The last day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, saw the final medals being taken.
Teams
In the team competition, Germany had a "Golden Day". Both German teams made it to the finals in the Under 17’s and Under 19’s. Both teams were the underdogs. The Under 17’s had to face team Poland. In that match, Kamil Szasor took the 9-ball really quickly over Hermann Hoyh with 7:1. Patrick Hofmann fought the German’s back into the match, winning his 8-ball over Wiktor Zielinski with 6:5 after having trailed 4:5. The straight pool needed to decide the match. Kevin Schiller had a comfortable lead of 69:35 over Daniel Maciol who is known to be capable of running high runs. Macula got to the table and pocketed ball after ball. He made it to 66:69 when he scratched while pocketing a ball. With 6 balls needed, Schiller got to the table and won the match and the Gold Medal for Germany with 75:66.
Top Four Teams Under 17’s
1. Germany
2. Poland
3. Turkish North Cyprus
Netherlands
The final in the Under 19’s between Team Germany and Team Russia took a similar course. Maksim Dudanets won his straight pool for the favored Russians clearly with 100:46 over Jannik Schmitt. At that time, Raphael Wahl was struggling against Sergey Lutsker and managed to win the 9-ball match with 8:7 over the Russian to tie the match at 1:1. Pascal Bruckmann needed to come up with the deciding point in his 8-ball match with Marsel Safiullin. Safiullin was already leading 6:5 when he missed a 2-ball and gave the table to Bruckmann. With an incredible and outstanding performance, Bruckmann cleared two racks and won the match and the Gold for his team with 7:6.
Top Four Teams Under 19’s
1. Germany
2. Russia
3. Finland
Switzerland
In the 9-ball individuals girls division, Kristina Tkach (RUS) met Diana Khodjaeva (BEL). Both players already had won a title earlier this week. So they really had to see who would be the most successful player in their division. Tkach got to the hill first but played an unbelievably negligent foul when she touched the cue ball. Khodjaeva got back to the table and ran the rack, making the match a hill-hill thriller at 5:5. Then, Tkach simply had the better nerves. Khodjaeva tried to play a safety with 3 balls remaining on the table but left an easy out for Tkach. The Russian said thank you and pocketed the last 3 balls to win the title with 6:5.
Top Six 9-Ball Girls
1. Kristina Tkach (RUS)
2. Diana Khodjaeva (BEL)
3. Dina Fatihova (RUS)
Emily Heidergott (GER)
4. Marharyta Fefilava (BLR)
Jana Peters (GER)
In the 9-ball Under 17’s, it came to the all-Polish clash between Kamil Szasor and Daniel Maciol. Maciol had already won titles but Szasor was still trying to win his first one. Though he got very close to achieve that, Maciol had the better end on his side, winning the final match and the title with 7:6.
Top Eight 9-Ball Under 17’s
1. Daniel Maciol (POL)
2. Kamil Szasor (POL)
3. Kaylash Persad (NED)
Wiktor Zielinski (POL)
4. Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)
Eklent Kaci (ALB)
Patrick Hofmann (GER)
Osman Sanlisoy (TNC)
In the Under 19’s, Krystain Cwikla (POL) had to face Andreas Madsen (DEN). The match also was pretty even and went hill-hill. There, Cwikla missed the 5-ball and left a combination shot for Madsen who went for it. Probably a safety option would have been better here. Madsen left the 9-ball hanging over the corner pocket so that Cwikla had an easy combination shot to win the final and the title with 8:7.
Top Eight 9-Ball Under 19’s
1. Krystian Cwikla (POL)
2. Andreas Madsen (DEN)
3. Vitaliy Patsura (UKR)
Michael Schneider (SUI)
4. Raphael Wahl (GER)
Vladislav Les (BLR)
Sergey Lutsker (RUS)
Jannik Schmitt (GER)
Medal table after 5 of 5 events
1. Russia
2. Germany
3. Poland
4. Belgium
5. Bosnia & Hercegovina
Ukraine
6. Switzerland
7. Albania
8. Denmark
9. Finland
Netherlands
10. Belarus
Hungary
Italy
North Cyprus
Norway
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth 2015. Tomorrow, the Euro-Tour players will be pouring in. With around 240 participants, the event promises high class pool action to be witnessed here.
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.epconline.eu.
The event was hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
