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The Dynamic European Championships - Youth
Tirana Expo Center
Rruga Gjergj Balsha Nr. 6
1029
Tirana
Albania
www.tiranaexpocentre.com
www.europeanpocketbilliardfederation.com
www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu
www.eurotouronline.com
www.kozoom.com

Monday-Sunday 25 July-2 August 2016

Left to right: Maciol, Cwikla, Szaszor and Washburn, Hajsman and Brancusky
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Team Poland victorious over Team Czech Republic in Under 19â€™s

In the Under 19â€™s division of the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth in Tirana, Albania, Team Poland just won 2:1 over Team Czech Republic.

Day five of the Championships started with two rounds of team competition, before the event switches back into 8-ball mode. One team match was the encounter between Team Poland and Team Czech Republic. The Polish team was definitely favored, having won so many medals in the past and being also one of the most successful teams in the medal rankings for some years now. But as we have witnessed so often already during this week, sometimes things donâ€™t quite turn out as expected beforehand. What was expected to be a clear affair for the Polish turned into a thriller with the better end for team Poland. Kamila Szaszor took first blood over Petr Brancusky in 10-ball with 7:2. The Polish seemed to be on track. But Ladislav Hajsman gave Krystian Cwikla a fierce battle in 9-ball and after 14 racks, the score was 7:7 in a race to eight. It was Cwiklaâ€™s break shot coming up. He pocketed the 2-ball and had a good shot at the 1-ball. The layout was nice and easy. He continued shooting balls until he got to the 8-ball. He had a perfect position for it and everything looked like the match was in the bag for him. But Cwikla missed the 8-ball in the corner pocket. It hung over the pocket and brought Hajsman back into the table. The Czech player used his chance and pocketed the 8-ball and the 9-ball to win his match with 8:7 over Cwikla and turn the score in the team match to 1:1. Now the 8-ball had to decide. Daniel Maciol was encountering Calvin Washburn. Maciol was better than Wash burn and won the 8-ball quite comfortably with 7:4. This brought the 2:1 victory to Team Poland but it was anything else but a walk in the park for the favorites.

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Other remarkable results from the winnerâ€™s qualification round include defending Champions Team Germany winning 2:0 over Team North Cyprus. The Netherlands took down Team Norway 2:0 and last yearâ€™s silver medallists Team Russia defeated Team Austria 2:0. On the loserâ€™s side, Slovakia ousted Luxembourg 2:0 while Switzerland ousted host nation Albania 2:0.

In the Under 17â€™s, Team Russia got the better of Team Germany, winning 2:0 over the defending Champions. Fedor Gorst and Ilia Nekleenov wasted no time with their opponents. Gorst defeated Leon Kohl 7:3 in 9-ball while Nekleenov won his 10-ball match 6:3 over Luca Menn. At that time, Egor Trifonov was leading 5:2 over Pete Herman so the match went pretty clearly to the Russians. Denmark defeated North Cyprus 2:1 and Poland won 2:0 over Norway. Since the Albanian team was disqualified, The Netherlands had a walk-over this morning in the winnerâ€™s qualification round.

The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue today with 8-ball matches in the individuals.

THE DYNAMIC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - YOUTH

Palina Chernik (BLR)
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Business as usual in 8-ball individuals

The 8-ball individuals have started today at the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth in all three categories, Under 19, Under 17 and Girls.

The girls division is quite dominated by two players: Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) and Kristina Tkach (RUS). While Kristina Tkach took the titles in 9-ball and 10-ball last year, Khodjaeva snatched it in 8-ball. However, the two teammates from team Europe in the Atlantic Challenge Cup will probably also battle it out here in Tirana this year. These two have lost a total of one (1!) rack so far in 8-ball.

Khodjaeva smashed My Nguyen (SWE) 5:1 and then Lynn Pijpers (NED) also 5:0. Tkach won 5:0 over both, Megan Rademakers (NED) and Roxanne Overeem (LUX). Outside chances in the girls 8-ball might be given to the Germans Jana Peters and Pia Blaeser and Palina Chernik (BLR).

In the Under 17â€™s, defending Champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) definitely belongs to the group of the favorite players here. He won his opener over Szymon Kural (POL) 6:2. A surprisingly strong performance can also be witnessed here from Mustafa Alnar (TNC). He will play the semi-final in 10-ball later on today and also won his first 8-ball match 6:4 over Quiten Pongers (NED). 6:4 was also the final result for Leon Kohl (GER) in his match with Christoffer Lentz (DEN).

Lentz had taken down Desart Demollari (ALB) 6:0 in round one but Kohl managed to send him to the loserâ€™s side. Wiktor Zielinski (POL), newly crowned straight pool Champion is also on his way in 8-ball. He defeated Giulio Dâ€™Egido (ITA) 6:2.

Fedor Gorst (RUS) already has two victories under his belt in 8-ball. He won 6:0 over Karo Langstroem (FIN) to then get the better of Jan van Lierop (NED) 6:4.
In the Under 19â€™s, the defending Champion Pascal Bruckmann (GER) is not attending this year. Runner-up Maksim Dudanets (RUS) was once again seeded number one and bronze medallist from 2015 Kristin Cwikla (POL) was seeded number two. They both lived up to their expectations. Dudanets drubbed Kamil Szaszor (POL) 7:2 while Cwikla trounced Bilge Alacam (TNC) 7:1 even. A thrilling match took place between last yearâ€™s Bronze medallist in 9-ball Michael Schneider (SUI) and Mark Magi (EST). Schneider was expected to be the highly favorite player but Magi gave him a good and fiercely fought over match. After three racks Schneider was expectedly leading 3:0. Then, Magi got into the match and after eight racks, the match was leveled at 4:4. Schneider took the next rack to get a 5:4 lead over Magi. To his horror, that was the last thing he could do against strong playing Magi. The Estonian won the next three consecutive racks and took the match 7:5 away from Schneider. Magi has never yet won a title or a medal at European Championships but he is showing some promising performances here.

The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue today with 8-ball matches until 16:30 local time. Then, the semi-finals of the 10-ball individuals will be played with the final matches scheduled for 18:30 CET.

THE DYNAMIC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - YOUTH

Jori Narvola (FIN)
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10-ball is the game on now in Tirana

At the Expo Center in Tirana, Albania, the 10-ball individuals have started at the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth.

The youngest participant in the whole field has now entered the stage. His name is Jori Narvola, he is from Finland and he will turn 10 years old on October 3rd this year! Unfortunately for him, his first appearance here did not end up in a victory. Narvola lost 4:6 to Louis van der Weken (LUX) in his first match here. He will get another chance on the loserâ€™s side tomorrow morning at 11:00 against Petr Brancusky (CZE). In the Under 17â€™s, again Fedor Gorst (RUS) is the defending Champion. The silver medallist from the straight pool final today took down Kristian Mrva (SVK) 6:1 and with this victory already booked himself a spot among the final 32 players tomorrow.

Also the girls have started their competition here today. Defending Champion Kristina Tkach (RUS) and her opponent from last yearâ€™s final, Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) have one thing in common: They both won their opening matches 5:0. Tkach crushed Nina Torvund (NOR) while Khodjaeva wiped the floor with Laura Hartikainen (FIN). Khodjaeva will face Pia Blaeser (GER) in her next roundâ€™s match and this will surely be a bit closer. Tkach will meet Palina Chernik (BLR). More 5:0 victories were achieved by Kyenna Marcic (NED) over Lynn Pijpers (NED), My Nguyen (SWE) over Michelle Sandman (NOR) and Dina Fatihova (RUS) over Vilde-Mary Holme (NOR). All results in the girls division were quite clear which proves that there seem to be huge gaps in the performance of the different participants.

In the Under 19â€™s, the defending Champion Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) is not attending since he has reached the age limit. The only medallist remaining from last year is Maksim Dudanets (RUS) so he is once again seeded number one in the field. He already justified that seeding, smashing Yannis Baertscher (SUI) with 7:2 in his first match. Kamila Szaszor (POL) defeated Joey Haegmans (NED) with 7:3. Newly crowned straight pool Champion Patrick Hofmann (GER) won 7:2 over Bilge Alacam (TNC).

The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the team competition. After that, the tournament will switch back to the 10-ball individuals.

THE DYNAMIC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - YOUTH

Patrick Hofmann (left) and Wiktor Zielinski
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Hofmann and Zielinski dethrone the Russians

Patrick Hofmann (GER) and Wiktor Zielinski (POL) are the new European Champions in Straight Pool in their respective divisions.

In the Under 19â€™s, Patrick Hofmann had to face highly favored Maksim Dudanets (RUS) in the final match. Hofmann defeated Ladislav Hajsman (CZE) 100:68 and later on Mark Magi (EST) 100:60 in the semi-finals today to book his seat in the final match. His opponent, defending Champion Dudanets, took down Osman Sanlisoy (TNC) 100:44 and Michael Schneider (SUI) 100:16. The final match started out as expected. Dudanets took a quick lead and it looked like a definite victory for the Russian Champion. He took a comfortable 27:-1 lead. It looked like Hofmann could not get going at all in the match. But when the score was 41:13, the German surprised everyone and came up with 54 points in a row, turning the scoreboard to 67:41 in his favor. Dudanets was obviously shocked! â€žWhen I started shooting balls in knew I had the chance to winâ€œ, stated Hofmann after the match, â€žI was not nervous or anything, I just believed in my chance. I thought to myself: Give your best and you can win it!â€œ. The Russian came up with another 11 balls to make the score 67:52. Then he allowed Hofmann back to the table. The young German saw his chance and played ice-cold, knowing and believing that he could do it. And he did! He went all the way and pocketed the remaining amount of 33 balls in order to defeat the reigning Champion and win the match and the Championship with 100:52.

Final match
Patrick Hofmann (GER) v Maksim Dudanets (RUS) 100:52

Semi-Finals
Maksim Dudanets v Michael Schneider (SUI) 100:16
Patrick Hofmann v Mark Magi (EST) 100:60

Top Eight Finishers Straight Pool Under 19
Patrick Hofmann (GER)
Maksim Dudanets (RUS)
Michael Schneider (SUI)
Mark Magi (EST)
Osman Sanlisoy (TNC)
Daniel Maciol (POL)
Krystian Cwikla (POL)
Ladislav Hajsman (CZE)

In the Under 17 division, Wiktor Zielinski met defending Champion Fedor Gorst (RUS). Just like in the Under 19 division, the Russian defender of the title was the highly favored player. But this match took a completely different course than the other final did. It was Zielinski who started shooting and brought Gorst in the position to wait and see how far he could go. After only two innings, Zielinski was leading 64:11. However, he made a bad mistake in order to allow Gorst back to the table. He missed an easy shot in the lower right corner pocket when the table was open and he had enough balls on the slate to finish the match. And the Russian punished him for it. â€žI did not think I would get another chanceâ€œ, stated Zielinski, â€žI knew Gorst is one of the best players here and I was so mad with myself that I made that silly mistake.â€œ In fact, Gorst overtook Zielinski and ran 55 balls in order to turn the score to 66:64 in his favor. At that score he had the opportunity the win the match with the balls remaining on the table but he went for a three-ball combination shot and missed the 8-ball. That in turn brought Zielinski back to the table. He needed what was on there and he finally made all balls in the end, winning the match and the title with 75:66 after a thrilling match. â€žI was really nervous when I got this unexpected chanceâ€œ, added Zielinski, â€žbut I am so happy now that I was able to win the titleâ€œ.

Final match
Wiktor Zielinski (POL) v Fedor Gorst (RUS) 75:66

Semi-Finals
Fedor Gorst v Jan van Lierop (NED) 75:13
Wiktor Zielinski v Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) 75:37

Top Eight Finishers Straight Pool Under 17
Wiktor Zielinski (POL)
Fedor Gorst (RUS)
Jan van Lierop (NED)
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)
Jere Virtaranta (FIN)
Pete Herman (GER)
Luca Menn (GER)
Giuglio Dâ€™Egido (ITA)

The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue today with 10-ball matches in the Girls, the Under 17 and Under 19 division.

The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all 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 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 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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