3-Cushion
ZEVENBERGEN - Will it turn out into a new clash between the two best players so far, Antonio Montes and Berkay Karakurt, at the European junior championship. Can Adrien Tachoire and Wesley van Apers surprise these star players in the semifinals?
The billiards center Amorti in Zevenbergen, where the matches were watched by a full house in the first days of the tournament and Kozoom has broadcast the matches live (and free), is preparing for the showdown in the championship, in which twelve of the sixteen players are sent home and the four semi-finalists are vying for the podium spots.
Spaniard Antonio Montes and Turk Berkay Karakurt showed themselves the best until now: Montes averaged 1.329 in four matches, Karakurt gathered 1.195. The averages are determined mainly by a fantastic start: both players won their first 25 points match in 11 innings.
Adrien Tachoire averaged 0.826 in the preliminary rounds and the quarter finals 0826, Wesley van Apers, who remained unbeaten like Antonio Montes, had the lowest average of the four finalists: 0.681.
Frenchman Adrien Tachoire for sure is a player who can put up a great final shot, as he proved at the French championship with a superb final. Wesley van Apers is the big surprise as the number two in Belgium.
Antonio Montes and Berkay Karakurt are the favorites for the overall victory regarding their matches in the run-up to the final day.
The 20-year-old Spaniard from Sant Adrià de Besòs, close to Barcelona, is following a chemical study at the university, which he hopes to finish next year. He is a member of the club in his village and had some training-sessions in free game by the famous Spanish player Esteve Mata.
Antonio Montes won the championship in his country in the final against Carlos Anguista and played 1.100 average over the entire year (22 games) in the league. ,,I've made made a lot of progress in the past two years'', says Montes, who has Pascual Peña as his mentor.
He didn't follow federation practices at the center in Madrid, where Jose Maria Quetglas was the coach who developed talents like Palazón, Zapata and Martinez). Berkay Karakurt is the youngest from a billiards family, in which Nurettin (the father), Guret ( 24 ), Ömer (22) and Berkay themselves are playing in one team.
,,Ömer is a much better player than I am,'' assures Berkay, but insiders say Berkay has more talent. ,,My brother is my role model'', says Berkay, who is a sports student at the university in Kocali, near to Istanbul. Ömer Karakurt follows the same study, but in Samsung.
They never had a trainer, neither they were trained by the federation in Turkey. ,,We learn playing billiards from our father. I have time to practice in my years of study.''
His biggest contenders on beforehand: Ferreira, Tachoire and Montes. Two of these three are in the semifinals today.
The semifinals this morning at 11.30:
Berkay Karakurt-Adrien Tachoire
Antonio Montes-Wesley van Apers.