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5 - 11 August 2012
Team Portugal: Paolo Costa, Manuel Pereira, & Henrique Correia
(l.t.r.) Foto: EPBF/DK
Championships end with a Portuguese victory
Saturday, 11 August 2012: Team Portugal won the final match over Team Germany with 3:0.
The final was a worthy end of a long week of senior’s pool billiards. Henrique Correia confirmed his top status and hammered Christophe Creter in 10-ball 7:0. That gave a huge advantage to team Portugal, since the other two German contestants were lighting in their respective matches at the time. Manuel Pereira was leading 7:5 over Frank Willner in 9-ball with 7:5 when the 8-ball match with Paolo Costa and Reiner Wirsbitzki went hill-hill at 6:6. This time, Lady Luck was more on the side of the Portuguese team. Paolo Costa pocketed the 8-ball on the break. It was respotted and he was allowed to continue shooting. He had a nice layout ad ran the rack and snatched the final Gold Medal this week for his team. As a little consolation, Team Germany has won the overall rankings by far.
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Top 8 finishers of the Team competition:
1. Portugal
2. Germany
3. Belgium
Sweden
5. Finland
Switzerland
7. Italy
Netherlands
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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
Reiner Wirsbitzki, a cornerstone of the German success Foto: EPBF/DK
Portugal whipped Sweden in the other semi-final
Saturday, 11 August 2012: In an intense and thrilling team encounter, Team Germany defeated Team Belgium in the semi-final with 3:0.
The match came to a final showdown with an advantage for the Germans. Steffen Gross had won the 10-ball over Pascal Budo with 7:4 so team Germany was leading. 1:0. The other tables had both hill-hill situations.
Reiner Wirsbitzki and Johny Vanrijkel were on 6:6 in 8-ball while Ralf Wack and Steve Lambrechts were on 8:8 in 9-ball. Everything was possible at that point in time. One could hear a pin drop in the audience when Wirsbitzki lined up the final 8-ball. He pocketed it and the pressure fell off team Germany.
They started celebrating and shouted out their happiness while the Belgians had to accept their loss.
The other semi-final match between Portugal and Sweden ended 2:1 in favour of team Portugal. Though the result indicates a close match, the Portuguese always remained at the wheel. Paolo Costa had to give in 3:7, playing 8-ball against Jan Lundell. But his teammates Henrique Correia and Manuel Pereira controlled their respective matches. Correia won the 10-ball with 7:2 and Pereira won the 9-ball 9:3, so it was in the bag for Portugal.
The final match will be played between Germany and Portugal.
Team Belgium over Team Sweden Foto: EPBF/DK
Final day of EC starts with team competition
Saturday, 11 August 2012: What a thriller at the Dynamic Billiards European Championships for seniors and ladies. Team Belgium wrestled team Sweden down with a 2:1 victory.
The final day started with a lot of excitement.
Belgium and Sweden met in the winner’s qualification round in order to see who makes the way straight through to the semi-final. The script for the match could not have been more exciting. Jan Lundell took the first point for Sweden quite easily when he defeated Pascal Budo with 7:3 in 10-ball. Steve Lambrechts had not many more problems in his 9-ball match with Mikael Andersson. The Belgian won clearly with 9:5. At that time, Johny Vanrijkel and Peter Eriksson were neck to neck in their 8-ball match. They both knew that their 8-ball would decide the team match. Eriksson had the advantage over Vanrijkel that he went on the hill first.
Leading 6:5, he looked like the sure winner with only two balls and the 8-ball on the table. But amazingly, he missed and easy shot and even scratched with the cue ball. Was that his nerves playing a trick on him? Vanrijkel came in and ended the rack, tying the match at 6:6. In the 13th rack, Eriksson again went ahead and played well. But he fell out of position for his final remaining coloured ball and snookered himself. He was forced to play a jump-shot. Unfortunately for him, he committed a foul during the attempt. Vanrijkel kept his nerves together and ran the table, pocketing the winning 8-ball for a 7:6 victory over Eriksson.
In the other winner’s bracket match, team Portugal defeated Team Germany 2:1. In the loser’s qualification round, Germany will now have to deal with Switzerland whereas Sweden takes on Team Finland.
Katja Kahl (GER) and Giorgio Margola (ITA) Foto: EPBF/DK
Katja Kahl wins the ladies 9-ball
Friday, 10 August 2012: In the final match of the seniors 9-ball division, Giorgio Margola (ITA) came out on top of Jan Lundell (SWE) with 9:5.
Margola dominated the match from the start. He took a comfortable 3:1 lead before Lundell was able to strike back. Lundell even overtook Margola and took a 5:3 lead over the Italian. But then Margola shifted into overdrive. After 13 racks, Margola was on the hill leading 8:5. He received a very bad position from Lundell and had to go over three rails with the cue ball before he could even hit it. But Margola did not only hit it… he pocketed it and ran the rack. That was a strong performance by Margola in a match that had its ups and downs.
In the ladies division, Katja Kahl (GER) defeated Anja Hehre (GER) with 5:1. The top four ladies are all teammates from Germany. Kahl seemed to have smooth sailing in the final match. Her opponent was too nervous. Hehre was only able to take the third rack off Kahl who simply played more solid and better than Hehre.
Top eight finishers in 9-ball:
Seniors
1. Giorgio Margola ITA
2. Jan Lundell SWE
3. Reiner Wirsbitzki GER
Marko Hartikainen FIN
5. Werner Scheu AUT
Mauro Vialetto ITA
7. Ralf Wack GER
Stefano Bazzana ITA
Ladies
1. Katja Kahl GER
2. Anja Hehre GER
3. Susanne Wessel GER
Wienke Thamsen GER
5. Tuija Tiihonen FIN
Ann-Sofie Löfgren SWE
7. Ilona Zalmanova CZE
Manon Melief NED
Giorgio Margola (ITA) Foto: EPBF/DK
Lundell whitewashed Hartikainen
Friday, 10 August 2012: Giorgio Margola (ITA) has won with 9:5 over Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER).
The story of the match is quickly told. In fact, Wirsbitzki defeated himself. He missed unusual many shots. In almost every rack, Wirsbitzki had a chance but something seemed to be wrong with him. Margola benefitted from that and took point after point off Wirsbitzki, winning the match with 9:5. He will meet Jan Lundell in the final match.
In the other seniors semi-final match, Jan Lundell (SWE) showed no mercy with Marko Hartikainen (FIN). It seemed that Lundell pocketed every shot while Hartikainen missed them all. Consequently, the result was 9:0 for Lundell in the end.
The ladies final will be played between Anja Hehre (GER) and Katja Kahl (GER). Hehre defeated Wienke Thamsen (GER) 5:2 in the semi-final while Kahl came back from trailing 2:4 to Susanne Wessel (GER) and still took the match with 5:4.
Jan Lundell (SWE) in his match with Jimmy Worung (NED) Foto: EPBF/DK
Third consecutive win for Lundell
Friday, 10 August 2012: In the single elimination round of the last 32 players in 9-ball, Jan Lundell (SWE) ousted Jimmy Worung (NED) with 9:3.
Worung was the seeded player in this match, being the runner-up from last year in 9-ball. He had won all his previous matches with the greatest of ease. He eliminated Vladimir Antoska (SLK) 9:2 and Mehmet Sanlisoy (TNC) 9:1 in the double elimination stage. Jan Lundell lost his opening match against Jesse Thehu (NED) with 8:9 and made his way through the loser’s bracket, defeating Johann Schernthaner (AUT) 9:1 and Alberto Martini (ITA) 9:7. Then he was drawn against Worung and the odds look promising for the Dutch. But the match turned out to become a disaster for him. Lundell started like a rocket and after four racks, the scoreboard showed 4:0 in favour of Lundell. You snooze, you lose could be the motto for that match. Things just went against the likable Dutch player while Lundell capitalized from his mistakes. The surprisingly clear end result of the match was 9:3 for Lundell.
Other notable results from today’s 9-ball action at the Dynamic Billiards European Championships for seniors and ladies include Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) winning with 9:3 over Peter Eriksson.
In the ladies division, Katja Kahl (GER) smashed Ann-Sofie Löfgren (SWE) with 5:1 while Wienke Thamsen (GER) exited Susanne Wessel (GER) with 5:0 from the winner’s side of the chart.
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