 win over Sweden’s Mahmut Mutto in the quarter-finals to ensure a medal and he went on to defeat the Norwegian Didrik Vatne 75-34 in the semi-finals. That ensured at least a silver and Wirsbitzki, who had earlier beaten countryman Steffen Gross 75-38 in the other semi-final, stood between him and the gold medal.
However, another comfortable performance from the Portuguese ensured his first ever European Championships gold medal. He can now look forward to taking that form to the remaining three divisions.
“I have no expectations for the other divisions; I just want to play good pool. I’m in the losers’ side in the 10 ball, so I have a big match tomorrow. It’s another day and another competition and there are a lot of good players so I’ll have to adapt as 10 ball is a totally different game to straight pool,” added Tinoco.
For Wirsbitzki, a loss in his opening match proved to be a telling factor; ““I had a cold start yesterday and lost my first match and then I found my game a little better. I played five matches yesterday and then five matches today. Ten matches in two days are too much for me!
“Against team mate Steffen Gross, it was a good match for me because I won and it was also the first that Steffen achieved a medal so I’m happy for him but I played very well and made 45 balls. At 9.00 in the evening, I didn’t feel so fit and relaxed but Jorge played well so congratulations to him.”
Play continues today in the men’s 10 ball and the ladies’ first event, also the 10 ball division.
Europe’s number 1 player Mark Gray (GBR) aka „The Granite“ lost his match in the winner’s qualification round of the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open in Leende, The Netherlands, with 7:9 to strong Tomasz Kaplan (POL).
Gray’s form in the past season has been second to none. He has reached the quarter-finals four times and won twice. Former World Champions and European top players like Feijen, Ouschan or Souquet are kept at a distance by the successful Brit. However, in this tournament Gray needs to come up with an extra effort in order to continue his triumphal march. In the winner’s qualification round, he faced Poland’s Tomasz Kaplan and the match was as fiercely fought over as expected. In fact, Kaplan had the better beginning. He took the first four consecutive racks and demonstrated quite impressively that he was not going to give this away to Gray for free. But Gray has a massive self-confidence, mainly because of his amazing performance during the past months. He fought his way back into the match and even got to 7:7. Rack 15 saw „The Granite“ breaking the balls. He had one ball down but only one more ball crossed the head string so the break was illegal and Kaplan got to the table. A long exchange of safety shots followed and had Kaplan as the winner. The Polish got the position to pocket a ball and ran the rack from there to get on the hill. 8:7 was the score in favor of Kaplan, one more point needed to defeat the number 1! It was Kaplan’s break coming up in rack 16. He had some balls down but no position on the 1-ball. Again, safeties were exchanged and again Kaplan won that encounter. With a bit help from the roll of the balls he got the chance to pocket a ball first and he made use of it. He ran the rack, showing no nerves and winning the match 9:7 over Mark Gray. Kaplan is qualified for the round of the last 32 players single elimination which is scheduled for 20:30 CET tonight.
The remarkable results from today’s winner’s qualification round include Woytek Trajdos (POL) defeating Mario He (AUT) 9:7. Russian youngster Fedor Gorst, one of the youngest players left on the winner’s side, pipped Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) to the post with 9:8. Karol Skowerski (POL) conquered Ralf Souquet (GER) 9:6 and sent him to the loser’s round.
Today’s feature match which will be live on Facebook will be the match at around 17:45 CET where German Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet will fight for survival in the tournament against the winner of Portugal’s Jorge Tinoco and EPBF 2015 Player of the Year Francisco Diaz-Pizarro from Spain.
The Euro-Tour is played on 11 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 purchased 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
St. Johann, Austria: Former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) defeated unheralded Steffen Wolff (NOR) in the second winner's round with 9:5.
Both players had already one victory under the belt. Ortmann won over Roger Lysholm (NOR) 9:3 this afternoon. In the same round, Wolff took the match over Jorge Tinoco (POR) with 9:6. On paper, Ortmann was the clearly favored player in this match though. But young Steffen Wolff tried to keep the pace with the experienced Champion. That worked for him in the first racks. After seven racks, Ortmann was only leading with one point over Wolff; the score was 4:3 in favor of the German. Then Ortmann suddenly shifted into overdrive and before Wolff could do anything against it, Ortmann was on the hill leading 8:3. That obviously impressed the young Norwegian but he still tried to keep a foot in the door. He managed to win another two racks before Ortmann ended the match, winning 9:5. Ortmann will now have to deal with Mario He (AUT) tomorrow in order to see who will get straight to the single elimination and who will need to take the detour through the loser's side. Wolff will also get another chance. He has to win his next three matches in order to book a seat in the stage of the final 64 players of the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open Euro-Tour.
Beside the tournament, the Austrian Federation (represented by Bernhard Kaserer and Gerald Gollnhuber) and the Vienna Sports University (represented by Philipp Kornfeind) presented the results from last year's research here in St. Johann. 22 Elite players from 11 countries were wired and tested with high tech equipment which was worth over 430.000,-€. High speed cameras, infra-red equipment, highly sensitive sensors were packed onto them and loads of data was saved.
Philipp Kornfeind presented the results after the first year of research. As a summary it can be stated that there is no "perfect" way to shoot the balls in pool. Players are very much unique and achieve the same goal with different efforts. However, the data that was collected is far from being completely evaluated. Bernhard Kaserer thinks that it will take up to six more years to fully understand the collected data. Whenever new information is released, we will keep you posted. For further information contact the Austrian Federation ÖPBV at sekretaer@oepbv.at
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.eu or contact our press office.
