The 2011 Dutch Youth Championships, sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Billiards Federation (KNBB), have produced new champions. Participants were subdivided into the categories Pupils (born in 1995 or younger) and Juniors (born in 1993 until 1994). New talent and pros- to-be displayed their skills in Poolcafé Delfshaven in Rotterdam. Pool billiards enthusiasts attended in great numbers, the participants, their parents, supporters and the press. The 2011 Dutch Youth Championships is sponsored by Longoni Cues and Kamui Tips.
Amongst the Juniors, former European 9-ball youth champion Ivar Saris managed to snatch the first gold medal of the event in the final against Ivo Aarts. Yet, Ivo Aarts proved to be the big winner of this year's Youth Championships, with 3 gold medals and an additional silver medal. Aarts is already a regular at the Euro Tour.
For the Pupils, the Youth Championships turned out to be a hometown celebration with two gold medals for Kaylash Persad and the remaining two for Sahin Sayim, both from Rotterdam and fellow teammates. We will probably hear more from these new talents in the near future.
After four days of hard fought matches on the blue baize, the complete overview of medalists is:
Straight Pool Division, Saturday January 8th
Pupils:
Gold - Kaylash Persad
Silver - Jan van Lierop
Bronze - Lars van Dijk / Guido Janssen
Juniors:
Gold - Ivar Saris
Silver - Ivo Aarts
Bronze - Marc Bijsterbosch / Dylan Dasar
9-ball Division, Sunday January 9th
Pupils:
Gold - Kaylash Persad
Silver - Jan van Lierop
Bronze - Guido Janssen / Jimmy Sy-a-Chin
Juniors:
Gold - Ivo Aarts
Silver - Marc Bijsterbosch
Bronze - Ivar Saris / Patrick Vossen
10-ball Division, Saturday January 15th
Pupils:
Gold - Sahin Sayim
Silver - Jeroen Geelens
Bronze - Jan van Lierop / Jimmy Sy-a-Chin
Juniors:
Gold - Ivo Aarts
Silver - Marc Bijsterbosch
Bronze - Ivar Saris / Jasper van Donk
8-ball Dvision, Sunday January 16th
Pupils:
Gold - Sahin Sayim
Silver - Kaylash Persad
Bronze - Jeroen Gelens / Lars van Dijk
Juniors:
Gold - Ivo Aarts
Silver - Ivar Saris
Bronze - Marc Bijsterbosch / Mike Hoornaar