Manuel Silva
THE 2024 DYNAMIC BILLARD European Seniors Championships concluded this evening with the final division of 9-ball, and there were two gold medals for Portugal in the men’s divisions while Turkey took the top spot in the ladies.
All the action took place at the Xanadu Resort Hotel, Belek, and in the 45+ category, a superb Manuel Silva took his second gold medal to add to his 8-ball victory and 10-ball silver. His compatriot Manuel Pereira also bagged his second gold in the older category. Those wins put their nation firmly at the top of the medal table.
Hosts Turkey claimed their first and only gold of the championships as Sinem Kokten, roared home by some enthusiastic support, won comfortably in the ladies’ division.
In the featured 45-plus final, Silva faced off against home hope Ferdi Ozdemir, and got the race-to-8 match underway as he slid the 1-ball into the side pocket. The 2 was blocked out and the two players exchange safeties. A table-length bank from Ozdemir came up short and left the 2-ball on for Silva who took full advantage to open his account.
A nice break from the Turk gave him a chance but a missed 4/6 combination, with an open table, put Silva back in, but he couldn’t progress the rack. He more than made up for it with a top-class long pot on the 5-ball to set up a run out for 2-0.
A good break from Silva failed on the 3-point rule, to present a good opportunity to Ozdemir who really needed to make an impression. He settled his nerves with a tidy clearance. However, following a dry break, Silva ran the table for a 3-1 lead.
Following some safety, Silva fouled, hitting the 4-ball first and Ozdemir composed himself and cleared to get one back. There was an unfortunate dry break by Ozdemir, leaving a road map for his opponent, who duly obliged to restore his two-rack lead. A break-and-run from Silva put him squarely in the driver’s seat, leading 5-2.
The eighth rack became a little scrappy, but it was Ozdemir who got it over the line to stay in the match. Silva came up dry in the next but a week safety from Ozdemir opened a small window of opportunity for the Portuguese. Neither could make much of the layout before Ozdemir’s cue ball left the table, attempting a jump shot, and with ball-in-hand, Silva cleared the table for a 6-3 lead.
Another push out from Ozdemir heralded some safety play before Silva pounced on an opening on the 1-ball. From there he did well to run out and put himself on the hill at 7-3.
A miss on a tricky 2-ball got Ozdemir to the table but he had it all to do. A containing safety wasn’t enough as Silva then tied the white up behind the 9. A jumped escape from Ozdemir left the 2-ball available which Silva pocketed but with a difficult position on the red 3, he laid another snooker. Ozdemir’s escape left it on and from there, Silva took the remaining balls for his second gold medal of the championships.
Manuel said, “I played good, the breaks were working and I was confident. I began a little bit nervous in the first matches and then I got better. Hopefully I’ll be good enough to come back next year.”
Medals – 45-Plus 9-Ball
Gold – Miguel Silva (POR)
Silver – Ferdi Ozdemir (TUR)
Bronze – Jorge Tinoco (ITA)
Aki Heiskanen (FIN)
Manuel Pereira
There was more gold for Portugal’s Manuel Pereira as he defeated countryman Henrique Correia by 8-5. It was the same result as the earlier 10-ball final and the Portuguese player’s fourth seniors individual title. It was a great overall effort from the pair as between them, they carried off four gold and two silver medals.
It looked to be heading for an easy win for Pereira as he led 6-1 in the race-to-8 match. Correia showed some tremendous fighting spirit though as he mounted a comeback, getting to 6-3 and then 7-5, before Pereira closed the match out.
Commented Manuel, “I’d like to thank the organisation for putting on such a great event. It’s a great joy to win so much this year and hopefully, next year will be the same. It was mine and Henrique’s obligation to dominate these championships and we did it!”
Medals – 55-Plus 9-Ball
Gold – Manuel Pereira (POR)
Silver – Henrique Correia (POR)
Bronze – Miroslav Kremenovic (SRB)
Antti Rantanen (FIN)
Sinem Kokten
Sinem Kokten saved the best till last to secure Turkey’s only gold of the event as she defeated Germany’s experienced Christine Steinlage by 6-2. It was Kokten’s first medal of any description and her joy at victory was echoed by the supportive crowd. Her win consisted of three burst of two racks as she held off her opponent throughout.
Commented Sinem, “This is good for me and I’m so proud that I won in my country. A gold medal, it’s fantastic and I can’t believe it! I didn’t play in the first two tournaments so I could focus more on the 9-ball. This is like a dream for me; it’s the first time and hopefully the beginning.”
Medals – Ladies 9-Ball
Gold – Sinem Kokten (TUR)
Silver – Christine Steinlage (GER)
Bronze – Stella Julien (FRA)
Riikka Vayrynen (FIN)
Reruns of all the days of the Dynamic Billard European Seniors Championships are available to watch on YouTube. In addition, other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.
Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@KozoomTV/streams
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theepbf/streams
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all-cue-sports
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
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