Pool
The Team competition of the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 have been decided. The Spanish Men’s Team and the Portuguese Women’s Team took the titles in their respective division.
The Spanish team took a straight way into the final match against the Austrians. After defeating Cyprus with 2:0, they dethroned the defending Champion team Poland with 2:1. Then they booked their seat in the quarter-final with a victory of team Russia. After eliminating team Czech Republic, the Spaniards again met team Poland. Once more, they won 2:1. In the final match, Francisco Diaz-Pizarro was the first one ready when he pocketed the final 10-ball against Albin Ouschan to win his individual with 8:3. The 8-ball match was still on and also pretty close. Alcaide was leading 7:6 over Maximilian Lechner when Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz won pretty clearly with 9:5 in his 9-ball match over Mario He. That brought the second point to team Spain which already was the title for them.
Top 8 Men’s Teams
1. Spain
2. Austria
3. Poland
Russia
5. Czech Republic
Germany
Portugal
Sweden
In the women’s team competition, the current titleholders were able to defend their crown. Team Portugal with Sara Rocha and Vania Franco went undefeated all the way into the final match. They overcame Team Spain 2:0, then Team Italy 2:0. In the semi-final, the had a thriller against Team Russia and managed to win that in the shoot-out with 8:7. In the final match, the Portuguese met team Germany. Sara Rocha was dominating the 9-ball match with Veronica Ivanovskaia and clearly rode the winning wave with 7:2. The 8-ball match between Franco and Tina Vogelmann was a bit closer, but in the end Franco took the match and the title winning 6:3 over the German.
Top 8 Women’s Team
1. Portugal
2. Germany
3. Poland
Russia
5. Italy
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
The situation in the medal table has not changed too much, but the distances are pretty close between the different nations. Poland is still leading the table with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals. The Russian team is up their neck, only having one Bronze Medal less than the Polish. Third ranked nation is Finland with one medal of each colour.
Earlier today, matches of the 9-ball individuals were played. Defending Champion Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) took down Marc Turpel (LUX) and eliminated him with 9:1 from the field. Denis Grabe (EST) paved his way into the round of the last 32 players in 9-ball by outplaying Jani Uski (FIN) 9:8. In the all-Russian class between fedor Gorst and Konstantin Stepanov, Gorst remained on top in the end and won the match with 9:6. „The Kaiser“ Ralf Souquet (GER) had to deal with „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). While Souquet has already taken a silver medal in the 8-ball earlier this week, Feijen was still looking for his medal to come. But Souquet destroyed that dream of Feijen by winning 9:5. With Feijen out of the 9-ball, he will not be able to win a medal in the individuals in this year’s European Championships. Another national clash happened between the two Dutch players Jan Rempe and Marc Bijsterbosch. Young Rempe sneaked past Bijsterbosch by taking the match with 9:8. Joshua Filler (GER) wasted no time with Sergey Lutsker (RUS), winning 9:2 in 25 minutes. French up and rising player Alex Montpellier sealed the destiny for Eklent Kaci (ALB) in the 9-ball individuals by making it with 9:8 over the Albanian. Sam Wetzel (LUX) surprisingly took out newly crowned 10-ball European Champion Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:8. That surprise was as close and as unexpected as the match between Mats Schjetne (NOR) and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). 9:8 was the final result in favour of Schjetne.
The final day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches in the 9-ball individuals competition in the Men’s and Under 23 division.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.