Tirana Expo Center
Rruga Gjergj Balsha Nr. 6
1029
Tirana
Albania
www.tiranaexpocentre.com
www.europeanpocketbilliardfederation.com
www.europeanpoolchampionships.eu
www.eurotouronline.com
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Monday-Sunday 25 July-2 August 2016
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No big upsets in Tirana so far
Day One of the Dynamic Billard European Championships ended without bigger upsets or unexpected results in the straight pool discipline.
In the Under 19 division, Maksim Dudanets (RUS) lived up to the expectations and won his match in the round of the last 16 players uncontested against Federico Amendola (ITA) with 100:31. Dudanets will play the quarterfinal tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time.
Another hot tip for the title is Daniel Maciol (POL). He defeated Timofey Sereda (BLR) 100:85 in the round of the last 32 players and then won against Yannis Bartscher (SUI) 100:58 to book his seat in the quarterfinal. Probably the toughest match in that round happened between Kamil Szaszor (POL) and Osman Sanlisoy (TNC). After a really mean struggle, Sanlisoy managed to win the match a bit surprisingly with 100:94.
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In the Under 17 division, Fedor Gorst (RUS) had some more problems in the previous round. First, he smashed Stein Tore Nybakk (NOR) 75:5. Then, he got some more work to do with Leon Kohl (GER). During the first part of the match, Kohl was having a nice lead over Gorst. He was up 39:18 and 53:44. Gorst however needed two innings to change that in his favor. He first leveled the match at 51:52, then he shifted into overdrive and won the match in the next inning with 75:52.
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) turned out to become a nightmare for team Denmark today. He eliminated Andreas-Steen Bonnelykke (DEN) 75:13, then got the better of Mickey Krause (DEN) 75:51. Wiktor Zielinski (POL), last year’s runner-up, made short work of Jonas Souto (ESP) 75:13 and then Szymon Blazej (POL) 75:38 to keep his chance for a title in straight pool this year alive.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with quarterfinal matches in the straight pool. The finals will be played at 13:00 local time. After that, the tournament continues with matches in the 10-ball discipline.
AM - MONDAY 25 JULY 2016
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Defending Champion Gorst took first blood
At the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth, the matches have started. Straight pool is the discipline and the Under 17’s and Under 19’s are on their way. In the category Under 17, defending Champion Fedor Gorst (RUS) made a statement and defeated Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) 75:50.
The match between 16-year-old Gorst and 14-year-old Pehlivanovic was actually the clash of two current Champions. Gorst is defending the title in straight pool and 10-ball while Pehlivanovic holds it in 8-ball. So it was a pretty unfortunate draw for the two. Pehlivanovic had already defeated Krzysztof Kaczmarek (POL) in the first round with 75:37 while Gorst as defending Champion had a walk-over and was ready for his first appearance here in Tirana.
Pehlivanovic executed the opening shot a bit negligent and left a direct shot for Gorst. He instantly received a cruel penalty for that. The defending Champion made use of the chance given to him and started his first visit at the table with 46 balls. In a race to 75, that manifested a massive lead for Gorst. Leading 46:0, Gorst allowed Pehlivanovic to the table for the first time. Pehlivanovic tried to turn the match into a safety battle. He managed to break the rhythm of Gorst and achieved to score 42 points before he missed a shot. Then Gorst got to 60:42 before he let Pehlivanovic after the table again. Having the rough start in mind, Pehlivanovic really made a good effort to turn the match into an interesting encounter. What looked like a clear affair in the beginning turned out to become a thrilling match. Trailing 50:61, Pehlivanovic missed an easy break shot. If he would have made that ball he would have had a good chance to level the match. But instead he missed it and gave Gorst the chance to win the match with the amount of balls remaining on the table. Gorst had no mercy with Pehlivanovic and easily ran the table, winning the match with 75:50. This victory puts Gorst through to the single elimination round of the final 32 players while Pehlivanovic will play the loser’s qualification round against Roberto Bregu (ALB).
Other remarkable results from the first rounds in the Under 17 division include Wiktor Zielinski (POL) winning 75:61 over Kestutis Zadeikis (LIT).
In the Under 19’s, defending Champion Maksim Dudanets (RUS) had a clear victory over Ladislav Hajsman (CZE). Hajsman, who earlier defeated Adem Ulugun (TNC) 100:42 did not find any means against strong Dudanets. The final result of 100:47 in favor of the defending Champion is absolutely justified. In an all-Polish clash that was determined by an unusual amount of errors from both players, Daniel Maciol remained the upper hand over current 9-ball Champion Krystian Cwikla with 100:89. Patrick Hofmann (GER) won 100:83 over last year’s silver medalist Michael Schneider (SUI). All winners from this round are through to the single elimination stage of the last 32 players. All loser need another victory to qualify for the same stage.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue today with straight pool matches in the Under17 and Under 19 division.
EC PREVIEW
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Tirana about to host the first European Billiards Championship ever in Albania
In the upcoming four weeks, a Billiard festival will be celebrated and Tirana, Albania will be the capital of the celebrations. The venue is the Tirana Expo Center, Rruga „Gjergj Balshaj“. 24 tables are set up and waiting for the first players to arrive today. The venue is a large expo center hall and with an outside temperature of almost 40 degrees Celsius, the air condition of the building will have to work hard during the next weeks.
The festival starts with the Dynamic Billard Championships Youth. 104 athletes in the categories Under 17, Under 19 and Girls will open the games. They will compete in straight pool, 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball and team competition. Many medals and titles are at stake for the youngsters and it will be very interesting to see whether the established nations can gain most of them or whether surprises can be witnessed and unheralded kids claim their shots at the trophies. The Youth Championships starts tonight with the opening ceremony and ends with the 9-ball finals on August, 1st. Matches begin tomorrow at 09:00 local time.
After the Youth, the Euro-Tour comes to town with Europe’s elite players to play in the Dynamic Billard Albanian Open and in the Dynamic Billard Albanian Women Open. Around 150 players have announced for both events so far and play will start on August 5th (Open) and August 6th (Women) with both finals scheduled for August 7th. Both Euro-Tour events are played in 9-ball only and a prize fund of over 37.000,-€ in total is awarded to the players in the respective final ranks.
On August 8th, the Dynamic Billard European Championships Seniors & Ladies will commence. Another 97 players will set foot on Albanian ground and joust for titles, medals and glory. Again, straight pool, 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball and team competition is held and finals in 9-ball are scheduled for the last day which is August 16th, 2016.
Over 30 different nations will be represented in Tirana and it is definitely the largest event for the country so far. „Since this event is the first one in Albania, we are of course facing several challenges“, stated the President of the EPBF, Gre Leenders. „The Albanian Federation and all people involved are very kind and helpful and I am sure that we will make these events a huge success for pool for both, the EPBF and Albania“, added Leenders. „Of course it is a great endeavour to come to a „new“ country and have several events in a row, but once the tournaments are running we will be on track; I’m very sure about that“.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will begin tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with first round matches in the straight pool discipline, Under 17 and Under 19 division.
The Championships will be 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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