Mika Van Berkel
AN EXCITING EVENING of 10-ball action saw gold medal-winning victories for Mika Van Berkel (NED), Shirin Volery (SUI) and Maks Benko (SLO). For both Van Berkel and Benko, who had both lost in the finals of the straight pool division two days ago, it was sweet redemption, while Volery won her first ever DYNAMIC BILLARD European Championship gold. For all three, there was a huge added bonus of a spot in the Predator World Junior Championships which take place in Hamilton, New Zealand from 2nd to 8th September.
In the Under 19 match, Van Berkel faced talented Serbian Lazar Kostic for the title and it was the Serbian who got things rolling after winning the lag. He found nothing from his break, something that would haunt him through the match. However, a miss on the 7 ball into the centre pocket from Van Berkel allowed him to clear for the early lead.
A miss on the 2 ball brought Van Berkel to the table and he finessed his way through the balls to level the match. Another dry break from Kostic, set up a messy rack which culminated in a nervy miss on the 9 ball down the rail from Lazar, and Van Berkel stepped in to take the lead. Kostic levelled the scores as he ran out the fourth game.
In the next, Kostic couldn’t get position on the 7 ball but his locked-up safety forced Van Berkel to bank. He made contact and left a difficult one up table which Kostic made and from there he regained the lead at 3-2. Van Berkel got back on track in the next as he broke and ran for 3-3.
Another dry break from Kostic left a great opportunity for Van Berkel. A positional error though, forced him into a safety and it was good enough to make Kostic miss to give up ball-in-hand. It was another confident clearance from the Dutchman as he assumed a 4-3 lead.
A cracking break from Van Berkel saw two balls drop and a shot on the 1 ball and he was able to once again run out to double his lead. Finally, Kostic delivered a successful break, this time from the opposite side of the table. There was nothing to be had but with a big wall of balls downtable, it was an easy snooker. Van Berkel escaped and fluked an impossible hook which Kostic did very well to escape from.
An aggressive bank shot from Van Berkel gave him the initiative and another good safety with three balls remaining, left him in a strong position. He took the rack to leave himself one away at 6-3.
A dry break from Mika kept Kostic in the game but it was a big task. A poor shot from Lazar saw him lose position but he had another chance when Van Berkel missed a delicate one on the 4 ball. It wasn’t to be Kostic’s day as ultimately missed the 9 ball to leave two balls for the gold medal for Van Berkel.
Van Berkel was naturally delighted with the win following his near miss on Thursday, “It’s a very good feeling especially after a loss in the straight pool final two days ago. It was more pressure after that but now I’m so glad and it feels so great.
“Coming from 6-1 down to win in the quarter-final gave me so much confidence. I still felt I could win that match and I kept that going. My goal was to win a medal in every discipline so I’m on track.”
Bronze medals went to Felix Vogel (GER) and Ivan Rudenko of Ukraine.
Shirin Volery
In the girls’ division it was Switzerland’s Shirin Volery who claimed her first ever European Championship gold medal as she led Jolien Schuurman (NED) throughout and cemented her spot in the forthcoming World Championships.
The 17-year-old had previously won a bronze in 9 ball in 2022, but she made no mistakes in Podčetrtek as she led 3-0 then 4-1 before sealing the deal in the seventh game.
Commented a delighted Volery, “I didn’t expect this for sure. I was feeling better than ever but not that good! I had a comeback in nearly every match especially the semi-final where I was 2-4 down so I was used to it. My parents were both crying at the end, they can’t believe it but they always support me. A lot of people had a part in me winning this medal so it’s a big win for everyone!”
Linnea Hjalmarstrom of Sweden and Germany’s Romina Lenk claimed the two bronze medals.
In the Under 17 match, Maks Bemko (14) won a thrilling encounter with Lithuania’s Revo Maimre that went right down to the wire. The young Slovenian was well-backed by the crowd and he got the better of the early exchanges to lead 3-1 in the race-to-six.
Maks Benko
From there, though, there was never more than a rack to separate them and Benko reached the hill at 5-4. Each rack was a battle and Maimre levelled it before Maks took the decider in a rack in which they both had chances.
Not surprisingly Benko was drained but excited at the conclusion, “It was too crazy! There was a lot of pressure fighting for the World Championship spot but I made it so I’m very happy. You need to fight till the last ball, I believed in it and it happened. I really like 10 ball, it’s my best discipline but I’ll do my best in the 8-ball and 9-ball.”
Filling out the podium spots with bronze medals were Luka Bugarski of Serbia and Ąžuolas Tadaravicius of Lithuania.
Play can be followed on a daily basis on https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
For viewers at home, Tables 1 & 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube. Table 1 will be on the Kozoom channel, while Table 2 will be available throughout on the EPBF platform. All other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.
Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@KozoomTV/streams
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theepbf/streams
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all-cue-sports
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