Ivan Galic (CRO)
At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands, Ivan Galic (CRO) dethroned the defending Champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) in the U17 10-ball individuals by defeating him in a heartbreaker with 6:5.
The 10-ball individuals have already started yesterday in the afternoon, following the finals in straight pool. In the U17 division, Sanjin Pehlivanovic was the defending Champion. His first two matches did not seem to be a big obstacle for him. He defeated Szymon Kural (POL) 6:2 and then proceeded to the single elimination round of the last 32 players. There, he as clearly eliminated Manuel Butschek (AUT) 6:3. The next round he met Ivan Galic. The Croatian had already three victories under his belt. In the first round, he overpowered Paul Vilches-Pardo (FRA) 6:3. Then he taught a lesson to William Viitanen (SWE) before he wiped the floor with Ihor Lialin (UKR) 6:1. The match was set ready for the round of the last 16 players with Pehlivanovic being the huge favourite. But things did not start out to the liking of the Bosnian. He could not really gain an advantage over Galic. To the contrary, the young Croatian stayed always close with Pehlivanovic, not allowing him to gain an advantage over him. Galic had a one rack lead through the first part of the match. Then, Galic was 4:3 ahead, Pehlivanovic finally managed to win two consecutive racks, getting on the hill with 5:4 over Galic. The pressure was on for Ivan Galic. But instead of collapsing under the heat, he stood tall and too two consecutive racks himself, winning the match with a close 6:5 result over Pehlivanovic. Galic will face Christoffer Lentz (DEN) in the quarter-finals tomorrow at 16:00 CET. Lentz had ousted Artem Lukin (RUS) 6:1 in the round before.
Another candidate for the title is (as always in the U17 division) Wiktor Zielinski (POL). He also booked his seat in the quarter-final round and will play Anton Hastedt (GER).
In the U19 division, the defending Champion Maksim Dudanets (RUS) is not in the field since he reached the age limit. However, last year’s runner-up Daniel Maciol (POL), member of the European Atlantic Challenge Cup team, is seeded as the #1 player and definitely one hot favourite for the title. The draw however was not his friend in the 10-ball individuals. He encountered last year’s top star and Atlantic Challenge Cup teammate Patrick Hofmann (GER) in the single elimination round of the last 16 players. Hofmann won all disciplines in the U19 last year except 10-ball. It was the only discipline where Hofmann was not seeded this year. Unlucky draw! The match between the two went along relatively even until the score was 3:2 for Maciol. Then Hofmann took his time-out and came back even stronger. He took 4 racks in a row and went on the hill with 6:3. Maciol could snatch one more rack before Hofmann closed the book on the match, winning 7:4 over Maciol and advancing to the quarter-finals tomorrow where he will have to deal with Ilia Nekleenov (RUS).
In the girls division, 29 participants entered the 10-ball individuals. Kristina Tkach (RUS) is the mile-high favourite for defending her title in 10-ball. She started the tournament with two victories over Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS) 5:3 and Nina Torvund (NOR) 5:1 and already booked her seat in the quarter-finals. The players who occupy the quarter-final seats over the winner’s round are all from Eastern European countries. Besides Tkach there are Kinga Pietrzak (POL), Palina Chernik (BLR) and Darya Siranchuk (UKR).
Today, also two rounds of team competition have been played at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. In the U17, Team Finland surprisingly defeated the strong Russian team 2:0. Defending Champions Team Germany defeated Team Bulgaria 2:1 for a spot in the single elimination round of the last eight teams.
In the U19 team competition, Team North Cyprus took down Team Finland 2:0 and will now face Team The Netherlands in the next round. Defending Champions Team Germany will have to deal with the team from Switzerland.
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 23 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Youth.
The event is 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.europeanpoolchampionships.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
