Five groups for European team cup

LAUSANNE – CEB-sportsdirector Jean Pierre Guiraud from France has done the draw for the European preliminary rounds for teams, the Coupe d’Europe. He divided 22 teams into five groups during the Lausanne Billard Masters. The European champion Agipi gets its ticket automatically.

The preliminary rounds will be played on 27 and 28 April, the final is in the home arena of Agipi in Schiltigheim from 6 to 9 June.

The five groups are assigned to De Ploeg in Halle (Belgium), Van de Broek/Hanbat in Amsterdam (Netherlands), Laxou (France), BCC Witten (Germany) and FC Porto (Portugal).

The Turkish team of Bahcelievler, that did not manage to qualify for the final round last year, may be considered as one of the main challengers for Agipi. For this team will perform Tayfun Tasdemir, Lütfi Cenet, Murat Naci Coklu and Adnan Yüksel.

The top team is divided in the group in Porto and will meet FC Porto as a very strong competitor with Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez on the main positions.

Filippos Kasidokostas will play for BC Andernos with Roland Forthomme, Peter De Backer, Jérôme Barbeillon and Francis Connesson.

The CEB sportsdirector has refused the inscriptions of Jef Philipoom and Martin Horn for De Ploeg in Halle. Philipoom has also signed up for the Portuguese Leca, along with Eddy Merckx.

Martin Horn is on the list of players for Laxou with Torbjörn Blomdahl and Pierre Soumagne.
For BC Witten, that plays a home match, will play amongst others Lindemann, Galla and Haack-Sorensen. Another German team, Velbert, has a line-up with Habraken and Grossjung.

The Austrian BSK Union has two big name players: Andreas Efler and Andreas Kronlachner. Arnim Kahofer performs for WBA Wien.

The Dutch players Frans van Kuyk and Gerwin Valentijn are the captains in the team of Biljart Express. SBS Stockholm plays with Dion Nelin and Michael Nilsson, Gröndal with Brian Zola Hansen, Tonny Carlsen and Michael Lohse.

The Spanish Coral Colon is a candidate for qualification with Jose Maria Mas, Carlos Crespo and Raul Hernandez.

The second Turkish team, Etasys, comes to the table with the Turkish champion Ahmet Alp and Savas Bulut.

The group schedules are:

Group A (Halle): BC De Ploeg, Palermo, Odense and FC Leca.

Group B (Amsterdam): Van de Broek/Hanbat, BC Andernos, Velbert, Modica, WBA Wien.

Group C (Laxou): AS Laxou, BCZ Zurich, BSK Wien, Eskishehir.

Group D (Witten): BCC Witten, Stockholm, ALB Lausanne, Coral Colon, Biljart Express.

Group E (Porto): FC Porto, BK Gröndal, Cafemax Gandia, Istanbul.