The first international tournament organized by European Billiard Council gathered 15 000 people who watched the games in the shopping center - Galeria Echo. It had never happened before! The winners became Katarzyna Wesołowska & Radosław Babica ( Nosan–Galeria Echo Kielce).
In the final of EBC Mixed Cup couple from Kielce/Poland (R.Babica & K.Wesolowska) defeated 7:6 another Polish team (O.Czuprynska & T.Kaplan). This was the final we had wished for, no wonder why it gathered 300 onlookers who instead of doing the shopping decided to watch the game from the beginning till the end. Third place belongs to Russian team - Natasha Sieroshtan & Konstantin Stiepanov who won 7:4 with the Ukrainian couple - A.Koshevoy & V.Nagornaya. Presence of this four couples on the top positions is not any surprise, they were the favourites from the start. First three couples received 15 000 PLN.
" The venue chosen for this event is perfect. This is a wonderful idea to place the pool table in the shopping centers and promote this sport among people. I am surprised how many people watched the competition for hours!" - said the EC silver medalist - N.Sieroshtan.
" Amazing billiard promotion, huge congratulations to the organizers who created wonderful atmosphere. All the players could feel more than welcome in Kielce" - added the President of Bulgarian Billiard Federation - Ivan Kamieniarski. 'It was a very attractive event in unusual place - it is a great start for European Billiard Council. We have spent here great moments, could watch the games on really high level and showed the sport to many people who probably were never engaged in any pool tournament" - concluded the Vice-President of EBC - D.Nevoshenov.
For those who could not cheer for the best players in Kielce - the online streaming was open for free. Statistics indicate that more than 3000 people watched the final game from home. One of them was the President of the Estonian Billard Federation - Juri Talu, who said: " Everything looks very professional. I wish my players played better."
Younger visitors could play with the professionals on the separate pool table, take part in the billiard contests and get to know the rules of the game.
EBC Mixed Cup 2012 gathered 14 mixed couples (woman-man) from 6 countries (Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Russia). The pool table was set in the middle of the shopping center - Galeria Echo in Kielce. The co-organizer of the event was Swietokrzyskie Billiard Association. The main sponsor of the event was Galeria Echo. Media partners were TVP Kielce, TVP Nova, Radio Kielce, Radio Eska and newspapers - Echo Dnia and Gazeta Wyborcza.
The organizing team under the supervision of the President of EBC - Marcin Krzeminski and the President of Polish Billard Association - Grzegorz Kedzierski, who appeared to be the best commentator.
