Radon Plaza Hotel
Demala Bijedića 185
Sarajevo
Boznia
www.radonplazahotel.ba
www.epbf.com
www.eurotouronline.eu
www.kozoom.com
26 July - 2 August 2013
Left to right: Joshua Filler, Veronika Ivanovskaia and Daniel Tangudd
Surprising results in the finals
While the favored player won the pupil's division, the winners in the other division were a bit of a surprise.
The pupil's division was dominated by Joshua Filler (GER). He was never really endangered and made his way to the title with a superior performance. His opponent in the final match, Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) did his best to challenge Filler and make his life as hard as possible but in in the end he had to let Filler take the crown with a 6:4 victory in the final. In the girl's match, the favored player got beaten. Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) who has already snatched the crown in 10-ball this week, played a close match with Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER). Both girls did not want to show any weaknesses but the pressure was on for both of them. Some small mistakes were committed on both sides but Ivanovskaia managed to get back on track first. She got back in the zone and made use of the chances that Khodjaeva gave her. A missed ball in the eighth rack opened the doors for Ivanovskaia to claim her first title at European Championships with 5:3 over Khodjaeva.
In the junior's division, Seroshtan was trailing to Tangudd from the beginning of the match. Tangudd played rock solid and won the match clearly and deservedly with 7:3.
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Andrey Seroshtan (RUS)
8-ball down to finals
Andrey Seroshtan (RUS) defeated Tian Zhang (SWE) with 7:4 in the semi-final of the junior's division at the Dynamic Billard EPBF European Championship Youth.
Both contestant started out at even strength. They punished the mistakes from their respective opponent without mercy. This went on until the ninth rack. The score was 4:4 and both players performed at a high quality level.
Seroshtan broke rack number nine and cleared all balls, taking a 5:4 lead. Then it was Zhang's turn to break. But unfortunately for the young Swede he scratched. Seroshtan picked up the cue ball and cleared the table again, getting on the hill with 6:4. Zhang knew that any further mistake could be the end for him. Rack number eleven was opened by Seroshtan. He did not make any ball off the break shot. A perfect opportunity for Zhang to get the rack back from Seroshtan. But Zhang missed an important shot and allowed Seroshtan back into the table. Seroshtan played as cold as ice and cleared the table to book himself a seat in the final match of the junior's 8-ball division. In the final, he will play Daniel Tangudd (SWE) who eliminated Maciej Witkowski (POL) with 7:4 in the other semi-final.
In the girl's division, Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) expectedly defeated Ana Gradisnik (SLO) with 5:3. Her sister Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) tried to follow her example but she failed, losing her semi-final match to Germany's Veronika Ivanovskaia with 3:5.
In the pupil's division, favored player Joshua Filler (GER) left no chance for Maksim Dudanets (RUS) and won the match with 6:3. His opponent in the final will be Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) who defeated Andreas Madsen (DEN) with 6:4. Szolnoki can be regarded as the underdog in that final.
Alen Muratovic (BIH)
Too many errors from Amini against Muratovic
Today started with the beginning of the 9-ball individuals. In the junior's division, Haris Amini (NOR) lost to Alen Muratovic (BIH) 1:8.
The start of the match looked quite promising for Amini. He cleared the table and had only the 8-ball and the 9-ball to pocket. No problems at all in front of him. But he missed an easy 8-ball and gave the rack away to Muratovic who accepted the gift. In the second rack it got even worse. This time, Amini dogged the 9-ball and left it hanging over the pocket for his opponent. Obviously, Amini was not able to handle the pressure to play against a local star on the feature table. Receiving so many presents from his opponent in the early phase of the match increased Muratovic's self confidence and put him on a roll. This scenario can be witnessed in pool billiard very often. If one player misses too many balls, he makes his opponent even stronger. There was no pressure any more. Muratovic had smooth sailing. He cleared rack after rack and in the end, the 8:1 victory was more than deserved for the Bosnian. He will now enter the singe elimination stage of the last 32 players while Amini will get another shot in the loser's bracket.
Other notable results from this morning include defending pupil's 9-ball Champion Andreas Madsen (DEN) sneaking past Mehmetali Sözgen (TNC) with 7:6. In the girl's division, title holder Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) had to give in to Russia's Kristina Tkach with 4:6.
Pupil's team match NED v SLO (l to r) Guido Janssen, Nathalie Seichter, Tim De Ruyter,
Denis Kragolnik, Ana Gradisnik and Klemen Gradisnik
German also juniors on their way
Team Netherlands defeated team Slovenia in the junior's division with 2:1.
The last round of today featured team's matches at the Dynamic Billard EPBF European Championships Youth. While the pupils had a loser's round going on, the juniors ad already entered the single elimination stage. There, team Netherlands had to deal with team Slovenia. In 9-ball, Nathalie Seichter (NED) tried to defend the Dutch colors. But she got simply overpowered by Slovenia's Denis Kragolnik with 8:3 in 45 minutes. That turned the score 1:0 in favor of team Slovenia. At that time, Guido Janssen (NED) was leading 5:0 in 8-ball over Ana Gradisnik (SLO) and her brother Klemen Gradisnik (SLO) was trailing 25:42 to Tim De Ruyter (NED). Everything looked like the decider would once again be the straight pool match. And that turned out to be true. Janssen easily won his 8-ball over Ana Gradisnik with 7:1. While the team score was tied at 1:1, De Ruyter played a much better straight pool than his opponent. He took Klemen Gradisnik down with a clear result of 100:39 and brought the important second point in the team match home to The Netherlands for a 2:1 victory.
In the other junior team match, Germany had to deal with Belarus. What looked like a walk in the park turned out to be a tough fight. Germany's Tobias Bongers wiped the floor with Aliaksandr Hapeyeu in 8-ball, handing him a doughnut with 7:0. But Hapeyeu's teammate Vadim Papizh evened the score to 1:1, winning his 9-ball over Ricardo Gutjahr with 8:4. Again, the decision had to come in the straight pool match. Nino Andreuzzi (GER) faced Vladislav Les (BLR). Though Andreuzzi had won two medals this week already, he was trailing to Les with 45:61 at a certain point in the match. But he recovered and did not give in. He overtook Les and even forced three consecutive fouls on him, turning the score to 67:49 in favor of him. From then on, he did not allow Les back to the table and pocketed the 33 balls needed in one inning. Andreuzzi won 100:49 and brought the 2:1 victory to the German junior team.
The Youth Championships will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with the start of the 9-ball individuals.
10Ball Champs (l to r) Nino Andreuzzi, Kmaila Khodjaeva & Daniel Guttenberger
10-ball competition finished at Youth EC
The finals of the 10-ball competitions have been decided. In the girl's division, favored Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL ) overcame Germany's Veronika Ivanovskaia with 5:3.
In the pupil's division, Daniel Guttenberger (AUT) snatched the gold medal, handing a 6:1 defeat to brave Kamil Szaszor (POL). Both players came to the final match very much unexpected.
In the junior's division, Nino Andreuzzi (GER) really had to work to claim his medal against Daniel Tangudd (SWE). He needed 13 racks to bring the second gold medal to Germany with 7:6. That puts Germany in first place of the medal table after two of five events.
Berk Mehmetcik (TNC)
Tight encounters in junior's 8-ball
It is getting hot in Sarajevo. Not only the outside temperatures are high, but the tension of the 8-ball competition also reached the melting point.
In the single elimination round of the last 32 players in junior's division, Berk Mehmetcik (TNC) delivered a thrilling match with Alex Renard (FIN), getting the better of him with 7:6 in the end. But that was one of the most chaotic matches Mehmetcik has probably ever played. He fouled three times and missed 9 shots in the set - a complete disaster for the talented player from Turkish North Cyprus. However, somehow Renard could not capitalize from Mehmetcik's mistakes. The main problem of Renard was his break shot. He only pocketed balls on 28% of his break shots. A poor proportion. However, he played unspectacular and got his points since Mehmetcik committed too many mistakes when he was in charge of the table.
This lead to a situation where Renard went on the hill, leading 6:4 after ten racks. The pressure became unreal for Mehmetcik. He was the better shotmaker and the favored player but due to his performance he had one foot in the grave. He ran out rack 11 and benefitted from a mistake of Renard to tie the match at hill-hill. In rack 13, Renard broke and had one of the few occasions where he managed to pocket a ball off the break. The table was open for him with some work left to do. He ran six balls and missed the final ball of his group.
Mehmetcik came back in and ran the rack, playing very carefully and averting the catastrophe to lose. In the end, the 7:6 victory for Mehmetcik was lucky but he was the better shotmaker and had the better nerves. However, he will need to improve to stay alive in the 8-ball competition. His next opponent at 15:15 CET will be Martin Todorov (BUL) who defeated Emilis Abelkis (LIT) with 7:2.
Other notable results from today's 8-ball individuals include the 5:0 whitewash of Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) over her sister Diana. She only needed 27 minutes for the whole set. Joshua Filler (GER) made short work with local hero Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH), ousting him 6:0 in 13 minutes from the pupil's flowchart.
Today, 8-ball will be played until 16:45 CET. After that, two rounds of team competition will finish day five of the Dynamic Billard EPBF European Youth Championships.
You can follow all the action LIVE on 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/ .
Kamil Szaszor (POL)
Szaszor defeated Filler in hill-hill thriller
With the closest result possible, Kamil Szaszor (POL) defeated favored Joshua Filler (GER) 6:5 in the semi-final of the 10-ball competition.
It was an entertaining match with a surprising but deserved result. When unheralded Szaszor entered the ring against well known Filler, all odds were placed on the German. And the match started as expected. Szaszor seemed to struggle with his nerves and Filler started playing up to his high standard. After six racks, the score was 4:2 for Filler. He then missed an important shot and allowed Szaszor to keep a foot in the door. Suddenly, Szaszor played as if he had been exchanged. He appeared to be full of confidence and fired in difficult shots without thinking twice. His break shot was not as good as Filler's but he managed to force Filler to commit four foul shots in the match - much more than usual for Filler. With cleverness and a bit of good rolls, Szaszor even got on the hill first, leading 5:4 after nine racks. The pressure was on Filler now. In the 10th rack, Szaszor committed a foul and allowed Filler to join him on the hill. Again, at 5:5 Filler was favored to win the match. But Szaszor did not come all the way to this final to lose. He played a rock solid game in the 11th rack and took it, winning 6:5. That will be the first final match in Szaszor's career so far.
Other notable results include Nino Andreuzzi (GER) defeating his
teammate Tobias Bongers (GER) with 7:6.
Maksim Dudanets (RUS)
Maksim Dudanets with strong performance
Today, the 8-ball competition started at the Dynamic B i l l a r d EPBF European Youth Championships 2013 in Radon Plaza Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina.
In the first winner's round of the pupil's division, Maksim Dudanets (RUS) defeated Andreas Madsen (DEN) with 6:3. Madsen, last year's 9-ball Champion and runner-up in 10-ball, could not find the key to stay on top of his Russian opponent. Though Madsen would have been considered to be the favored player, Dudanets dominated the match from start to finish. He was leading all the way through and never showed any weakness. The best Madsen was able to come up with was trailing 3:4 after seven racks. But Dudanets did not agree with him getting so close so he took the next two racks in a row, winning the match with 6:4.
Other notable results in the 8-ball competition from this morning include defending pupil's Champion Joshua Filler (GER) smashing Vili Kokkonen (FIN) with 6:0. He seems to be right on track with the victory in the straight pool division two days ago definitely put more wind underneath his wings. Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL), defending Champion in the girl's division, emulated Filler's deeds and wiped the floor with her first opponent in 8-ball, Dina Fatikhova (RUS) defeating her 5:0. Moritz Lauwereyns (BEL), the defending Champion in the junior's division 8-ball cannot defend his title since he has reached the age limit. Instead, Berk Mehmetcik (TNC), last year's runner-up, was seeded as the number one player. Mehmetcik will play Guido Janssen (NED) at 13:30 CET.
Today, five rounds of 8-ball are being played before the tournament switches back to the 10-ball competition with the quarter-finals to be started at 17:00 CET. The 10-ball final will be played tonight at 20:00 CET.
You can follow all the action LIVE on 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/
pool-billiard/ .
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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.
