The picture seems to be quite familiar. 24 tables are set up in the tennis hall of the Alpina Sports & Wellness Hotel in Alpendorf, St. Johann Pg., Austria. The venue has seen many European Championship and Euro-Tour events so far. Today, the opening ceremony of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair athletes has taken place in this very venue. Among others, the major of St. Johann Pg., Mr. Guenther Mitterer, the owner of the venue, Mr. Erwin Schwarz and hundreds of players, coaches, referees and officials witnessed the vice-president of the EPBF, Mr. David Morris, opening the event and inviting the guests to a VIP party in the "Eule" disco apres ski bar. The fun will end tonight and serious pool action will start early next morning.
From tomorrow on, 195 players from 33 European countries will play for the coveted title of the European Champion in the disciplines straight pool, 10-ball, 8-ball, 9-ball and teams. The Championships last from April 2nd through to April 12th when they will finish with the finals of the 9-ball discipline. The Austrian TV station ORF will come and has planned some LIVE coverage from the final day.
Already today, many pool players from all over Europe have come pouring in into the Alpendorf and cue cases and focussed sportsmen and -women could be seen among the last rest of the ski tourists. The Alpendorf is a very famous ski resort. The season however is coming to an end now. Interested faces from skiers and snowboarders caught a glimpse of the first pool athletes who practiced today in the venue in order to get in shape for tomorrow.
Upon conclusion of the Dynamic Billard European Championships, there will follow two tournaments right after. First, the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open will be played and then the Ballazzo Austrian Women’s Euro-Tour, starting on April 14th and finishing on April 16th just like the Open event. This means that St. Johann im Pongau will be the center for European high class pool action for the upcoming two weeks.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships will begin tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with first round matches in the straight pool discipline, men and women division.
The Championships will be played on 24 tables which will all be streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
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.epconline.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.