3-Cushion
LORIENT - Sixteen year old Gwendal Maréchal is the new European champion in three cushion for youth under seventeen. The Frenchman defeated Tom Löwe from German in the final of the championship, which was held in Lorient (Bretagne): 25-16 in 19 innings.
The tournament was dominated in the final stage by two young French and one German. Gwendal Maréchal, member from the organizing club in Lorient, triumphed gloriously. Both in the semifinals against another French contender, Damien Lhost, and in the final against Tom Löwe, he showed himself the strongest.
Gwendal Maréchal is a child from Lorient who started playing billiards when he was ten. He can be seen as one of the great talents in global ghree cushion. The French coach Louis Edelin says: ,,Both technically and mentally, Gwendal has developed rapidly in a vert short time.'' That resulted in the leading role in this European championship for his own audience.
The French billiards, which had another finalist with Adrien Tachoire at the European championship under-21 last week, is working towards a great future with Louis Edelin as coach. The French coach has a group of ten players (five under 21, five under 17) that he gathers five times a year in Saint Maur, near Paris, for central trainings.
Gwendal Maréchal, who grows up in a family with one sister, has a private coach at his club with René Altet. The young Frenchman showed his joy after having won the final match. ,,It's really wonderful to become European champion for you own fans.''
Louis Edelin said about the final: ,,Gwendal had an opponent who has also shown to be an excellent player, but he was technically the best. He benefited better from the good positions than Tom Löwe, who missed a couple of easy positions at decisive moments.''
Gwendal Maréchal showed his high class even more in the semifinals against another French contender, Damien Lhost. He won that match 25-14 in 9 innings (2.778/1.556), the best match of the tournament.
Dutchman Michael Vink was the fourth player on stage, thanks to a strong victory in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he was defeated by Tom Löwe 25-15 in 21 innings.
The tournament was played at 2.55 billiards, slightly smaller than the match table.
The ten participants praised after the organization of the Billard Club CEP in Lorient.