On day 4 of European Billiards Championships in Brandenburg/Germany there was only one medal decision. New European Champion in the discipline Libre, Ladies division, is Monique van Exter from the Netherlands who won the final against Belgian Karolien Mathys 150:94 after 14 innings. The decision came in the 13th inning were van Exter run 74 points for a 140:68-lead. Back in the group stage both player already faced each other and also the Dutchwoman had the upper hand.
The semi-final of later silver-medalist Mathys was dramatically. Against the Frenchwoman Magali Declunder who had won the title ten times in a row until 1998 both had reached the necessary 150 points in the ninth inning. Finally Karolien Mathy had the better end in the extra-time when she was the first player to make another 15 caroms.
Monique van Exter had far less problems to defeat her opponent Susanne Stengel-Ponsing from Germany to win 150:76 after twelve innings.
Meanwhile the group stages in the Junior’s division, discipline Libre, are finished. Frenchman Jesse Maillard was undefeated as well as Andy de Bondt from the Netherlands. De Bondt’s team-mate Gertjan Veldhuizen, who started as the favorite, lost one of his three matches but made it to the quarterfinals as well. This round will be played on Tuesday morning.
The same applies for the 3-cushions event in the cadet’s division. The final 8 are fixed and will be played tomorrow morning. Both Tom Löwe and Tobias Bouerdick from Germany won their group by three straight wins. Also Frenchman Daniel Lhost wasn’t lost at all and went undefeated to the quarterfinals.
Two of the four second round groups have already been completed in the Birilli Men’s Division. Andrea Quarta from Italy dominated his group and is qualified for the quarterfinals as well as his fellow countrymen Sandra Giachetti, Michelangelo Aniello, Ricardo Lopez and Daniel Barbini. On Tuesday morning both Gerd Kunz and Thomas Hähne from Germany are playing the last group matches and will try to break into this phalanx.
The first group matches of the Birilli Team-competition were completed late Monday. Defending champion is Germany who has beaten the top favorite Italy two years ago.
All results of the European Billiards Championships can be found on www.eurobillard.org under section “Calendar & Tournament Info” whilst all pictures and further media-information are published on www.touch-magazine.net
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