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Van Helmond Had Early Christmas This Year

Gijs van Helmond (NED)

9-ball on the way in Sarajevo


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: In a match with many presents distributed, Gijs Van Helmond (NED) had the better end with a 9:4 victory over Roger Lysholm (NOR).


This morning, the 9-ball individuals have started in Sarajevo at the Dynamic Billard EPBF European Championships for Seniors and Ladies. One first round match was the encounter between Gijs van Helmond and Roger Lysholm. It must have been like Christmas came early this year for van Helmond. His opponent missed several important shots that made van Helmond stronger even though he had a difficult start himself, missing many shots. But Lysholm missed more crucial ones. It started in rack one, when Lysholm already missed the 9-ball. That was not a positive signal for Lysholm who usually performs on a pretty high level. This ran like a continuous thread through the complete match. Van Helmond got stronger and played decent pool. Whenever it looked like Lysholm would get going, he missed another 7-, 8- or 9-ball and presented a gift to van Helmond. Though Lysholm struggled, he could not find his rhythm. He managed to keep the match open for eight racks to a score of 4:4. Then, his mistakes increased and he was sentenced to watch van Helmond pulling point after point from him. In the end, the 9:4 victory for van Helmond was the logic consequence of both player's performances.

 

Other notable results from this morning include Tom Storm (SWE) whitewashing Mika Maata (FIN) 9:0. Giorgio Margola (ITA) fell to the sharp blade of Henrique Correia (POR) with 3:9. Rudi Zick (GER) who celebrates his birthday today, also received some presents from his opponent Sascha Manojlovic (SUI) and managed to take his first round match with 9:8.


9-ball will be played until 13:00 CET today. Then, the tournament switches back into the 8-ball mode to find out who will claim the titles in this discipline. The final matches in 8-ball will begin tonight at 20:00 CET.


The tournament will be streamed LIVE at all days on up to 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/


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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.

Hard Work for Sweden’s Karlsson

Kent Karlsson (SWE)

Wheelchair player Deklerck in the single elimination stage of seniors 8-ball individuals


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: In an exciting encounter, Kent Karlsson (SWE) defeated Michael Stark (AUT) 7:5.


Kent Karlsson has collected eight European Championship medals already; including the Gold Medal in Straight pool in 2002. His expectations were definitely high when he came to Sarajevo – but he could not yet live up to them. This year's Dynamic Billard European Championships for seniors and ladies here in Radon Plaza Hotel, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina, have not made it to his record book yet. In 8-ball, he lost his first round match by a hair's breadth with 6:7 to Paulo Costa (POR). Still having one foot in the door, he crept through the loser's side, meeting Austria's Michael Stark in the 2nd loser's round. Stark has already hit the headlines here when he ousted #1 seeded player Gijs Van Helmond (NED) from the straight pool chart. Karlsson was warned that this match would not be a walk in the park for him. However, it started off as one. After one hour, six racks of 8-ball were played and the scoreboard showed a clear lead of 5:1 for Karlsson. But Stark was far from giving in. He got back in the match and struck back. After eleven racks, the score was only 6:5 for Karlsson and he could feel his opponent's hot breath up his neck. Stark was only behind one more rack and suddenly the pressure was on Karlsson. What used to be smooth sailing became hard work. Karlsson used all of his experience and focus and wrestled Stark down in the 12th rack, winning the match with 7:5. Karlsson will now have to deal with Angelo Salzano (ITA) while Stark has to settle for 49th rank in the 8-ball senior's individual.


Other notable results from the 8-ball rounds include wheelchair player Kurt Deklerck (BEL) booking his spot in the single elimination round of the final 32 players with a 7:6 victory over Alex Habo (HUN). Roger Lysholm (NOR) smashed David Plattner (SUI) 7:4 while Tom Storm (SWE) needed 13 racks to win 7:6 against Giorgio Margola (ITA). Lysholm and Storm will join Deklerck in the single elimination stage while Plattner and Margola need another victory on the loser's side to join them.


The tournament will be streamed LIVE at all days on up to 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/


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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.

Storm Blows Schwab Away

Tom Storm (SWE)

One-man-show again from Swedish legend


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: It looks as if no-one is able to stop Tom Storm (SWE) at the Dynamic Billard EPBF European Championships for Seniors and Ladies.


His latest victim was Martin Schwab (GER). In 25 (!) minutes, Storm eliminated Schwab with 75:3 in three innings. Storm plays so dominant that his opponents do not seem to have any remedy against him. When asked after the match about his good shape he replied: "Actually, I stopped playing three years ago. I started playing again earlier this year. It's like riding a bicycle, you know. You learn it once and never forget how to do it". He is obviously one of Europe's most talented and gifted players. Other players need a lot of practice and are still not able to come up with anything like Storm's performance. It will be very interesting to see whether he will be able to continue on this extremely high level.


Other notable results from the round of the last 16 players include Marko Hartikainen (FIN) ending Giorgio Margola's (ITA) hopes for a medal in straight pool with 75:12. Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) won against Henrique Correia (POR) with 75:49. Gijs Van Helmond's (NED) straight pool experience was terminated by Manuel Pereira (POR) with 75:37.


The quarter-finals brought the following matches and results

:

QUARTER-FINALS

Martin Schwab (GER) 5 Tom Storm (SWE) 75
Kim Uytenbogaardt (NED) 75 Marko Hartikainen (FIN) 22
Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) 75 Roger Lysholm

22

Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) 52 Manuel Pereira (POR) 75

 

This leaves us with Tom Storm playing Kim Uytenbogaardt and Reiner Wirbsbitzski playing Manuel Pereira on Monday. The semi-finals will be played Monday at 18:00 CET with the final match to follow right after them.
The tournament will be streamed LIVE on up to 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/


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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.

 

Eurotour Austrian Open – Ortmann wins over Wolff

Oliver Ortmann (GER)

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.