3-Cushion
BRANDENBURG - The two Spaniards were tipped on beforehand as candidate winners for the junior three cushion championship. The Turk Ömer Karakurt doing another shot at the title. But that the Belgian champion Wesley van Apers (19) would be one of the four semifinalists was the surprise of the prelims.
In the quarter finals he defeated another player who was seen as one of the favorites: Adrie Tachoire, the Frenchman, who won his group with 1.102 average.
The Belgian French clash in the quarterfinal turned out into an exciting final, in which both players had a chance to win the match. Tachoire missed two match points, his opponent eventually won the match with a technically peerfect carom.
Wesley van Apers is the outsider in the semifinal with David Zapata (1.190 in the group), David Martinez (1.250) and Ömer Karakurt (0.882). The Belgian plays at 14.30 (today, Saturday) against Zapata, David Martinez against Ömer Karakurt, the cracker in the semi-finals.
Wesley van Apers is from Putte near Mechelen, he gets lessons from Pol Stroobants and is playing billiards from his sixteenth year in in the cafe of his mother with two small tables.
He won the Belgian title in the final against Andy de Bondt, who was the big favorite.
David Zapata was the best winner in the quarter-finals, in which he defeated the Portuguese José Soares with 30-20 in 28 innings.
David Martinez, the other Spaniard, won 30-8 in 29 innings vs. the Italian Andrea Nardi. Ömer Karakurt needed 29 innings for his victory against the German Dustin Jäschke.