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EPBF Dynamic European Championships 2016
8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball and 14.1 for Men, Women and Wheelchair
Alpina Wellness & Sporthotel
Alpendorf 8 - 5600
Sankt Johann im Pongau
Austria
www.sporthotel-alpina.com
www.epbf.com
www.epconline.eu
www.kozoom.com

2-16 April 2016

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8-ball titles go to Tkach, Larsson and Patsura

The 8-ball titles at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for men, women and wheelchair athletes have been collected by Kristina Tkach (RUS), Henrik Larsson (SWE) and Vitaliy Patsura (UKR).

The final match in the men�s division between Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) started out quite even for both contestants. They both took two racks in a row and the scoreboard displayed a score of 2:2 after four racks. The first �mistake� committed in the match happened at 4:3 in favor of Sanchez when Patsura�s break was coming up. He broke the balls and the cue ball scratched in the side pocket. Sanchez got ball in hand and managed to take a two point lead over Patsura with 5:3. Whether that influenced Patsura heavily or not is hard to say. However, he missed another easy shot in the next rack...

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This brought Sanchez up with 6:3. Patsura decided to take a time-out and get his things together agin. And it seemed to work for him. He won the next three racks and leveled the match at 6:6. Then it was Sanchez� time to interrupt the match with a time-out. But the match stayed exciting and both players took another rack to make the match a hill-hill thriller at 7:7. It was Sanchez� break coming up. He broke them hard and everything was spread out nicely� but no ball went in. Patsura got to the table like in his match yesterday with Niels Feijen when it was hill-hill so he knows how to handle these pressure situations. And he did. He ran the rack and won his first European Champion title in the men�s division with 8:7 over Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz as one of the youngest players ever being 18 years of age.

Vitaliy Patsura (UKR)
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)
Sandor Tot (HUN)
Denis Grabe (EST)

In the women�s division, Kristina Tkach defeated Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) 6:3. The match took a strange course for Polovinchuk. She dominated in the beginning and went up 3:1 over Tkach. Then rack five was tough for really hard by both. Tkach won it and took a time-out. When she came back she seemed to be more composed and straight in the zone. She collected point after point, not allowing Polovinchuk any chances anymore. Finally, 6:3 was the score that brought Tkach her Championship in women�s 8-ball.

Kristina Tkach (RUS)
Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR)
Sandra Baumgartner (AUT)
Amalia Matas (ESP)

In the wheelchair division, Henrik Larsson took down Tony Southern (GBR) with 5:2. The final match was mainly a one man show in favor of Larsson. He played better and much more solid than Southern and rightfully picked up the trophy in the wheelchair division.

Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Tony Southern (GBR)
Matej Brajkovic (SLO
Daniel Lee (GBR)

The Dynamic Billard European Championships will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches in the 9-ball individuals.

DAY 9 - AM

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Tough encounter between Koshovyi and Becker

In a fiercely competitive match, Artem Koshovyi (UKR) defeated Kevin Becker (GER) with 9:6.

Today, the 9-ball individuals have started at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria. 117 men, 48 women and 18 wheelchair athletes go for the coveted title in their respective division. In the men�s division, a first highlight could be witnessed between Artem Koshovyi and Kevin Becker. Koshovyi had the better start in the match and took a quick 4:1 lead. Then Becker got going a bit better and even managed to take a 6:5 lead himself. From then on, the match again changed and turned back to the likings of Koshovyi. In rack 12, Becker scratched after a long exchange of safety shots and allowed Koshovyi again to level the match at 6:6. Koshovyi�s break was up next. He had balls down and ran a tough rack with some excellent shots to get in the lead again with 7:6. Rack 14 saw Becker�s breakshot coming up. He played an illegal break and there was no shot on the 1-ball. Koshovyi passed the table back to Becker who had to come up with a good safety option. Becker played a push-out instead and Koshovyi again put him back in on the situation. He then came up with a safety which was ok but makable for Koshovyi. However, the Ukrainian went for the 1-ball but missed it. Fortunately for him, he had lady luck on his side since he snookered Becker on the 1-ball again. Becker hit the 1-ball rail first but then left the 1-ball hanging over the pocket for Koshovyi who ran the rack from there in order to get on the hill with 8:6. It was Koshovyi�s breakshot in rack 15. He performed an excellent break with two balls down and everything laid out nicely for him. He used his chance and took the rack and the match with 9:6 over Becker. Koshovyi will be up next in the winner�s round 1 against Mieszko Fortunski (POL) while Becker will face Alex Montpellier (nothing) in the loser�s round.

Other remarkable match results from round 1 today include Mihai-Robert Braga (ROM) winning 9:8 over Henrique Correia (POR). Juan-Carlos Exposito (ESP) took down Mats Schjetne (NOR) 9:6. Andreas Madsen (DEN) defeated Tomasz Kaplan (POL) in a heartbreaker with 9:8. In the women�s division, Vivien Schade (GER) surprisingly clear smashed Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) 7:2. Schade�s teammate Ina Kaplan (GER) won 7:5 over strong playing Amalia Matas (ESP).

Today, the tournament continues with the 9-ball individuals. At 18:00 CET, the finals of the 8-ball individuals will be played.

DAY 8 - PM

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Final matches in 8-ball determined

The final matches in 8-ball have been determined today at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria. In the men�s division, Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) will play against Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). In the women�s division, Kristina Tkach (RUS) will be up against Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR). In the wheelchair division, Henrik Larsson (SWE) will encounter Tony Southern (GBR).

It was probably a huge surprise for the European pool world that Vitaliy Patsura has made it to the semi-finals today at all. His day started with an 8:3 victory over Nico Mobilia (BEL). Then he took down strong Swedish Marcus Chamat with 8:3 as well. He had a heartbreaker with Marc Glatz (LUX) where the match went hill-hill but Patsura was able to win 8:7. Then he met the defending Champion Niels Feijen (NED). In that match, after 8 racks no mistakes were made at all. Both players broke and ran their racks and consequently the scoreboard showed 4:4. Then they both made a mistake but still the match was leveled. Being on the hill first, Feijen broke the balls but the cue ball scratched in a pocket. That was enough chance for Patsura. He ran that rack and another one on Feijen to win once again 8:7. In his semi-final match, Patsura was up against Sandor Tot (HUN). Tot has been around for many years and even won a Gold medal in 2002 in Tampere, Finland. The semi-final between Patsura and Tot again was very high class 8-ball with hardly any missed shots at all. Being 7:6 up, Patsura managed to get to the table and eliminated Tot�s hopes for another final appearance in 8-ball this year, winning the match 8:6. The opponent in the final will be Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz. The Spaniard today defeated Kushtrim Prenga (ALB) 8:1, Georg Hoeber (AUT) 8:4, Kristoffer Mindreboe (NOR) 8:2, Karol Skowerski (POL) 8:6 and Denis Grabe (EST) 8:5 in the semi-finals.

In the women�s division, Kateryna Polovinchuk really came up with a great effort today. Though she had some health issues, she came through the loser�s round and she stood tall at the table defeating Tuija Tiihonen (FIN) 6:2, Sara Rocha (POR) 6:5, Claudia Kunz (SUI) 6:4, Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) 6:5 and Amalia Matas (ESP) 6:5. It was a very long and exhausting day for Polovinchuk and hopefully she will have recovered a bit by tomorrow. Her opponent in the final match will be Kristina Tkach. The young player from Russia also came from the loser�s side of the draw. She defeated Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 6:0, Veronika Hubrtova (CZE) 6:4, Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) 6:3 and Sandra Baumgartner (AUT) 6:1 in the semi-finals.

In the wheelchair division, both semi-finals turned out to be a close affair. Henrik Larsson was by far the favored player over Matej Brajkovic (SLO). But the Slovenian has had a great day so far, even defeating defending Champion Fred Dinsmore (IRL) with 5:3 in the quarter-finals. Larsson and Brajkovic have already met in the winner�s qualification round where Larrson had smooth sailing and took the match with 5:2. In the semi-final however, things were different. Brajkovic came up strong and gave Larsson a hard time. In the end, Larsson was again able to win the match with 5:4 after an exciting and action-packed performance. The other finalist, Tony Southern (GBR) ousted his teammate Daniel Lee (GBR) with 5:3.

The Dynamic Billard European Championships will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with first round matches in the 9-ball individuals. The finals of the 8-ball competition will be played tomorrow evening at 18:00 CET.

DAY 8 - AM

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Aarts eliminated Becker

In the 8-ball competition of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, Ivo Aarts (NED) eliminated Kevin Becker (GER) from the flowchart with 8:4.

The round is the last 32 players single elimination. Ivo Aarts fought his way there with one walk-over and victories over Daniel Gale (BEL) 8:2 and Marko Lisnic (CRO) 8:7. His opponent, newly crowned team Champion Kevin Becker took down Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 8:5, then Marc Glatz (LUX) 8:6 and finally Guilherme Sousa (POR) 8:4 for his seat in this match. One could have thought that Becker due to the fact that he had just won a gold medal and the fact that he ousted one of Europe�s top guns, Stepanov, was slightly favored in this match. But Aarts did not tend to see it that way. He took a quick 3:0 lead over Becker. Whatever Becker tried thereafter, Aarts did not let him get close. He kept the score at 4:2 and 6:3 before he even went on the hill with 7:3. That match turned out to become a nightmare for Becker. He managed to pull one more rack from Aarts but at 7:4, Ivo Aarts scored the point he needed and won the match 8:4 in order to enter the round of the final 16 players in men�s 8-ball. His opponent in the next round will be Sandor Tot (HUN) who has ousted Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) in the previous round with 8:7.

Other remarkable results from today include defending Champion Niels Feijen (NED) winning with 8:3 over Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP). Feijen also joins Aarts in the round of the last 16 where he will face Andrej Seroshtan (RUS). A slight upset happened in the match between Petri Makkonen (FIN) and new 10-ball European Champion David Alcaide (ESP). Makkonen won the match with 8:5 and sent Alcaide out of the 8-ball competition. Makkonen will now encounter Sebastian Staab (GER) in the next round. Kristoffer Mindreboe (NOR) just managed to extinguish the fires of Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 8:7. Mindreboe will be up next against Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP).

In the women�s division, Vania Franco (POR) took down Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL), European Champion women�s team, with 6:5 in loser�s round 2 this morning. Then she went up against Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) in the loser�s qualification round where she fell with 1:6 to the Austrian. Vivien Schade (GER) ousted Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) with 6:5 in the same round. Defending Champion Caroline Roos (SWE) is out, losing 3:6 to Oliwia Czuprynska (POL).

In the wheelchair division, Fred DInsmore (IRL) won 5:1 in the winner�s qualification round over Jo Schuler (GER). Henrik Larsson (SWE) also entered the single elimination stage with a 5:2 over Matej Brajkovic (SLO). Roy Kimberley (GBR) overpowered Kurt Deklerck (BEL) by a whisker with 5:4.

Today, the tournament stays in 8-ball individual mode with the semi-finals to be scheduled for 19:00 CET later tonight.

The Championships are played on 24 tables which will all be streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.

The event will be 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 federation website www.epconline.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

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