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EPBF European Championships 2011
8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball and 14.1 for Men, Women and Wheelchair
Venue Stahlpalast
Magdeburger Landstra�e 228
14770 Brandenburg
Germany
www.stahlpalast-brandenburg.de
www.epbf.com
www.epconline.eu - PPV LiveStream (20 tables/20 streams)

23 March 2011 - 3 April 2011

Jentsch, Orfanidis and Tahti go for the gold

THE 2011 EUROPEAN POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
8-BALL POOL
MEN
	1st	Dominic Jentsch	GERMANY
	2nd	Ralf Souquet	GERMANY
	3rd	Carlos Cabello	SPAIN
	3rd	Denis Grabe	ESTONIA

THE 2011 EUROPEAN POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
8-BALL POOL
WOMEN
	1st	Kynthia Orfanidis	NETHERLANDS
	2nd	Marika Poikkijoki	FINLAND
	3rd	Line Kjorsvik	NORWAY
	3rd	Petra Stadlbauer	AUSTRIA

THE 2011 EUROPEAN POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS
8-BALL POOL
WHEELCHAIR
	1st	Jouni Tahti	FINLAND
	2nd	Kurt Deklerck	BELGIUM
	3rd	Fred Dinsmore	IRELAND
	3rd	Aslam Abubaker	GREAT BRITAIN

8-ball Championship has its winners

The European Champions in 8-ball have been decided. Dominic Jentsch defeated Ralf Souquet in a very one-sided final. Ralf made too many mistakes, very unusual for �The Kaiser�. In the first rack, he committed a foul and Jentsch ran out. Jentsch played solid during the entire match and grasped the gold medal, winning 8:1 in the final match.

"Read More..." for the details.

Kynthia Orfanidis - Netherlands
In the women�s division, the decision was a bit closer. Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) and Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) both played very well, with Kynthia to have the better end winning 6:4 over Marika. Orfanidis had the tougher semi-final match, playing against Stadlbauer and showing many nerves. �I did not play well in the semi-final�, Kynthia said after the match, �but in the final match I was much more relaxed and did not make the mistakes I made in the round before.� �I am so happy today. This title really means a lot to me�. �I have won two bronze medals so far and the Gold Medal now makes me very proud.� �I am not satisfied now. I feel like I want more this week�, says and ambitious young athlete who is on a mission now.
In the wheelchair division, Finland�s Jouni Tahti was triumphant over Kurt Deklerck with 5:1.

Kurt Deklerck - Belgium
All German 8-Ball Men's Final: Souquet and Jentsch battle for the gold!

In the Men�s division, the final match will be an all-German shootout between �The Kaiser� Ralf Souquet and Dominic Jentsch. While Jentsch had a relatively easy semi-final match winning 8:2 against Denis Grabe from Estonia, Souquet had a tougher fight. He just overcame Carlos Cabello from Spain with 8:6.

In the Women�s division, Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) crushed Line Kjoersvik (NOR) with 6:1. Poikkijoki only missed one single ball in the whole set and even her opponent had to admit that she has deserved to be in the final with that performance. The other semi-final match in the women�s division was a thriller. Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) looked like the clear winner, leading 4:1 and 5:3 over Dutch Kynthia Orfanidis. Then suddenly she made unnecessary mistakes that allowed Orfanidis to come back and stay in the match. In the end, Orfanidis had the better nerves and won with a margin of 6:5 over Stadlbauer.

In the wheelchair division, the all-time favourite and multiple European Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) had no problems in whitewashing Aslum Aboobakar (GBR) 6:0. The other semi-final was closer but in the end Kurt Deklerck (BEL) was victorious over Fred Dinsmore (IRL).

Marika Poikkijoki - Finland
"It's Awesome!" - Marika Poikkijoki defeats Jasmin Ouschan in Quarterfinal

The Dynamic European Championship has the sensation of the day! Finnish player Marika Poikkijoki defeated Jasmin Ouschan in today�s 8-ball quarter-final with 6:5.

The match started out and looked like �business as usual�. Jasmin Ouschan took a 4:2 lead over her opponent when Poikkijoki took a time-out. After that, Jasmin won another rack which brought her to the hill, leading 5:2. Then the wonder began� Poikkijoki played very steadily and concentrated while some mistakes crept into Ouschan�s play. Poikkijoki used her chances. She managed to tie the match at 5:5 with Jasmin to break. Jasmin broke the balls� and scratched! The table was open but not easy for Marika. She pocketed ball after ball and really screamed when she pocketed the final 8 to proceed to the semi-final, jolting Jasmin out of the 8-ball competition. �It�s awesome� were her first words after the final. It is the first time since 2006 that Jasmin does not take a medal in a European Championships. �I must concentrate and handle the pressure in my match against Jasmin�, Marika said before the match. �I think Jasmin has more pressure on her since no one really expects me to win�, Poikkijoki said. After she has won, she was very emotional: �I am so happy that I cannot put this into words�, she said with a tear in her eye. Her hands were still shaking. �I need some time now to realize what happened. I think that now I really deserve a medal in the EC.� Marika has never won a medal in the women�s division before. Now she has one for sure, only the colour is still to be determined.

To complete the family �tragedy� for the day, Jasmin�s brother Albin Ouschan lost his quarter-final match against Denis Grabe from Estonia with 6:8.

Results Men�s quarter-final matches 8-ball:
Tomasz Kaplan (POL) v Carlos Cabello (SPA) 7:8
Bruno Muratore (ITA) v Ralf Souquet (GER) 7:8
Denis Grabe (EST) v Albin Ouschan (AUT) 8:6
Dominic Jentsch (GER) v Bahram Lotfy (DEN) 8:4

Results Women�s quarterfinal matches 8-ball
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) v Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) 5:6
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) v Line Kjoersvik (NOR) 2:6
Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) v Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS) 6:0
Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) v Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) 6:4

Men�s semi-finals:
Carlos Cabello (SPA) v Ralf Souquet (GER)
Denis Grabe (EST) v Dominic Jentsch (GER)

Women�s semi-finals:
Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) v Line Kjoersvik (NOR)
Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) v Petra Stadlbauer (AUT)

Wheelchair semi-finals:
Kurt Deklerck (BEL) v Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
Jouni Tahti (FIN) v Aslum Aboobakar (GBR)

Oliver Ortmann - Germany
9-ball underway - Ortmann wins two and is first to qualify

The Dynamic European Championships 2011 did not yet really go in favour of German star player Oliver Ortmann. In straight pool, anything else but the title is a disappointment for him. �I did not play well and made too many mistakes, especially in my match against Makkonen.� �I think Kaplan has played very well and is a worthy winner in straight pool�. Then, in 8-ball where the quarterfinals are played today at 16:30 local time, he lost against Cohen and Primic to leave the 8-ball event in 33rd place. �It is a popular myth that I would not like 8-ball. The truth is I really like the game. In my opinion, it is one of the nicest games in pool�, Ortmann says. His 9-ball appearance today did not look very easy. He had Dutch Huidji See as an opponent in his first match. See belongs to the best players in Europe. �See was a tough nut to crack. Especially at 9 o�clock in the morning with the time change two days ago. He had a good break from the very beginning which I did not have.� �I was able to benefit from mistakes that he made in the 4th and 5th rack. With that, I could get a 5:2 lead which he tied again at 6:6 later on�. �He then had some tough racks that he did not run out and I was lucky when I tried a long shot, missed it and left no shot for Huidji. So I won 9:7�. �Jason Power is new to me. He seems to be a snooker player. He can pocket almost any shot but his position play could be improved.� Ortmann defeated Jason Power (IRL) with 9:2. He will now face another heavyweight in the next round, Marcus Chamat from Sweden.

In other matches today, Bruno Muratore (ITA) won against Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) with 9:8. The same result was claimed by newly crowned straight pool champion, Tomasz Kaplan (POL) in his first round match against Juergen Jenisy (AUT). A surprise happened in the match between George Louka (CYP) and Jim Chawki (SWE). Chawki was the high favoured player but Louka sent him with 9:8 to the loser�s side. Radoslaw Babica remained predominance over German youngster Manuel Ederer with 9:6. Ederer stayed beyond his playing abilities in that match.

2011 EPBF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY 4

Denis Gabe - Estonia
Grabe kicks Babica out of 8 ball

Denis Grabe from Estonia eliminates Radoslaw Babica from Poland with 8:4. The match started out quite evenly. Both players took their first racks and it did not look as if one of them would be outscoring the other one. When the score was tied at 4:4, suddenly the tide turned in favour of Grabe. Unbelievably cool he played his game and did not allow Babica to take one more single rack. The score in the end was 8:4 in favour of the Baltic player. He will have to deal with Albin Ouschan from Austria in the quarterfinal which will be played tomorrow, Monday, March 28th, at 16:30 local time.

Also unexpected was the win of 14-year old Ana Gradisnik (SLO) with 6:4 over Veronika Hubrtova (CZE) in the Women�s division.

Other results were as follows:

Men�s Last 16 players Results:
Tomasz Kaplan (POL) v Kim Laaksonen (FIN) 8:4
Jaroslav Polach (SVK) v Carlos Cabello (SPA) 5:8
Bruno Muratore (ITA) v Artem Koshovyi (UKR) 8:5
Ralf Souquet (GER) v David Alcaide (SPA) 8:5
Radoslaw Babica (POL) v Denis Grabe (EST) 4:8
Mario He (AUT) v Albin Ouschan (AUT) 6:8
Dominic Jentsch (GER) v Sandor Tot (SRB) 8:5
Bayram Lotfy (DEN) v Nick van den Berg (NED) 8:6

Men�s Quarterfinals:
Tomasz Kaplan (POL) v Carlos Cabello (SPA)
Bruno Muratore (ITA) v Ralf Souquet (GER)
Denis Grabe (EST) v Albin Ouschan (AUT)
Dominic Jentsch (GER) v Bayram Lotfy (DEN)

Women�s Last 16 players Results:
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) v Ine Helvik (NOR) 6:1
Sara Iannini (ITA) v Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) 1:6
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) v Veronika Hubrtova (CZE) 6:4
Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) v Line Kjoersvik (NOR) 2:6
Tamara Rademakers (NED) v Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) 5:6
Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) v Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS) 4:6
Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) v Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) 6:4
Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) v Simone Kuenzl (GER) 6:4

Women�s Quarterfinals:
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) v Marika Poikkijoki (FIN)
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) v Line Kjoersvik (NOR)
Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) v Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS)
Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) v Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL)

Wheelchair Quarterfinals Results:
Kurt Deklerck (BEL) v Eduard Karamatic (CRO) 5:3
Matt Duffy (GBR) v Fred Dinsmore (IRL) 2:5
Jouni Tahti (FIN) v Roy Kimberley (GBR) 5:1
Aslum Aboobakar (GBR) v Daniel Luton (GBR) 5:4

Wheelchair Semifinals:
Kurt Deklerck (BEL) v Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
Jouni Tahti (FIN) v Aslum Aboobakar (GBR)

First matches on Monday morning will be the start of the 9-ball competition. The 8-ball will be continued at 16:30 local time.

Bruno Muratore - Italy - Through to the Last 16 men standing
The Italian top player defeated Kristoffersen with a clear score of 8:4

Bruno Muratore is Italy�s last hope for the title in 8-ball since his last team mate Petroni lost in this round with 8:7 against Mario He from Austria. Muratore won against Kasper Kristoffersen (DEN) with 8:4. �He made some mistakes in the beginning. I think he was too nervous,� the likeable Italian player said after the match. �Though my break is really not that good in 8-ball, I was able to win because I got chances and I took them�. When asked about his next opponent, young Artem Koshovyi from the Ukraine, Bruno sighs: �He is young. And the young guys are so good these days. It is going to be a very tough match for me. Sometimes Artem does some crazy shots. That could be my chance�, Muratore says.

Oliver Ortmann - Germany
Ortmann loses two consecutive matches and says �bye bye� to 8-ball title

Things did not really turn out in Ortmann�s favour so far. He definitely belongs to Europe�s top elite of pool players for many years now. His straight pool game is feared not only in Europe but worldwide. He was the first European to win the US Open straight pool in 1989� and he does not necessarily like to play 8-ball. Still his first European Champion title was in 8-ball in London in 1984. But this was the past; today, Ortmann received two straight losses and is now out of the competition. In the winner�s qualification round he lost to Stephane Cohen (nothing) with 5:8. Then he went to the loser�s side where Bozo Primic (CRO) overcame him with 8:5.

Huidji See (NED) joined Ortmann�s destiny since he also lost in the winner�s qualification round (6:8 against Spanish underdog Carlos Cabello) and then directly received another defeat straight away (4:8 against Scott Higgins (GBR)) to leave the 8-ball event.

Other notable results this afternoon include Nick vd Berg (NED) v Artem Koshovyi (UKR) 8:1; Mats Schjetne (NOR) defeated Marcus Chamat (SWE) with and 8:7 and kicked him out of the event. Roman Pruchay (RUS) who became 3rd in the straight pool competition surprisingly had no chance against Jasmin�s brother Albin Ouschan (AUT) and lost clearly with 1:8.

Tonight, the single elimination matches will start in all three categories, Men, Women and Wheelchair players. Matches will begin at 21:30 local time.

Ana Gradisnik - SLOVENIA (top) defeats Leatitia Dos Santos (FRANCE) (below).
Chinakov and Ruiz Sanchez miss out on further 8 ball action

The Dynamic European Championships in 8-ball are over for Ruslan Chinahov and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz. Both lost their matches in the loser�s bracket this morning with 7:8.

Watching the score sheet on the website, one can easily tell that it must have been a tough battle between young Spaniard Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Russia�s Roman Pruchay. Sanchez got the better start, taking a comfortable 3:0 lead over Pruchay. Roman tried to get back into the match but somehow Sanchez managed to maintain the pole position in this match. After being trailing 4:6, Pruchay got closer and overtook Sanchez, suddenly leading 7:6. Sanchez fought back and made it a hill-hill match, which Pruchay was able to win with the smallest gap possible, 8:7 in his favour.

Another shocking result is the 8:7 victory of Ben Gmach (ISR) over Ruslan Chinahov (RUS). Chinahov, who was clearly favoured to win this match, seems to struggle in order to reach his best game this week. Already in the straight pool division he had some unexpected losses. The junior World Champion from 2009 was never really in the position to overtake the Israeli.

Whatever he tried, Gmach had the answer to it and kept his nerves together. In fact, Gmach was leading throughout the entire match with a gap of one, two or even three racks.

Chinahov saw his chances when he tied the match at 7:7 after being down 4:7, but Gmach again took the lead. Ruslan fought back once more just to lose with the most frustrating score of 7:8 in the end to Gmach.

In the Women�s division, a young lady from Slovenia drew the attention of the audience. Ana Gradisnik (SLOVENIA) was already trailing 1:4 and 2:5 to experienced Laetitia Dos Santos (FRANCE) when the French player missed an easy shot. Gradisnik was able to play up to her best and won game after game, winning against Dos Santos with 6:5. �I am so happy about this victory since I never got so far in a European Championship�, says the 14-year old girl from Slovenia who competes for the second year in the Women�s division now. �I was shocked when I saw that I had a chance to get back after trailing 1:4 to Laetitia. I really got into gear and I felt so confident with my game that I somehow managed to beat her�, a happy Gradisnik says. �I want to go as far as possible now, but even if I lose in the next round I will be happy with my achievement here�.

And in other results this morning, Artem Koshovyi (UKR) defeated �Napoleon� Marcus Chamat (SWE) 8:2; Sara Iannini (ITA) wins over Veronika Hubrtova 6:5 and Austrian Gerda Hofstaetter has to give her spot in the last 16 women winner�s side spot to Tamara Rademakers (NED), losing 5:6.

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.

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