Ulrike Andersson and Sascha Specchia
The 10 Ball Division concluded today at the EPBF / Dynamic Billiards European Seniors Championships in Treviso, Italy and there were gold medals for Ulrike Andersson of Sweden in the ladies’ division and Switzerland’s Sascha Specchia in the men’s’.
13 players contested the ladies’ tournament and it was Andersson who prevailed in the final, beating Germany’s Susanne Wessel 5-3 in an exciting encounter in which both players’ lack of success on the break shot added to the drama.
Earlier in the competition Andersson had been defeated 5-1 by Wessel at the winners’ qualification stage so her success in the final was all the sweeter. With the match finely poised at 3-3, Wessel frustratingly delivered her fourth dry break of the final and it was Andersson who got things rolling with a tremendous pot.
She made a poor positional shot though, making the orange 5 more difficult than it should have been and consequently missed it. Wessel then took up the running but heartbreakingly scratched going from 7 to 8. With ball in hand, Andersson cleared to reach the hill with the break in her favour.
Another dry break though saw Wessel return to try and save the match. Working her way through the table, the German lady fell short on the 6 ball. The balls were there for the taking and Andersson composed herself to run through to the 10 ball before her opponent conceded it to hand her the title.
The win completed a career hat trick of senior European Championship titles for Andersson as she added to 8 ball and 9 ball titles won at previous European Championships.
“After losing to Susanna earlier, I improved through the day and played my best game of the tournament in the final and I’m really happy about that. I won my first European Championship title in the straight pool division in 1999!
“Of course, now I’m going to try for the 8 and 9 ball divisions. Try to love the game as much as I do and maybe you will in it,” She added.
In the men’s division it was Sascha Specchia who put in a dominating performance in the championship match to defeat compatriot Murat Ayas by 7-1. The 47 year-old from Lyss, Switzerland, moved effortlessly through the winner’s side of the 72-man field, winning seven matches in total on his way to the gold medal.
Wins against Gianluca Boni (7-0) and Zdenko Lisik (7-4) got the Swiss into the last 32 where he defeated Tuesday’s straight pool gold medallist Jorge Tinoco. A brace of Italian players – Riccardo Sini and once again, Boni, were his last 16 and quarter-final victims respectively.
A win over Sweden’s Morgan Norberg saw Specchia guarantee at least a silver medal. His opponent in the final, Murat Ayas, lost his opening game which always adds pressure, but he battled through to the semi-final where he defeated Reiner Wirsbitzki, to hand the German a bronze medal to add to the silver he had already won in the straight pool division.
The final itself didn’t really take off as Specchia ran away with it to earn the coveted gold medal.
Commented Specchia; “I don’t know what to say! I’ve won gold in the Junior’s, silver in the Men’s and silver in the Seniors and now gold so it’s been a beautiful day for me.
“It’s not really easy to play against a friend and team mate, but a final is a final and we play pool and pool is a single sport and we both wanted to win,” he added.
Medals – Men
Gold – Sascha Specchia (SUI)
Silver – Murat Ayas (SUI)
Bronze – Morgan Norberg (SWE)
Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER)
Medals – Ladies
Gold – Ulrike Andersson (SWE)
Silver – Susanne Wessel (GER)
Bronze – Alexandra Cunha (GBR)
Karin Michl (GER)
Play continues on Friday the men’s and ladies’ 8 ball divisions.
Matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
