Riku Romppanen
THE DYNAMIC BILLARD European Junior Championships saw its first medals distributed today as the 14.1 division was contested in boys Under 17 and under 19. And it was Finland’s Riku Romppanen in the older category and Jakub Chrobot (Poland) who claimed the gold medals following terrific performances. Romppanen got the better of Mika Van Berkel (Netherlands) by 100-47, while Chrobot overcame local hope Maks Benko by 75-41.
Whilst 14.1 may not carry the drama or excitement of rotation games, as many have remarked, it holds the core skills of pool and so it was demonstrated in today’s two finals.
In the Under 19s match-up, both players had plenty of form coming into the final with Van Berkel a defending champion of this title as well as a 2022 Under 17 8-ball gold medallist. Romppanen had previously won the 14.1 gold medal last year in the lower age category.
The young Finn completed the first rack leaving the remaining ball in plum position for a good split and he carried on in the same vein to increase his lead to 28-0. Van Berkel had his first visit at 39-0 down and he needed something significant as he pocketed the remaining three balls. A nice split on the break gave him that opportunity and he cleared the rack for 39-17.
An early miss though, from Van Berkel, over-cutting the 4 ball, allowed Romppanen back to the table with the balls spread nicely. The Finn advanced the score to 66-18, leaving Van Berkel a big gap to bridge. A good spread from his next opener, gave him a great opportunity to further increase his lead and he ran the rack out to advance to 80-18 to leave himself within 20 points of victory.
Romppanen through missed the 7 ball at 85-18 to throw Van Berkel a lifeline. Van Berkel got himself into trouble early on but recovered well to stay at the table as the rack ended at 85-27. There was a mountain to climb but full credit to the young Dutchman as he went through the next rack to get within 44 points of his opponent with the score at 85-41. A scratch off his first shot in the next though, derailed him and presented Romppanen with the chance to close out the match.
Romppanen ran out of position early on and missed the 2 ball up-table to get Van Berkel back and he completed the rack to move the score to 91-48 and keep himself alive. Another scratch from Van Berkel was to be his last effort of the match as Romppanen returned and potted the required nine balls for victory.
Romppanen was delighted with his win, post-match, “It feels really good! 130 is my highest break in practice and 46 in a competitive match so I felt I played to my potential. With the other disciplines coming up, I’ll try to do my very best and win them.”
Jakub Chrobot
In the Under 17 final, it was Maks Benko, with a gold medal to his name from the ’22 10-ball event, who was the favourite entering the match, but it was 15-year-old Jakub Chrobot who emerged as champion following some stellar play.
It was a more closely-fought match as the players were neck-and-neck by the middle stages. Chrobot, though, pulled away in the second half to claim his first ever European Championship medal and a gold one at that.
He said, “It’s a fantastic feeling because at the last championships I had to qualify and I totally messed up. So, this is my first medal and it’s a gold! Maybe the gold is because last year I had two fifth places and I was so stressed but now I have some experience and I was able to do it.
“After the semi-final, I was surprised that I’d made it through to the final match because I wasn’t playing very good pool but my experience got me to the final. When I couldn’t make the pot, I was able to play nice safes and I felt I’d got to the final without playing my very best. I was happy to be in the final and I tried not to focus on the medal but just play good pool,” he added.
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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