The team competition always creates a special atmosphere at the European Championships each year. Players all gather together and support their own national team. That was the situation today at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.
Several upsets can be reported from today’s lineups. In the women’s division, team Switzerland with Klaudia Kunz and Christine Feldmann defeated clearly favored team Poland with 2:1. Feldmann lost 4:7 in 9-ball to Katarzyna Wesolowska but her teammate Kunz defeated Oliwia Czuprynska in 8-ball 6:2. The shootout was won by the Swiss team which booked them a seat in the semi-finals already.
The other semi-finalist in the women’s division is team Norway, consisting of Line Kjoersvik and Martine Christiansen. They defeated team Germany 2:0, then team Bulgaria with the same result. In the winner’s qualification round, the Norwegians had to deal with team Russia which is composed of Ana Mazhirina and Darya Sirotina. Mazhirina lost 9-ball 4:7 to Christiansen while Sirotina defeated Kjoersvik with 6:5 in 8-ball. The shootout went in favor of the Scandinavian ladies. Norway as well as Switzerland are waiting in the semi-finals for their opponents to be determined tomorrow.
In the men’s division, the defending Champions Netherlands had a thriller going on against long-time rival Germany. Nick Van Den Berg made a quick 1:0 lead for the Netherlands, winning the 8-ball with 8:4 over Andreas Roschkowsky. Ralf Souquet had a heartbreaker in 9-ball against Niels Feijen which he won with 9:8. At that time, Sebastian Staab was down 2:6 to World 10-ball Champion Huidji See in 10-ball. But Staab was able to turn the tide in the match. he took 6 racks in a row and won his match with 8:6. Germany takes a spot in the quarter-finals while The Netherlands need to win another match on the loser’s side over the winner Poland v Great Britain.
Team Austria is the second quarter-finalist of the day. With victories over Norway 2:1, Croatia 2:0 and Russia 2:1, the Austrians with Albin Ouschan, Mario He and Jürgen Jenisy are looking forward to get their opponent drawn from the loser’s side tomorrow. Team Spain with David Alcaide, Francesco Diaz and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz are also in the quarter-final round. The defeated Switzerland 3:0, Poland 2:0 and their neighbors Portugal 3:0. Strong performance by team Spain for today. The final quarterfinalist is team Finland. The boys from the far north around Petri Makkonen, Aki Heiskanen, Jussi Iivonen and Abbas Al-Marayati have earned their spot through victories over Belgium and Sweden. In the first round, team Finland had a walk-over.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the team competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
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.epconline.eu or contact our press officepress@epbf.com.
