Thursday, March 31, 2011: Nick van den Berg won the first semi-final in the European Championship Men's 9-ball division 9:7.
The match contained many unforced errors by both players which could be due to the LIVE TV coverage. The match was under the shot clock from the beginning, meaning the players had a time frame of 35 seconds per shot with one extension to one minute per rack. In the beginning, Nick took a 3:0 lead over Huidji who seemed to be very nervous. Then Nick started making some unnecessary mistakes. He missed shots which he would never ever miss under “normal” conditions. So Huidji was able to come back and close the gap between them a bit. However, Nick van den Berg managed to keep the lead throughout the match. In the final stage of the match, Nick's break improved and he took full advantage by running racks. When the score was 7:5 in favour of Nick, he missed an easy 3-ball as it slightly touched the 5-ball on its way into the pocket and therefore stayed on the table. Huidji would win that rack.
In the end, both players who belong to Europe's pool elite, made more mistakes than expected. They still demonstrated high class pool billiard and Nick van den Berg is a deserved winner of the match 9:7. His opponent will be determined from the match between Mario He (AUT) and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP).
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 event website www.epconline.eu or contact our press office.
