Pool
The final titles have been awarded at the 2017 Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. In the 9-ball individuals, Ine Helvik (NOR) took the title in the ladies division while Henrique Correia (POR) snatched the trophy in the seniors division. The team competition was won by Team Germany in the ladies and Team Norway in the seniors division.
The final match in the seniors division took place between Henrique Correia and Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER). Correia had the better start but then committed several easy mistakes during the match. Wirsbitzki was a always able to give him good competition but somehow Correia always seemed to be one step ahead of Wirsbitzki. After 10 racks, the score was all square at 5:5. Then Correia managed to win three racks in a row and got to 8:5. The pressure was too much for Wirsbitzki. He pulled one rack back from Correia but then the Portuguese executed almost a perfect break shot and ran the rack he needed to win the match and the title 8:6 over the German.
Top Eight Players Seniors 9-ball
1. Henrique Correia (POR)
2. Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER)
3. Alex Lely (NED)
Marc Glatz (LUX)
5. Jesper Schmidt (DEN)
Johan Svanberg (SWE)
Jesse Thehu (NED)
Danilo Cipriani (ITA)
In the ladies division, Ine Helvik dealt with Susanne Wessel (GER). Helvik played much more confident than her opponent and took a comfortable 5:2 lead after 7 racks into the match. Wessel won another one but Helvik was simply too strong for her today. 6:3 was the final result for Helvik who took her second title this week.
Top Eight Players Ladies 9-ball
1. Ine Helvik (NOR)
2. Susanne Wessel (GER)
3. Stella Julien (FRA)
Tuuliina Panula (FIN)
5. Anja Hehre (GER)
Nathalie Rohmer (FRA)
Karin Michl (GER)
Patrizia Ignesti (ITA)
The team final between Norway and The Netherlands turned out to become a thriller. Christian Johannesen won the 10-ball over Jim Telfer and brought team Norway 1:0 up. Then, Jesse Thehu equalised that by winning the 8-ball with 7:4 over Ronnie Oldervik. The score was 1:1 in the team match and the 9-ball ad to decide. Vegar Kristiansen was up against Mozes Leeflang. Though Kristiansen took a 6:2 lead over Leeflang, the Dutch proved to have nerves of steel and fought back rack after rack. He even managed to tie the match on the hill at 7:7. The final rack was really even with both players having some luck and playing safety shots back and forth. In the end, Kristiansen was the luckier player and finished the match 8:7 in his favour which brought the Gold Medal to Team Norway.
Top Eight Teams Seniors
1. Norway
2. The Netherlands
3. Germany
Finland
5. Portugal
Switzerland
7. Austria
North Cyprus
The final match in the ladies team division between Team Germany and Team France was a clear affair for the Germans. Susanne Wessel wiped the floor with Nathalie Rohmer 5:0 and handed her a whitewash. Karin Michl took down Stella Julien about as clearly with 5:2. The match was deservedly won by the German ladies.
Top Four Teams Ladies
1. Germany
2. France
3. Italy
Portugal
Final medal table:
This concludes the coverage from the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. The next event will be the U23 European Championships which will begin on Wednesday, August 23.
The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.