After 11 days of play, the 42nd annual Dynamic Billards European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair users concluded on Saturday 12th March. With 15 separate events to contend for, nearly 200 athletes from across Europe came to the picturesque Slovenian town of Lasko.
In the end it was the German squad who topped the medal table with five gold, three silver and three bronze to total 11 medals overall. They were some distance ahead of Finland in second place who secured five medals – three gold, a silver and a bronze. In total, 21 different countries were among the medals.
Individually, there were four multi-medallists in the men’s divisions. Veteran Niels Feijen (NED) headed the table with a gold medal in the 9 ball plus two bronzes. Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) grabbed a gold in the 10 ball plus a bronze in the 8 ball. Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk took two silvers in the 10 ball and team event respectively. Finally, Mario He of Austria took a silver and a bronze.
In the ladies’ events, it was the fast-improving Pia Filler of Germany who led the way. She collected gold medals in the 8 ball and the team competition as well as a silver in the straight pool. In total, seven other players collected two medals each. Amalia Matas (ESP), Oliwia Zalewska (POL), Tina Vogelmann (GER) and Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR) all won a gold plus a bronze while Ana Gradisnik (SLO) took two silvers. The other two multi-medallist women were Line Kjorsvik (NOR) and Sara Rocha of Portugal.
In the wheelchair division, it was once again Finland’s Jouni Tahti who came out on top with two gold medals. The other gold was won by his long-time rival Henrik Larsson who also left with a silver and a bronze. Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore came close twice but had to settle for two silver medals and a bronze. The remaining double-medallist was Britain’s David Beaumont who collected a brace of bronzes.
Poland’s Oliwia Zalewska won her third Dynamic Billard European Championships gold medal, this time in the Women’s 9-Ball, as she enjoyed a surprisingly easy win over Slovenian hope Ana Gradisnik, running out a 7-0 winner. The Polish girl had won the 8-ball title in Antalya last year.
Having not really showed in the other disciplines, Zalewska saved her best till last. She lost her first match in the 9-ball division but battled her way through the one-loss side to reach the single elimination last 16. Wins over Silvia Lopez Fibla (Spain) and Sweden’s My Nguyen left her a semi-final pairing against Spain’s dangerous Amalia Matas. A 7-0 win put her into the championship match which she cruised through for the gold.
“During the final, I wasn’t thinking about winning the title; I’m thinking about the game and my level of playing. Of course, I love this feeling of winning and yes, the whole of the time spent practising and the emotions that go into it are all a big part of this victory,” said Zalewska.
The gold medallist is the mother of an 18-month-old child and added, “I’m sorry my baby can’t be here with me and my husband but it would be too long to spend away from home so we will all enjoy this title when we get home.”
WOMEN’S
Final
Oliwia Zalewska (POL) 7 – 0 Ana Gradisnik (SLO)
Semi Finals
Oliwia Zalewska (POL) 7 – 0 Amalia Matas (ESP)
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 7 – 4 Sara Rocha (POR)
WHEELCHAIR
Jouni Tahti
In the wheelchair division Jouni Tahti made it an unbelievable 28th Dynamic Billard European Championship gold medal as he came from behind to outpace Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore, winning 7 – 6 in a battle royale. The Finn collected his first ever EC gold in 2002 and 20 years later, he is still the wheelchair games dominant force.
Dinsmore, who had already won bronze and silver in the 10-ball and 8-ball respectively, looked on his way to a gold medal, holding a 6-3 lead but Tahti, showed why he is a serial gold medallist as he dug in and pipped the Irishman at the post.
Commented Tahti, “When I was 6-3 down, I didn’t give up as there is always hope and I knew I could turn it around. To win gold medals you often need to overcome very tough situations and I’m pleased I had what it took to achieve that. I’m really looking forward to defending my title in Tampere next year and I’ll be going all out for three gold medals in my home country.”
Final
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 7 – 6 Fred Dinsmore (IRE)
Semi Finals
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 7 – 5 David Beaumont (GBR)
Fred Dinsmore (IRE) 7 – 5 Henrik Larsson (SWE)
UNDER 23
Moritz Neuhausen
Moritz Neuhausen, the 2019 Under 17’s and 2021 Under19’s WPA World 9 Ball Champion, added another trophy to his cabinet as he won an all-German final 9-7 to take 9-ball gold at the Dynamic Billard European Championships. His opponent Luca Menn gave him a tough battle but it was Neuhausen who prevailed to add to his credentials as a potential new German superstar of the game.
Neuhausen, 21, had survived a gripping hill-hill thriller in his semi-final match against another star of the future in Norway’s Emil Andre Gangflot. There is an overflow of top young talent in Europe currently and Neuhausen may just be the pick of the bunch.
“That’s my first title in the Under 23 division. I had two titles previously, one in teams so I’m really happy with this win. I’ve won some big titles in my age group and hopefully I can take that forward into open tournaments but there’s a lot of space for improvement and I’ll keep working hard,” said Neuhausen.
Final
Moritz Neuhausen (GER) 9 – 7 Luca Menn (GER)
Semi Finals
Luca Menn (GER) 9 – 3 Haris Trtovac (SRB)
Moritz Neuhausen (GER) 9 – 8 Emil Andre Gangflot (NOR)
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.
Pia Filler of Germany won her maiden gold medal at the Dynamic Billard European Championships as she triumphed in the 8-Ball division, over-turning local hope Ana Gradisnik in Lasko, Slovenia. Having won silver in the Straight Pool earlier in the week, Filler cemented her rapid ascent to the top level of ladies’ European pool and she can now look forward to the 9-ball division with renewed confidence and a realistic hope of another gold.
It was disappointment for Gradisnik who was looking to give her host country their first gold medal of the Championships but she will have to regroup for the final division of 9-ball. Bronze medals went to perennial podium finisher Line Kjorsvik (Norway) and 10-Ball gold medallist Eyllul Kibaroglu of Turkey.
Filler said post-match, “I’m absolutely over the moon right now! I’ve been working so hard over these past two years with my husband and coach Joshua, and our common coach Gunter Geisen. All that work paid off and I’m just enjoying the moment right now.”
“It was tough to really find time to prepare for the Europeans as Joshua was playing a lot of world ranking events but I think we made the best out of it and we always try and prepare for whatever is up next. We don’t always have that much time but it obviously worked out!” she added.
WOMEN’S
Final
Pia Filler (GER) 6 – 3 Ana Gradisnik (SLO)
Semi Finals
Pia Filler (GER) 6 – 1 Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR)
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 6 – 5 Line Kjorsvik (NOR)
Henrik Larsson
WHEELCHAIR
In the wheelchair division, it was that man again, as Sweden’s Henrik Larsson added to his overall medal tally with another gold in the 8-Ball division, his 12th gold on his European Championship journey. With just the 9-Ball division to play out, the multi-titled Swede has a great opportunity to top his long-time rival Jouni Tahti as the two of them continue to dominate the gold medal positions at successive Dynamic Billard European Championships.
Larsson had too much in the championship match as he defeated Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore, himself no stranger to gold medals, by 5-2.
He said afterwards, “I’m really happy about this final and happy to have a full field. We have 22 players and we have absolutely the strongest players here, and that makes it worthwhile. The standard and the level in wheelchair have been rising and rising, and in this event Jouni got knocked out in the quarter finals by Matej Brajkovic who is a phenomenal player so I think it’s just a matter of time before you finally get rid of us! 9-Ball is my favourite game; a lot of cue action, so I’m really looking forward to that and we’ll see what happens.”
Final
Henrik Larsson (SWE) 5 – 2 Fred Dinsmore (IRE)
Semi Finals
Henrik Larsson (SWE) 5 – 1 Kurt Deklerck (BEL)
Fred Dinsmore (IRE) 5 – 4 Matej Brajkovic (SLO)
Emil Andre Gangflot
UNDER 23s
With a system in place that continues to produce the best players in the world, the Under 23 events at the Dynamic Billard European Championships are a terrific pointer to tomorrow’s global stars of the game. This week, Emil-Andre Gangflot of Norway made his mark as he took the gold medal in the 8-Ball division, defeating Finland’s Arseny Sevastyanov 8-4 in the decider.
Gangflot, from Fredrikstad, turned 19 just two weeks ago and was playing in his first Under 23 division at the Euros, having tasted success in the juniors. As one of the youngest players in this age category, the win was a testament to his maturity as a player as well as his red-hot prospects for the future.
“I’m really surprised. I didn’t think I could win this one in my first year but I’m really happy. It was a great tournament as usual and I’m obviously delighted. In the whole tournament, I was just trying to stay focused and take one game at a time and one ball at a time and to win this title is amazing. I’m going to just try my best in 9 ball and see what happens,” said Gangflot.
Final
Emil-Andre Gangflot (NOR) 8 – 4 Arseny Sevastyanov (FIN)
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.
Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) and Jouni Tahti of Finland took the gold medals in the women’s and wheelchair divisions respectively at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in Lasko, Slovenia. For the Turkish girl, it was a repeat of her triumph at the ECs in Turkey last year while medal-machine Tahti revenged a defeat by Henrik Larsson as he defeated the Swede for gold.
Kibaroglu had run undefeated through the tournament for her repeat win, defeating a brace of German players to land the title. First, she beat Melanie Sűßenguth 6-3 in the semi-final and then topped Ina Kaplan 6-3 in the championship match.
For Kibaroglu, who has enjoyed the success of her European Championships victory in her home country, it was a major achievement to retain her crown; “I’m so happy that I managed to defend my title from Antalya. There are a lot of great players here and you have to play well throughout the tournament. There are still more opportunities ahead this week and I have plans for the 8 ball and 9 ball.”
Finland’s Jouni Tahti
In the wheelchair division it was pool’s version of El Classico as Jouni Tahti and Henrik Larsson faced off for the gold medal. These two players have absolutely dominated wheelchair pool over the years and at the 2021 European Championships it was Larsson who claimed gold against his perennial rival Tahti. The Finn though, had other plans this year as he comfortably gained revenge via a 5-2 scoreline.
Commented Tahti; “It always seems to be myself and Henrik but there are some great players improving so every match can be tough. I’m going to go for the treble of 10 ball, 8 ball and 9 ball but it’s not going to be easy with the quality of competition here. That said, I’m always delighted to win another European Championship gold medal and I played good enough all competition to achieve that goal.”
WOMEN’S
Final
Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR) 6 – 3 Ina Kaplan (GER)
Semi Finals
Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR) 6 – 3 Melanie Sűßenguth (GER)
Ina Kaplan (GER) 6 – 1 Sara Rocha (POR)
WHEELCHAIR
Final
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 5 – 2 Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Semi Finals
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 5 – 3 Fred Dinsmore (IRE)
Henrik Larsson (SWE) 5 – 2 David Beaumont (GBR)
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.
The 2021 European Pool Championships wrapped up after 11 glorious days of sport at the Venezia Palace Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. 9-ball was the final discipline as four divisions played out and there was plenty of drama, most of it centring on the men’s division as Joshua Filler took the gold in an extraordinary finale.
Margarita Fefilova took women’s gold to add to her silver and bronze medals while Finnish wheelchair legend Jouni Tahti finally got his hands on a trophy after two near-misses this year. In the men’s Under23 tournament, Serbian Aleksa Pecelj won gold to confirm his potential in the game.
There were 97 players competing in the Men’s division, and it was a stacked field with the best in Europe fighting it out for the final gold. Joshua Filler found himself on the one-loss side but came through with his normal relaxed style. He squeezed past Niels Feijen in a decider in the quarter-finals before relegating Poland’s Sebastian Batkowski to a bronze medal in the semi.
His final opponent, Sanjin Pehlivanovic of Bosnia Herzegovina, made the quarter-finals with a string of comfortable wins before beating seasoned Spaniard Francisco Diaz-Pizarro 9-4 to meet Pijus Labutis in the last four. He overcame the Lithuanian to give himself a great shot at the title.
Pehlivanovic dominated the scoring, leading 4-1 in the early stages. Filler got back to level terms at 4-4 before his opponent then kept a one rack lead with his break. With the Bosnian on the hill at 8-7, Filler was running out to tie it up but found himself in an awkward position with three balls left on the table.
Shooting the 7 ball with the 9-ball blocking his path up table to the black 8, Filler made the pot and left himself a long but fine cut on the 8 ball but made a mess of it and left the 8 available for his opponent.
Pehlivanovic took some time and let out a ‘whoop’ and fist pumped as the 8 fell, leaving himself with an elementary 9 ball into the corner pocket for the championship. Incredibly he missed it leaving Filler to knock it in to draw level. The German ‘whooped’ himself when he sat back in his chair, possibly referencing his opponent’s premature celebration but the players shook hands as the deciding rack commenced.
There was more disaster for Pehlivanovic as his well-struck break shot saw the 3-ball into the corner pocket but only one ball made it past the headstring as he fell foul of the three-point rule, returning the table to Filler.
It wasn’t the easiest of lay-outs but the highly-decorated German ran out to take the lead for the first time in the match and seal his second European championship gold.
Filler was understandably shocked at the ending after the match; “I feel amazing! I lost two times before in the 9-ball final already and this third time I was meant to lose as well, but he missed a quite easy 9 and celebrated before and then made an illegal break at 8-8 and I could run it out. On the one hand, I already knew I’d lost and on the other hand I was holding the trophy. Crazy!
“Every match in the whole tournament I think I was down but I just kept fighting and I knew I didn’t want to give up. I knew if I got to the final, I would qualify for the World Games next year and that was my goal. I was just giving everything to win this tournament and it paid off luckily!”
Margarita Fefilova capped a tremendous visit to the 2021 European Championship as she won the final gold in the 9-ball division to add to the silver and bronze won in 8 ball and 10 ball respectively. The Belarusian closed her championship out with a 7-3 win over Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia for the gold medal.
For the 24 year-old rising star from Minsk, Belarus it was her first ever EC gold and most likely to be the first of many. Her victory wasn’t without its set-backs as she was relegated to the one-loss side early on following a 7-5 defeat at the hands of Kristina Tkach (Russia) in her second match of the tournament. She fought through to the quarter-finals where she defeated Tina Vogelmann (Germany) 7-2 before beating her compatriot Melanie Sussenguth by the same scoreline.
Her opponent in the final, Veronika Ivanovskaia, an EC 8 ball gold medallist in 2018, beat Dutch star Tamara Rademakers to make the round of 16 and then victories over Louis Furberg (Sweden) and Ina Kaplan got her in the medals.
A potentially tough match against 10 ball champion Eyllul Kibaroglu was well negotiated before an in-form Fefilova put paid to her gold medal hopes.
Commented Fefilova, “To be honest I still can’t believe it. It feels unreal! I’ve been working so hard for this and coming to the tournament I didn’t feel confident at all. Then in the 10-ball and 8-ball I got third and then second and then everyone was joking around saying now you have to come first in the 9-ball.
“I built confidence and peaked my game at the semi-finals and final at exactly the moment I needed it. It’s very tough because in this tournament you’ve got to have it all. Good run-outs, confidence, a little bit of luck and everything goes against you sometimes even when you’re so prepared. I’m happy that finally the hard work paid off and it’s really special.”
Fefilova also booked her spot at next year’s World Games taking place at Birmingham, Alabama. USA.
It was gold at last for Finland’s Jouni Tahti, 53, as he recovered from two final defeats to bounce back and claim the title in the final discipline of the championship. It’s fair to say that the veteran Finn has been the dominant force in wheelchair pool over the past 20 years and this was his incredible 27th gold medal at the European Championships.
With his nemesis this week, Henrik Larsson, eliminated earlier in the proceedings, Tahti was on song throughout, only dropping five racks on his way to the final. His opponent in the championship match was Slovenia’s Matej Brajkovic, who in contrast to Tahti, was in his first ever final.
He gave it a go and was well-placed in the closing stages but Tahti, drawing on his wealth of experience pulled away for a terrific 7-5 win.
Tahti said, “I’m running out of room in the house for trophies, they’re in every room! My goal now is to train very hard and try and get three gold medals next year in Slovenia but I really want to be there and competing at the 2023 European Championships in Tampere in my home country”
Medals – Wheelchair
Gold – Jouni Tahti (FIN);
Silver – Matej Brajkovic (SLO)
Bronze – Kim-Ronny Nygard (NOR)
David Slacek (SLO)
Young Serbian Aleksa Pecelj ended a fabulous stay in Turkey as he closed out the championships with the gold medal in the Men’s Under 23 division. He defeated Turkish Cypriot Osman Sanlisoy 9-4 in the championship match. Earlier he had claimed bronze in the 8-ball division and prior to that, had come from nowhere to take runner-up spot on the Euro Tour in the same venue two weeks ago.
There were 20 players competing at the end of a long, hard week but it was Pecelj who had the energy and will to see it home and win Serbia’s first ever European Championship gold medal.
Turkish Northern Cyprus took another medal, this time silver in the shape of Sanlisoy and it will be interesting to see if they can build on these successes in future years.
Pecelj was ecstatic post-match; “Im thrilled, to be honest. I was playing at a high level the whole tournament. I played the Euro Tour final and didn’t manage to win it. Then I was fighting back, losing all the time, making comebacks and finally at the end I got a trophy so I’m really happy about it.
“The young players here are all very hungry so I think the established players need a lot of motivation and if you lose focus and concentration for just a second, the young guys are there chasing you like lions.
“This is the first gold medal for Serbia in the history of European Championships and I’m very happy to be the first one. There will be a big celebration when I get home starting at the airport!”
Medals – Men’s U23
Gold – Aleksa Pecelj (SRB)
Silver – Osman Sanlisoy (TNC)
Bronze – Mark Magi (EST)
Jere Virtaranta (FIN)
Eyllul Kibaroglu, Henrik Larsson and Mieszko Fortunski
There was joy for hosts Turkey as Eyllul Kibaroglu took 10 ball gold in the Ladies’ division while Poland took both gold and silver in the Men’s division as Mieszko Fortunski beat Daniel Maciol 8-4 at the Dynamic Billiards European Championships taking place in Antalya, Turkey. In the Wheelchair division it was Sweden’s Henrik Larsson who took yet another EC gold.
In the men’s final, Fortunski, the 29 year-old from Wroclaw, put in a superb showing as he led throughout to secure a deserved 8-4 victory. Maciol’s break let him down on occasions and Fortunski capitalised on it with some solid play. It proved to be back-to-back 10 ball titles for the Pole following victory in Treviso, Italy in 2019.
There were 115 present in the event including Joshua Filler who was making his debut at this year’s championship. He was knocked out though, at the hands of Roman Hybler (CZE) in a classic 8-7 win. Hybler went onto the quarter-finals where he was beaten by the eventual runner-up.
The semi-finals saw comfortable wins for the two Poles as Maciol beat BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet, who collected yet another EC medal to go into his over-flowing trophy cabinet. Fortunski overcame Marc Bijsterbosch, who claimed a bronze also, to go with the silver he won in the straight pool division.
As is usual at a major final, there was tension in the air and it was Maciol, the 22 year-old from Katowice, who ran out the first rack after winning the lag. Fortunski levelled it in the next rack before a dry break in the third left the door open for Fortunski who completed a great clearance to take one against the break.
However, Fortunski missed the 2 ball in the fourth game, focusing too much on keeping the white out of the corner pocket, and a composed Maciol ran the table for 2-2. Another dry break from Maciol was his sole contribution to the next as Fortunski confidently cleared for a 3-2 lead.
Fortunski ran out the next to take a two-rack lead. Under some pressure now, Maciol finally came good on the break and cleared well to reduce arrears and hope for a mistake from his opponent.
Fortunski lost the cue ball in the eighth game and could only play a difficult containing safety which left a tricky long pot on the 1 ball. Sensing that offence was his only route to regaining parity, Maciol took it on and missed. Worse still, it left an easy pot on the 1 ball, and Fortunski took full advantage and ran out for 5-3.
Maciol was thrown a life-line in the next as his opponent broke dry and he made the clearance to stay in the game. He gave it back in the next when he missed the 2-ball following a dry break. Fortunski missed it himself but was handed the table back following a poor shot and ran out to reach the hill at 7-4
With three balls between Fortunski and the title, he missed a horror 7-ball as he seemed to twitch on the shot. It was a golden opportunity for Maciol but his speedy cut on the 7-ball saw the white collide with the 10 ball and drop into the corner pocket. With ball in hand, Fortunski made no mistakes to secure the European Men’s 10 Ball Championship.
After the match, Fortunski was relieved to have come through such a strong field, “For sure it wasn’t easy for me, I had a lot of tough matches. I played against Mario He, Schjetne, Bijsterbosch, Gorst, and in the final with Maciol so my road to the title was really hard and I’m really happy.
“It’s my second in a row so I’m double happy! 10 ball for sure is my best game. There were no lucky shots, well not too much, but I believed and was confident for the final.”
Medals – Men
Gold – Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
Silver – Daniel Maciol (POL)
Bronze – Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
Ralf Souquet (GER)
There was arguably the loudest cheer of the week at the Venezia Palace Hotel as local star Eyllul Kibaroglu deposited the 10-ball to claim the gold medal in the Ladies’ 10 Ball event. The 33 year-old from Ankara defeated Tamara Rademakers 6-2. It was her second European Championship gold and you would have to go all the way back to 2007 in Liberec, Czech Republic when she took the top spot in the 9 ball division.
It was sweet revenge for Kibaroglu who had been sent to the one-loss side in her second match of the tournament by Rademakers. However, she battled on defeating Spanish straight pool silver medallist Amalia Matas, and fancied Ana Gradisnik 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Rademakers ran through the winners’ side and beat Margaret Fefilova 6-2 in the semi-finals to meet Kibaroglu, who had defeated Bojana Sarac 6-5 at the same stage. The final wasn’t perhaps the classic hoped for as the Turkish girl romped home 6-2 to secure the gold.
“I’m so excited to get the second title after 14 years. I’ve waited for it too long and too many times. I’ve made too many quarter-finals on the Euro Tour and European Championships but this is the right time and the right moment in my home country. I’m proud and more than happy and excited.
“I’m very thankful to the Turkish Federation who have been supporting me a long time and I’m very appreciative of the EPBF for putting on this beautiful tournament.”
Playing out at the same time as the men’s and ladies’ finals, was the final of the Wheelchair division and it was veteran Henrik Larsson who grabbed a brilliant 14th European Championship gold medal. He defeated Finland’s Jouni Tahti 5-4 in the championship match to successfully defend the title he won in Italy two years ago.
It was a thriller with the destination of the gold medal determined in the final rack, and it was Larsson who came through to deny European wheelchair pool legend Tahti and incredible 26th gold medal.
Larsson was delighted post-match; “I’m tickled! I’m going to practice extremely hard in 2022 and play the Euro Tour and all that and see what is my potential and when I find that out, I don’t know what I’m going to do!
“I’m really happy to see all the improvements and the sport growing. You see so many guys now in wheelchairs shooting and I’m really looking forward to what we can expect for the sport in the following couple of years,” he added.
Medals – Wheelchair
Gold – Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Silver – Jouni Tahti (FIN)
Bronze – David Slacek (SLO)
Matej Brajkovic (SLO)
The last day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 saw the finals in the 9-ball individuals in all four divisions. The titles were grabbed by Fedor Gorst (RUS), Jasmin Ouschan (AUT), Pijus Labutis (LTU) and Jouni Tahti (FIN).
Fedor Gorst had a thriller against Joshua Filler (GER) in the men’s 9-ball division. Both player performed tremendously well throughout the event and deserved their spot in the final match. Gorst was always ahead of Filler whose break let him down big time in the match. But the German struck back whenever he could and kept the match open for a long time. Then Gorst got some momentum and went on the hill, taking a nice 8:4 lead over Filler. But one of „Killer Filler’s“ most important talents is that he keeps his nerves together and plays rock solid even when under fire. Filler took some racks off Gorst since the Russian himself had some problems with his break shot in the latter part of the match. Filler even got to the hill and created an 8:8 situation. The heat was on for both players with Gorst having the break shot. He had 2 balls down and an open layout. From there, Filler never got back to the table and Gorst sneaked past the winning line, taking the match with 9:8 over brave Filler.
The women’s final match between Jasmin Ouschan and Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) turned into a demolition for the Russian. Ouschan determined the match from the start to her liking and Seroshtan could not get a foot on the floor. Having in mind that Ouschan was far below her expectations during this championship, she played up to her standard in the final match and handed a whitewash to Seroshtan with 7:0.
In the Under 23 division, Pijus Labutis was the favoured player over Oliver Szolnoki since he had already taken a title in 8-ball earlier this week. Though Szolnoki performed quite convincing, Labutis was a bit ahead of him because of his focus being set on another title. 9:7 was the final result that brought the second title for Labutis for this week.
In the wheelchair division, all-time favoured Jouni Tahti wasted no time with his opponent Fred Dinsmore. He simply outplayed the Irish and took the match pretty easy with 7:1.
The final medal table displays Russia as the winner of the event, having won 3 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals. Runner-Up is Poland with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze Medals with Finland coming in third with 2 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal and 3 Bronze medals.
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
RUS
3
2
2
7
2.
POL
2
1
4
7
3.
FIN
2
1
3
6
4.
LTU
2
2
5.
AUT
1
2
2
5
6.
POR
1
1
2
SUI
1
1
2
SWE
1
1
2
9.
ALB
1
1
ESP
1
1
11.
GER
3
3
6
12.
GBR
1
3
4
13.
IRL
1
1
2
NED
1
1
2
15.
HUN
1
1
LAT
1
1
UKR
1
1
18.
BLR
2
2
SLO
2
2
20.
BIH
1
1
BUL
1
1
FRA
1
1
SRB
1
1
That concludes the coverage of the 2019 Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women, Under 23 and Wheelchair Athletes from Treviso, Italy. We will be back tomorrow with more news from the upcoming Euro-Tour events for Men and Women.
The Championships were played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Eklent Kaci, Jouni Tahti, Kristina Tkach and Pijus Labutis
The 8-ball competition at this year’s Dynamic Billard European Championships have been decided. The matches in the different divisions contained everything from expectations to drama and highly thrilling matches.
The final match in the men’s division was played between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Ralf Souquet (GER). This match was not only the encounter of two high profile athletes but also a clash of two generations. While „The Kaiser“ Ralf Souquet has already won an unbelievable number of 22 Gold Medals at European Championships, Kaci was still waiting on his first one. Souquet has achieved almost everything that a pool billiard player can achieve while Kaci is still on the start of his career. On the other hand, Kaci has won some prestigious events throughout last year and can considered to be „on fire“ currently while Souquet is on his regular level. This constellation was the interesting starting position of the match. Tonight, Kaci had the better day and after seven racks, he was already leading 6:1 over Souquet. Needing only two more points, it would be hard for just anyone to stop Kaci. But Souquet still tried and managed to get some excitement back into a match which seemed to be long time decided. He fought back and pulled some racks back from Kaci to get to 4:6 and 6:7. When Kaci was on the hill at 7:6, he made no more mistakes and pocketed the final 8-ball which made him a European 8-Ball Champion for the first time in his life.
The women’s final quickly turned into a nightmare for Kristina Tkach (RUS) in the beginning. She was up against Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and could not get a foot on the floor. She actually had the better break but could not turn that into points. Tkach even committed a foul using too much time for her shot since the match was on shot-clock and she simply exceeded the time permitted for her shot. On the other hand, Ouschan started out as focussed and composed as usual. Even though the break did not work for Ouschan, she managed to snatch the points from Tkach one by one. It took until rack five was played before Tkach got on the board, reducing the gap to 1:4. When opening rack six, Tkach scratched and again gave ball in hand to Ouschan. This time, Ouschan could not clear the table and allowed Tkach back into the table, missing the 6-ball. Tkach pocketed all balls of her group and made the 8-ball to get to 2:4 with Ouschan’s break shot coming up. Jasmin had two balls down on the break shot but again was not able to finish the rack, leaving another point on the table for Tkach to pick it up. However, both players committed several mistakes during this rack which is a clear indication for the pressure that was on both of them. Tkach managed to win the rack, getting to 3:4. In the next rack, Tkach had the chance to level the match but she miscued and once more gave ball in hand to Jasmin Ouschan with a wide open table. Ouschan played up to her abilities and finished the rack, getting on the hill with 5:3. In the next rack, Ouschan had her first good break shot of the match with balls down and a nice and comfortable layout in front of her. That was a huge chance for Ouschan to finish the match win the title. But to her and the audiences surprise she missed her first shot. What an unusual performance by Ouschan in this final. Tkach now used her chance and ran the table, getting to 4:5 in this match. The next rack, Tkach broke and ran out to make the match a 5:5 hill-hill thriller with Jasmin Ouschan’s break shot coming up. One more time Ouschan did not make a ball on the break and handed an open table to Tkach. The unbelievable happened in that rack. After having trailed 1:4, Kristina Tkach won another rack and took the match and the title 6:5 over Jasmin Ouschan.
In the wheelchair division, the match between Jouni Tahti (FIN) and Roy Kimberley (GBR) went according to the expectations. Tahti dominated Southern from start to the end and lead 3:0 and 4:1. The exceptional player from Finland never gave a chance to Southern who simply could not find any way to prevent Tahti from winning racks. When Tahti pocketed the final 8-ball, the scoreboard displayed a 5:2 final score in his favour. Tonight Jouni Tahti won his 25th Gold Medal on European level.
In the Under 23 division, Pijus Labutis (LTU) met Vitaliy Patsura (UKR). Patsura had already taken a Gold Medal in Men’s 8-ball, Junior’s 10-ball and last year in Under 23 9-ball. He was definitely favoured in this match. Labutis on the other hand has won two silver and one bronze medal but no title yet. That was one fact that the young Lithuanian wanted to change tonight. He quickly got to a 3:1 lead and he always kept Patsura at a 2-rack distance away from him. When leading 5:3, Labutis won a key rack in the match and got to 7:3. The pressure with Labutis being on the hill was too much for Patsura. He won another rack but then Labutis sealed the deal for tonight, winning the match and his first title ever with 8:4.
The medal table after 3 of 5 events displays Poland still on top with 2 Gold, one Silver and one Bronze Medal with Russia right up their neck, only one Bronze Medal short. Finland is currently ranked third with one medal of each colour.
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
POL
2
1
1
4
2.
RUS
2
1
3
3.
FIN
1
1
1
3
4.
SUI
1
1
2
SWE
1
1
2
6.
ALB
1
1
LTU
1
1
8.
AUT
1
2
3
GBR
1
2
3
GER
1
2
3
11.
NED
1
1
2
12.
LAT
1
1
UKR
1
1
14.
BLR
2
2
15.
BIH
1
1
BUL
1
1
FRA
1
1
IRL
1
1
POR
1
1
Earlier today, the first team matches have been played. The women’s team matches did not come up with big surprises. The two closest matches were Sweden defeated The Netherlands 2:1 while Russia remained the upper hand over Belarus 2:1. In the men’s team competition, some close and exciting matches already happened in this early stage of the tournament. Team Russia overcame defending Champion Team Poland in a heartbreaker with 2:1 (Gorst v Fortunski 6:8, Stepanov v Skowerski 8:7, Lutsker v Juszczyszyn 9:8) while Team Germany had a tough time in taking down Team Albania with 2:1 (Hohmann v Kaci 5:8, Souquet v Zaja 8:7, Filler v Spahiu 9:5). Probably the biggest surprise was Team Denmark winning over Team the Netherlands with 2:1 (Krause v Saris 8:3, Lotfy v van den Berg 6:7, Lentz v Bijsterbosch 9:5).
The Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the 9-ball individuals competition Women and Under 23s.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Today the European Championship 8-ball competition was in full swing. Men, Women, Under 23 and Wheelchair athletes demonstrated their shotmaking and tactical skills on the battlefield of slate.
In the men’s division, defending Champion Bahram Lotfy (DEN) unexpectedly lost his opening match to Sebastian Staab (GER) 7:8. That brought him to the loser’s side straight away where he needed to win in order to get his ticket for the single elimination of the last 64 players. Lotfy encountered Marios Artemiou (CYP) and it did not take much off him to win this match with 8:1. Then in the single elimination, Lotfy was drawn against Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). That match started out quite even but Lotfy capitalised from his break shot while Stepanov was struggling to make a ball when it was his turn to open the rack. In the end, Lotfy remained victorious with 8:3 and will now face Karol Skowerski (POL) tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in the next round. Other exciting matches in that round will be the clash between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER) and the match with Mieszko Fortunski (POL) and Fedor Gorst (RUS), just to name a few.
In the women’s 8-ball, Vania Franco (POR) showed some attractive performance in order to make it to the single elimination stage. After having lost her first match 2:6 to Ewa Bak (POL), Franco went over to the loser’s side where she met Louise Furberg (SWE). The experienced player from Sweden had no chance against Franco who prevailed with 6:2. Then, Franco advanced and took down Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in a thrilling combat with 6:5. Right after that match, the Portuguese had to deal with yesterday’s surprise winner, Christine Feldmann (SUI). That match really took an unexpected turn since it was Franco to dominated the match from start to finish. Feldmann did not have the slightest chance and Franco demolished her with 6:1 in the end. In the single elimination stage of the last 16 players, Vania Franco will encounter Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR).
In the under 23 division, defending Champion Casper Matikainen (FIN) is straight on track. After having won a silver medal in the men’s 10-ball last night against Mieszko Fortunski (POL), Matikainen had his first matches in the Under 23’s division. He wasted no time and defeated Josef Nechvile (CZE) 8:1 and Daniel Lang (SVK) 8:4 to book his seat in the quarter-finals already. He will be joined there by Vitaliy Patsura (UKR), Pijus Labutis (LTU) and Jan Van Lierop (NED) who are also through to the single elimination over the winner’s side. The quarter-finals in 8-ball will be played tomorrow afternoon at 16:00 CET.
In the wheelchair division, the biggest of all upsets possible did happen. Unheralded David Himpe (BEL) handed a whitewash to defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN), defeating the Finish with 5:0. In the next round, Himpe had to give in 4:5 to another underdog, Leszek Blumczynski (POL) with 4:5. Tahti needs to overcome Kurt Deklerck (BEL) for his spot in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the 8-ball individuals competition Men and Women.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Feldmann, Larsson and Fortunski won the 10-ball titles
The 10-ball discipline at the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 is over and the medals have been awarded.
In the men’s division, Mieszko Fortunski (POL) won the title after a fierce fight with Casper Matikainen (FIN) in the final match. Matikainen had the better start and stormed off with a 3:0 lead over Fortunski. The Finish played pretty confident and displayed no weakness until that stage in the match. Then suddenly he started committing mistakes. Fortunski capitalized from them and gained strength from his opponent’s errors. Then, Matikainen was also very unlucky with his break. While it worked pretty well in the beginning, it did let him down during the match. He scratched three times in a row on his own break shot and it could be witnessed how his confidence left him and he had no trust in himself anymore. Fortunski got stronger and stronger and in the end succeeded in sealing the deal with a comfortable 8:4 victory over Matikainen.
In the women’s division, Christine Feldmann (SUI) surprisingly took the title against highly favoured Kristina Tkach (SUI) with 6:3. Feldmann had performed outstandingly throughout the discipline so far and rightfully booked her seat in the final match, winning 6:3 over Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) in the semi-final. Tkach ousted Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 6:5 in the same round in a monster clash. Tkach was highly favoured for the title but Feldmann simply played better and kept her nerves together. The final match was not even close with Feldmann dominating it throughout the whole course of the match. In the end, Feldmann won her third European title after winning 1993 in the girl’s 9-ball division and 2005 in the women’s 8-ball.
In the wheelchair division, there was one new face in the final match. Kaspars Turks (LAT) had to play against multiple Champion Henrik Larsson (SWE). Being in the final was already a huge achievement for Turks. He ousted favoured Fred Dinsmore (IRL) in the semi-final match and wass ready for more against Larsson. But the Swede is very experienced with many titles underneath his belt already. After having defeated his biggest rival, defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) in the quarter-final already, Larsson did not want to allow anyone to take that medal away from him anymore. So the match turned pretty much into a one-man-show from Henrik Larsson. The Swede pulled rack after rack from Turks and managed to win the title with a clear 6:1 result over Turks.
The medal table displays a clear lead for Poland, having won both Gold Medals in the men’s division so far.
RANK
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
POL
2
1
1
4
2
RUS
1
1
2
3
SUI
1
1
2
4
SWE
1
1
5
NED
1
1
2
6
FIN
1
1
LAT
1
1
8
AUT
2
2
9
BLR
1
1
GBR
1
1
GER
1
1
IRL
1
1
POR
1
1
The Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the 8-ball individuals competition Men and Under 23.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
After 11 days of play, the 42nd annual Dynamic Billards European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair users concluded on Saturday 12th March. With 15 separate events to contend for, nearly 200 athletes from across Europe came to the picturesque Slovenian town of Lasko.
