3-Cushion
BAD WILDUNGEN – Greece born Christos Christodoulidis, living in Münich, is the new champion of Germany in three cushion. In the final battle of the tournament, which was held in Bad Wildungen, the surprising finalist defeated another outsider, Johann Schirmbrand, 40-32 in 30 innings.
That was by far the biggest success in the career of Christodoulidis, who outplayed the two top favorites: Martin Horn in the semifinals Christoph Rudolph earlier in the group stage.
Christodoulidis is not a stranger in German billiards. He plays in the second league in a team with Marco Zanetti , Norbert Ohagen, Wolfgang Zenkner and Kai Siepman on the player list.
Johann Schirmbrand, the second on the stage, struggled on Sunday in the semi-final, a tough match against Mark Schönhoff, that took 52 innings for a 40-30 score.
Schönhoff had previously beaten Ronny Lindemann, but had no chance in the semifinals. Martin Horn, on the world ranking the best German player, who seemed to be ready to regain his German title, was beaten by surprise in his match against the later champion.
The organization of the German championships, like the European championships in Brandenburg and the Belgian championship in Blankenberge held on one location, was seen as a great success.