3-Cushion
CASTALLA - The team of Caseta Nova has won the toughest group in the preliminary rounds of the European Cup. With a super strong Murat Naci Coklu as best man the team from Castalla ended up on first place with two 8-0 victories and a draw in the last match against Snellen Recycling.
The Spanish group showed very attractive billiard with players like Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu, Dion Nelin, Peter Ceulemans, Jean van Erp, Javier Palazón, Ruben Legaspi and Tonny Carlsen. The former European champion Coklu played two superior matches with averages of 2.142 and 3.000.
On the last day a draw was enough for the home team to qualify. Tayfun Tasdemir defeated Peter Ceulemans 2-0, Coklu beat Jean van Erp 2-0, the other matches were won by the players of Snellen Recycling: Barry van Beers defeated Ruben Legazpi, Harrie van de Ven won surprisingly against Javier Palazón.
The other teams in the group wasted their chances in the mutual matches. Snellen had a good start with a 8-0 victory against De Ploeg, but then lost his chance to qualify against BK Grøndal. The Danes however had a bad start with an 8-0 defeat against Caseta Nova.
The Spanish team, with Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu, Ruben Legazpi and Javier Palazón can be seen as one of the main competitors for the European champion Agipi in the finals.