Carom
BRANDENBURG - Two young French talents in three cushion, are playing for the France B team at the European championship for nation teams. Pierre Soumagne and Cédric Melnytschenko are supposed to follow the footsteps of Jérémy Bury, but for the time being, they are not even close to the champion of their country.
Pierre Soumagne, an very likeable appearance in the field of three cushion players, has been running around for the whole week in the Stahlplatz in Brandenburg, drinking some beers, enjoying himself with other players. On the billiard table it’s is a different story.
The French player made a bad start yesterday in the tournament: a loss against the Czech Jan Hudak 30-27 in 32 innings. And because Cédric Melnytschenko was beaten by Radovan Hajek, in the same innings, the French team actually could pack the suitcase to leave.
The Turkish A-team is the third opponent in the group en now competes with the Czech Republic for the group win, because France played a draw in its second match against Turkey and missed qualification.
Pierre Soumagne lost again: 20-14 in 21 against Tayfun Tasdemir, so again a dramatic average for the French all round player. Cédric Melnytschenko saved the honor for his country in a strong performance against Murat Naci Coklu: 30-8 in 11 innings (2.727).
The Belgians booked a win and a draw with their teams on the first day. The A-Team (Forthomme, the champion and number two Leppens Eddy) were not in trouble against Finland, that had already lost the first game against Luxembourg. Both Forthomme and Leppens needed 27 innings for their thirty points.
Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron, the world champions who play for Belgium B, had a slow start against Egypt. Eddy Merckx won his match against Sameh Sidhom (30-24 in 18), Frédéric Caudron, the European champion one cushion, was surprised by Riad Nady, who beat the Belgian 30-27 in 24 innings.
The most exciting match in the opening round was the battle between Greece and Turkey B. Filippos Kasidokostas and Lütfi Cenet, who played a grudge match in the Hurghada World Cup, met again. And again Cenet was the best: 30-20 in 18 innings.
Nikos Polychronopoulos kept the Greek team in the race by a superior win against Ahmet Alp. The Greek rocket dashed off in thirteen innings to the finish (30-9, 2307).
The Spanish B team had a stunning start against Sweden. Javier Palazón won in 13 innings against Michael Nilsson (30-13, 2.307), Jose Maria Mas even in eleven innings against Nalle Olsson (2.727).
For the Netherlands B, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Barry van Beers both won their first match against Switzerland. The French A team is the third opponent in the group.