3-Cushion
BRANDENBURG – Have we ever seen it like this? The Belgian federation sends a first team to the European championships in Brandenburg. The names? Roland Forthomme and Eddy Leppens, the Belgian champion and the runner-up in the championship.
The Belgians may also send a second team to the championship send. The names? Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron! What did say you? The world champions national teams and the world champion individually? Playing under the name Belgium 2?
Suppose you play for Denmark and for Egypt and you have to show up in the preliminary round with Belgium B… And you meet Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron at the table.
But is it so amazing? Not at all, because no country can bathe in luxury as the Belgians do with so many strong players.
The French team with Jérémy Bury and Jérôme Barbeillon defends the title in the battle for country teams in Brandenburg. The won the gold medal last year in their own country.
At the World championships in Viersen, the French couple could not fullfil the reputation. They were already outplayed in the preliminary rounds.
The Germans Martin Horn and Christian Rudolph finished second in the World championship in Viersen behind Belgium and must be able to play one of the main roles.
With Tayfun Tasdemir and Murat Naci Coklu, Turkey has a contender for the title, like the Netherlands A team, with Dick Jaspers and Raimond Burgman.
Torbjörn Blomdahl is missing on the player list, so the Swedes start with Michael Nilsson and Nalle Olsson. Filippos Kasidokostas plays for Greece together with Nikos Polychronopoulos.
The group format:
Group A: Belgium A, Luxembourg and Finland
Group B: Turkey A, Czech Republic and France B
Group C: Spain A, Italy and Germany B
Group D: Denmark, Egypt, Belgium B
Group E: Austria, Greece, Turkey B
Group F: A Germany, Sweden and Spain B
Group G: France A, Switzerland and the Netherlands B
Group H: Netherlands A, Portugal and Czech Republic B.
The tournament starts on Thursday, April 18. The final is on Sunday, April 21 at 13.30.