Eylul Kibaroglu from Turkey
Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) and Jouni Tahti of Finland took the gold medals in the women’s and wheelchair divisions respectively at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in Lasko, Slovenia. For the Turkish girl, it was a repeat of her triumph at the ECs in Turkey last year while medal-machine Tahti revenged a defeat by Henrik Larsson as he defeated the Swede for gold.
Kibaroglu had run undefeated through the tournament for her repeat win, defeating a brace of German players to land the title. First, she beat Melanie Sűßenguth 6-3 in the semi-final and then topped Ina Kaplan 6-3 in the championship match.
For Kibaroglu, who has enjoyed the success of her European Championships victory in her home country, it was a major achievement to retain her crown; “I’m so happy that I managed to defend my title from Antalya. There are a lot of great players here and you have to play well throughout the tournament. There are still more opportunities ahead this week and I have plans for the 8 ball and 9 ball.”
Finland’s Jouni Tahti
In the wheelchair division it was pool’s version of El Classico as Jouni Tahti and Henrik Larsson faced off for the gold medal. These two players have absolutely dominated wheelchair pool over the years and at the 2021 European Championships it was Larsson who claimed gold against his perennial rival Tahti. The Finn though, had other plans this year as he comfortably gained revenge via a 5-2 scoreline.
Commented Tahti; “It always seems to be myself and Henrik but there are some great players improving so every match can be tough. I’m going to go for the treble of 10 ball, 8 ball and 9 ball but it’s not going to be easy with the quality of competition here. That said, I’m always delighted to win another European Championship gold medal and I played good enough all competition to achieve that goal.”
WOMEN’S
Final
Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR) 6 – 3 Ina Kaplan (GER)
Semi Finals
Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR) 6 – 3 Melanie Sűßenguth (GER)
Ina Kaplan (GER) 6 – 1 Sara Rocha (POR)
WHEELCHAIR
Final
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 5 – 2 Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Semi Finals
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 5 – 3 Fred Dinsmore (IRE)
Henrik Larsson (SWE) 5 – 2 David Beaumont (GBR)
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at
www.epbf.com/tournaments/europ
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