At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal, the gold medals in 10-ball have been awarded. Kurt Deklerck (BEL), Amalia Matas (ESP) and Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) have taken the titles in their respective division.
It is the first European Champion title for the 23-year-old Bijsterbosch. After having eliminated his teammate and favoured player Niels Feijen (NED) 10:8 in the quarterfinal match, Bijsterbosch took on Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) in the semi-final. He stood tall and took the victory with 10:6 which brought him into the final match. His opponent there was Christian Sparrenlowv-Fischer (SWE), another underdog that was not expected in the final match at all. Fischer eliminated Gabor Solymosi (HUN) clearly with 10:3 in the quarterfinal and Denis Grabe (EST) in a heartbreaking semi-final with 10:9. The final match was on between two newbies. In the beginning, both players were very concentrated and played equally strong. The scoreboard proved that none of the two was able to gain clear advantage over the other player. Bijsterbosch was leading 6:5 after 11 racks. But then he seemed to get momentum. His game worked, the table always unfolded very friendly for him and he used his chances ice-cold whereas Fischer seemed to struggle. This little proof of weakness was enough for the Dutch to run away from Fischer and finally take the match with 10:6 in the end to win his first gold medal on European level in the men’s division. However, the silver medal is also a ver high achievement for Sparrenloev-Fischer.
Top Eight Men:
1. Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
2. Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE)
3. Denis Grabe (EST)
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)
5. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)
Gabor Solymosi (HUN)
Ivar Saris (NED)
Niels Feijen (NED)
In the women’s division, Amalia Matas was also another newbie to a final match in the European Championships. On her way into the final match, she defeated strong Kristina Tkach (RUS) 7:6, then Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in the semi-final with 7:2 and took her spot in the final match. He opponent there was Ana Gradisnik (SLO) who remained victorious over Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) 7:4 and Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) 7:4. Gradisnik also had her first appearance in a final match of the European Championship in the women’s division. She collected three silver medals in the girls division back then. So the match was as open as in the men’s division. No favourite player, no underdog… all square in the beginning. But unlike in the men’s division, the women’s final was a very one-sided affair. Matas started really strong and continued to play on that level for the duration of the whole final match. She only allowed Gradisnik to snatch one single rack off her, winning the match and the title with 7:1 over a frustrated Gradisnik.
Top Eight Women:
1. Amalia Matas (ESP)
2. Ana Gradisnik (SLO)
3. Oliwia Czuprynska (POL)
Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR)
5. Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR)
Natalia Seroshtan (RUS)
Tina Vogelmann (GER)
Kristina Tkach (RUS)
In the wheelchair division, the final match was also not packed with regulars. Kurt Deklerck (BEL) encountered Roy Kimberley (GBR). The match looked for a long time as a clear affair in favour of Kimberley. After 5 racks, the score was 4:1 in favour of the Brit. But then the tide turned in the match. Deklerck got stronger and the match was on again. After 10 racks, the match was all levelled at 5:5 so the deciding 11th rack had to be played. There, Deklerck had the match ball in his hands but missed it by a small margin. He left a long shot for Kimberley who in turn also missed this shot. Probably the pressure was too high for him at this moment. He left an easy shot into the side pocket for Deklerck who pocketed the winning 10-ball and took the title in the wheelchair division.
Top Eight Wheelchair Athletes:
1. Kurt Deklerck (BEL)
2. Roy Kimberley (GBR)
3. Jouni Tahti (FIN)
Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
5. Tony Southern (GBR)
Manfred Gattinger (GER)
7. Daniel Luton (GBR)
David Himpe (BEL)
Medal table after 2 of 5 events:
Earlier today, 110 Men, 43 women and 14 wheelchair players have started the 8-ball competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. The defending Champion Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) had a very tough draw in his first match with Nick Van Den Berg (NED). The Dutch had already bested Daniel Kandi (DEN) in his first round match and encountered the defending Champion in winner’s round one. Having enough titles underneath his belt, too, the writing was on the wall that this match would become a thriller. Both players kept the promise. Patsura was getting a 3:1 advantage after van den Berg committed an easy mistake in rack 2. But the Dutch struck back and evened the match after six racks to 3:3. A shot-clock was assigned to the match after 7 racks since especially Patsura took very long for each shot. With the shot-clock, the match carried on a bit quicker and both players made an equal number of mistakes. The biggest mistake which in the end might have costed him the match van den Berg committed when the score was 6:6. Having two striped balls left on the table, van den Berg missed a very easy pot in the corner pocket in order to get ahead with 7:6. Instead, Patsura got his chance and benefited from it, getting the lead again. With 14 racks being played, the scoreboard displayed a hill-hill situation at 7:7. Van den Berg broke but no ball went in any pocket. Patsura got to the table and finished a complicated layout under high pressure to defeat van den Berg 8:7 and advance to the round of the last 64 players single elimination. Other remarkable results from the men’s 8-ball individuals today include Denis Grabe (EST) defeat Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 8:4. Mieszko Fortunski (POL) just made it over Andreas Madsen (DEN) by a hair’s breadth with 8:7. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) clearly destroyed Maksim Dudanets (RUS) 8:2.
In the women’s 8-ball individuals, Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) came up with a huge upset and wiped the floor with defending Champion Kristina Tkach (RUS) 6:1 in winner’s round 1. After a tough struggle, Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) remained the upper hand over Amalia Matas (ESP) 6:5.
In the wheelchair 8-ball division, Jouni Tahti (FIN) managed to overpower Fred Dinsmore (IRL) 5:4 in the first round match. That will encounter Tony Southern (GBR) in winner’s round 1.
Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with loser’S round 1 matches from the 8-ball individuals competition.
Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.
The event will be hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
