Team Netherlands defeated Team Slovakia in a very tight match with 2:1.

Day 8 started with the team competition of the Dynamic European Championships.  Nr. 2 seeded Team The Netherlands, consisting of Niels Feijen, Ivar Saris and Nick van den Berg had to compete with Team Slovakia which was made up of Jakub Koniar, Milan Klobucnik and Jaroslav Polach. What looked like an easy task for the Dutch on paper turned into a dramatic thriller. Feijen had won the 10-ball 8:6 while Saris had lost the 8-ball with 4:8. That made the score in the team match 1:1. It ball boiled down to the 9-ball match between Nick van den Berg and Jaroslav Polach. Van den Berg was definitely favoured to win this match but Polach cannot be underestimated. In fact, the Slovakian consistently performed on a high level and brought the Dutch team to the verge of defeat. He was already leading 8:6 over van den Berg and The Netherlands would have been shocked if they were defeated in the first round of the Team’s event. However, “El Nino” van den Berg struck back and after a furious fight tied the match at hill-hill. He broke the final rack with a power break shot and ran the rack under high pressure, getting an8:7 victory over Polach. That took care of the Dutch team winning 2:1 over unlucky Slovakia. The Dutch will now deal with team Russian in the next round of the winner’s side while team Slovakia goes to the loser’s bracket.

Other notable results include team Russia defeating team Serbia with 3:0. Team Austria was victorious over Team Poland 2:1 with Werner Scheu winning the deciding match in 10-ball over Radoslaw Babica with 8:5.

After 13:00 CET, the event continues with the 9-ball individuals competition.

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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.

“The Kaiser” Ralf Souquet (GER) is back on track.  He terminated Blerim Skara (ALB) with an impressive performance 8:3.

It was Skara who had the better start. He seemed to be in the zone and used the fact that Souquet couldn’t make a ball on his first break. He ran this rack and his own, taking a quick 2:0 lead over the German. One could have been surprised how self-confident Skara performed. But Souquet is not a newbie to the game. He stayed extremely calm and tied the match at 2:2. Souquet even took a 3:2 lead over Skara. Then, in the 6th rack, Souquet ran out of position for his second last ball. He tried to masse the ball in but he did not succeed. Skara came to the table and though it looked a bit lost at times, Skara managed to tie the game again. 3:3. That was obviously not to the likings of Souquet. He remained as focussed as one could be and took rack after rack, only admitting one mistake in between which Skara was not able to benefit from. While Souquet got more and more focussed, Skara lost his concentration and seemed to play worse than in the beginning.  With all the experience of “The Kaiser”, it was no big deal for Souquet anymore to take the remaining racks and win the match with 8:3.

Other notable results in the men’s division include  Stephan Cohen (FRA) losing his second match today. This time he had to give in to Milan Klobucnik (SVK) with 7:8 and left the 8-ball competition. He is joined by Huseyin Borankan (TNC) who was gunned down by Luxemburg’s Steve Leisen with 8:1.

In the women’s division, Chantal Manske (GER) ended the 8-ball medal hopes for Ine Helvik (NOR) with 6:1

In the wheelchair competition, Tankred Volkmer (GER)  whitewashed Fred Dinsmore (IRE) with 5:0 and made it to the semi-final.

The 8-ball competition will continue Monday morning at 09:00 CET.

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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office