Konrad Juszczyszyn, Sebastian Batkowski, Daniel Maciol, Wojciech Szewczyk and Mateusz Sniegocki
Saturday, the penultimate day of the 2023 Dynamic Billard European Championships, saw the two team medals decided in what is often one of the more dramatic of the multiple events taking place at the championships. In the men’s event it was an always strong Polish team facing off against Norway who may not have been many people’s tip for a medal but nonetheless had done the business throughout the tournament.
In fact, Norway may have had the mental advantage coming into the match, having sent Poland to the one-loss side earlier in the tournament. Norway got things underway as they took the opening racks in all three matches. In the 10 ball, Emil-Andre Gangflot, who had won the 10 ball gold in the Under 23 division earlier in the week, took a 2-0 lead over Wojciech Szewczyk, while Mikael Oegaard was similarly placed in the 9 ball against Daniel Maciol. Mats Schnetje was also two to the good against Mateusz Sniegocki in the 8 ball game.
Facing a 3-0 deficit, Daniel Maciol potted his way back to 3-3 against Oegaard, while in the other two matches, an inform Gangflot led Szewczyk 3-1 and in the 8 ball, Sniegocki and Schjetne were tied up at 3-3. At the half-way stage, things had shifted back into Poland’s favour as they lead in two – 7-4 and 4-3 and trailed 5-4 in the other.
Daniel Maciol was the first player over the line as he overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat Mikael Oegaard 9-4 to take the 9 ball tie and now he just needed one of his team mates to win to claim the gold medal. With Schjetne leading Sniegocki 7-6 in a race to 8, and Szewczyk 5-4 ahead against Gangflot, it was still very much open to both possible outcomes.
Sniegocki though, got the match to hill-hill and with the break in his favour had the golden opportunity to get Poland across the winning line. With years of experience to draw on, he made sure of it to seal the Mens Team gold medal for Poland.
For Wojciech Szewczyk it was a first ever European Championship gold medal. “Of course, I’m delighted. It’s my first European Championship gold and teams are always special because you can share your happiness with your team mates”
In addition to the three players competing in the final, the team also included Sebastian Batkowski and Konrad Juszczyszyn, who had competed in earlier rounds of the competition.
Batkowski added, “We’ll be celebrating tonight, that’s for sure. For three years in a row, we’ve had medals in the team division. First time it was bronze, then silver and now gold. So that is fantastic.”
Medals – Men
Gold – Poland – Mateusz Sniegocki, Wojciech Szewczyk, Daniel Maciol, Konrad Juszczyszyn, Sebastian Batkowski
Silver – Norway – Mats Schjetne, Emil-Andre Gangflot, Mikael Oegaard
Bronze – Netherlands – Nick van den Berg, Jan van Lierop, Marc Bijsterbosch, Yannick Pongers, Tim De Ruyter
Spain – Francisco Diaz-Pizarro, Jonas Souto, Jose Alberto Delgado, Iker Andoni Echeverria
Oliwia Zalewska and Monika Zabek
Poland’s women made it a day to remember as they defeated Ukraine, winning both matches, to join their male counterparts on the top of the podium. Heading into the match, the Poles were definite favourites but they still had to get the job done but it was by no means a walk in the park.
The ladies, play to a different format with just two games followed by a scotch doubles shoot-out if the two matches are shared. Ukraine and Poland were level in the early stages, Oliwia Zalewska led Darya Siranchuk 2-1 in the 8 ball, while Liubov Zhygailova was 2-1 ahead against Monika Zabek in the 9 ball.
The gold medal was still anyone’s as the two matches approached the half-way stage; the 9 ball match was tied up at 3-3 while Ukraine held a slender lead at 4-3 in the 8 ball. However, the momentum shifted Poland’s way in the latter stages as Zalewska came back and reached the hill in the 8 ball, 5-4 up against Siranchuk. Meanwhile, Zabek got herself back into the game and at 5-3, was two racks away from a victory against Zhygailova.
It was Oliwia Zalewska who got the first point as she held herself together for a 6-4 victory and she would have to nervously watch on to see if Zabek could close out the other game for the gold medal. Zabek took the tenth rack to leave Poland one away from victory. With three balls left, Zabek felt the pressure as she missed a tricky 5 ball which ultimately lead to losing the rack, giving Ukraine a glimmer of hope.
That hope was dashed though as Zabek pulled off a complicated rail-first 2/9 combo when she was snookered and she let out a delighted whoop as she sealed the gold medal for Poland by a 2-0 scoreline.
Commented Zabek, “Of course, I was thinking about the defeat to Ukraine in the winners’ qualification round, but not too much. I just wanted to not disappoint my team mate and play my best and in the end it was OK. I enjoyed that a lot – you could tell by my shout when I won! This gold medal is so mesmerizing!”
Zalewska added, “I am very happy. Just look at our faces! What happened today will be in our memory for the rest of our lives.”
Medals – Ladies
Gold – Poland – Oliwia Zalewska, Monika Zabek,
Silver – Ukraine – Darya Siranchuk, Viktoriia Nagorna, Liubov Zhygailova
Bronze – Germany – Pia Filler, Tina Vogelmann, Veronika Ivanovskaia, Ina Kaplan, Melanie Sussenguth
Portugal – Sara Rocha, Vania Franco
Play continues to tomorrow (Sunday 11th) with the conclusion of the 9-ball division followed by the closing ceremony.
All the matches can be viewed live by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
This will take you through to viewing options. In addition, selected matches will be streamed on Facebook Live on the EPBF page.
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
0 comments