Carom
CORFU - Fourteen teams gathered on the beautiful island of Corfu in Greece, to take part to an international invitational team tournament. The hosts, Spyros Stratigos (owner of Cue Club Billiards cafe bar) and Korkyra Billiard Club, welcomed six foreign and eight Greek teams, who played at 4 Gabriels tables with Royal Pro billiard cloth, installed by Pavlos Billiards. The winner was the Austrian team with Arnim Kahofer.
The Turkish team had a line-up with Adnan Yuksel, Murat Tüzül, Ahmet Bayatli and Manoly Minaoglou. The Austrian team Pottendorf with Johan Schirmbrand, Jimmy Scivacz, Alfred Nebuda and Alexander Weiss. A second Austrian WBA team, with Arnim Kahofer, Karl Makik, Claus Maurer and Herbert Thuer. A team from Egypte with Sameh Sidhom, Magued Elias, Riad Nady, Khaled Salem and Ragay Henri. A Danish team, with Poul Bjerring, Claus Mosscow and Poul Gregersen. Michael Nilsen had to cancel. And the 6th team, two Dutch guys, Jerry Hermans and Mark Homering filled a mixed team with two Greeks.
It was a perfect combination of games and holidays, because all players came 3 days before the tournament. S, very good games took part during the training days with high runs of 15 and 17 and averages of 30 points in 8 innings. The players also had the chance to enjoy Mediterranean food, the most healthy nutrition, traditional dishes of the island and of course Greeks famous wines, ouzo and tsipuro.
Person of the night, at the welcome party, was Arnim Kahofer, when after the Syrtaki and Zorba dances, he showed everybody his skills in belly dance.
The two finalists, were Turkey and Austria WBA, in which team Herbert Thuer (the Austrians federation president) should make the exact point needed to give WBA the first place.
One thing which has to be mentioned, is that the whole tournament took part without referees, even in the final, proving it was a tournament between gentlemen and good friends.