The 10-Ball titles at the 2014 Dynamic Billard European Championships have been awarded. In the women’s division, Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) took the title over Ina Kaplan (GER). Fred Dinsmore (IRE) took the title in the wheelchair division over Roy Kimberley (GBR). In the men’s division, David Alcaide (ESP) collected the title with a victory over Ivo Aarts (NED) in the final match.
After she had already taken the bronze medal in the straight pool two days ago, Katarzyna Wesolowska was on a mission. The defending Champion, her teammate Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) lost her quarter-final match against Kristina Zlateva (BUL) with 2:6. That’s when she knew she had to stay in the competition to hold her home nation’s flag high. And she did that with style. Her way into the final match led her over Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) with 6:4, Vania Franco (POR) with 6:1, Silvia Gaudino (ITA) 6:2. Then she had to face a strong opponent in Line Kjoersvik (NOR). However, she did not allow Kjoersvik to get into gear at all. 6:1 was the final result in Wesolowska’s favor. In the semi-final, she dealt with Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) 6:4. That brought her into the final match against Ina Kaplan. The German started her day with a 6:4 victory over favored Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) which gave her a lot of wind underneath her sails. She continued with a hill-hill arch against her teammate Kristina Schagan (GER). Schagan had beaten her in the preliminary rounds so she was up for some revenge. And she took it. 6:5 was the result in favor of Kaplan. After that, she made short work of Louise Furberg (SWE) and defeated her 6:1 in the semi-final. The final match was a „one-woman-show“ most of the time. Wesolowska took a 3:1 and 4:2 lead over Kaplan and the German could not find any way to stop the Polish from collecting rack after rack. With two more racks, Wesolowska won the match 6:4 and the Championship title.
In the wheelchair division, defending Champion Kurt Deklerck (BEL) was dethroned in the quarter-finals with a 4:6 defeat against Tony Southern (GBR). The British went on against his teammate Roy Kimberley (GBR) in the semi-final match which was taken by a hair’s breadth with 6:5 by Kimberly. In the lower part of the draw, Fred Dinsmore dealt with Henrik Larsson (SWE) 6:5 and Aslam Abubaker (GBR) 6:4. The final match provided no challenge for Dinsmore. He ruled at all times and won deserved with 6:0.
David Alcaide’s first step to glory was his match with Daryl Peach (GBR) in the round of the final 32 men. Peach had earlier defeated defending Champion Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) and is known to be a fierce opponent. However, Alcaide was better and won this match with 8:3. He then took the victory over Artem Koshovyi (UKR) 8:5. His counterpart in the quarter-final was none other than Nick Van Den Berg (NED). Alcaide managed to get the better of the Dutch and won with 8:6 to meet Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) in the semi-final. There, he was quite „lucky“ according to his own estimation and he won again 8:6.
The other finalist, Ivo Aarts, also had a tough draw today. He defeated Roger Rasmussen (NOR) 8:6 to meet his teammate, „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). Today, Aarts was the better player and rightfully went one step ahead into the semi-final, defeating Feijen with 8:4. In the semis, Aarts took care of Petri Makkonen (FIN) with a clear 8:3 result. The final match between Alcaide and Aarts was a bit a clash of the generations. Alcaide representing the more experienced generation and Aarts being a part of the „young orange“ team provided a great show in the final. However, Alcaide had the better run of the balls and took the Championship with an 8:4 victory over Aarts.
