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The Dynamic European Championships - Seniors and Ladies
Tirana Expo Center
Rruga Gjergj Balsha Nr. 6
1029
Tirana
Albania
www.tiranaexpocentre.com
www.epbf.com
www.epconline.eu
www.kozoom.com

Monday-Tuesday 8-16 August 2016

Gianluca Boni (left) and "Fabulous" Fabio Petroni
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Boni eliminated teammate Petroni from 8-ball

Gianluca Boni (ITA) has just ousted his teammate �Fabulous� Fabio Petroni (ITA) from the 8-ball competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies in Tirana, Albania, with 7:6.

Actually, Petroni was the clear favored player in this match. He does have a history in international pool, including two silver and two bronze medals that go as far back as 1998 where he lost the final in 9-ball to win the silver medal. Boni is more or less an uncharted territory in international pool.

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The expectations were set and the match was on. Boni managed to take first blood in the match but after that he was always trailing to Petroni. �Fabulous� even went on the hill with a comfortable 6:4 lead over Boni. But Boni hung in there and pulled two racks back from Petroni who seemed to play a bit careless at times. In the deciding 13th rack, Boni cleared all balls of his group but missed the 8-ball. Petroni even got ball in hand since Boni scratched on his attempt to pocket the 8-ball. Having seven open balls of his group in front of him, Petroni started pocketing but again, he seemed careless and negligent with his chance. He talked continuously and it looked like he felt he was already the winner. Worse came to worst for him when he played the 3rd last ball of his group and left it hanging over the pocket. He left a short and easy shot for Boni on the 8-ball who took that present and advanced with a 7:6 triumph over Petroni to the round of the last eight players while Petroni is out and has to settle for 9th place in seniors 8-ball individuals.

Other remarkable results from today include Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) defeating Antonio Neves (POR) 7:4. Sanne Azar (SWE) took down Henrique Correia (POR) 7:4 as well. Jan Keller (DEN) pipped Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) by a whisker with 7:6.

In the ladies division, Ulrika Andersson (SWE) one more time made her way through the winner�s side to the semi-finals, defeating Patricia Ignesti (ITA) 5:3. Also in the semi-final is Susanne Wessel (GER) who managed to get the better of her teammate Monika Jarecki (GER) 5:4.

The Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with the first matches of the 9-ball individuals.

FRIDAY 12 AUGUST 2016 - AM REPORT

Left to right: Weichart, Mosler, Radakovits (AUT) - Ericson, Andersson, Azar (SWE)
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Drama in team match Austria versus Sweden

Today the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies features team matches and 8-ball individuals. In the teams loser�s round one, Austria defeated Sweden in a thrilling drama 2:1.

Actually, the whole match boiled down to one shot that Sanne Azar (SWE) missed. The other two matches have finished almost simultaneously. Thomas Radakovits (AUT) won the 8-ball 7:4 over Glenn Andersson (SWE) while Stefan Ericson (SWE) snatched the 9-ball match 8:7 from Michael Moser (AUT). The team score was even at 1:1 with only the 10-ball going on between Azar and Markus Weichart (AUT). The Austrian was dominating the match very much from start until the score was 6:2. He had a nice 4-rack lead being on the hill already. But Azar can fight. He made his way back into the match and pulled rack after rack from Weichart. After 12 racks, the score was even tied at 6:6 with the showdown to come. One rack decided about going further or going home. Weichart broke the rack but no ball went down. The cue ball was frozen to the 2-ball but the 1-ball was available. Azar played an extremely difficult shot - especially in that situation - and pocketed the 1-ball. He then continued playing and had everything in front of him. No problems were on the table, it was just pocketing balls and getting position. He did everything right until he came to the 9-ball. Two more balls left on the table for the glory. Words can hardly describe what happened then. He missed a 9-ball that was almost impossible to miss and left two balls in front of the pockets on the table for Weichart. What a drama for Azar! After that huge comeback, he failed on that easy shot. Weichart got to the table and pocketed the two balls remaining for the victory. Team Austria took a 2:1 victory over team Sweden with that match and eliminated the Scandinavians out of the team competition. Austria will now play team Portugal in the next round. The Portuguese won 3:0 over North Cyprus. Team The Netherlands won 2:0 over team Turkey and will now meet team Finland who ousted team Norway 2:1 today.

Other remarkable results from today include defending 8-Ball Champion in the ladies division, Barbara Bolfelli (ITA), winning 5:0 over Ursula Habersaat (SUI). She now advances on the loser�s side to the next round where she will meet her teammate Cristina Moscetti (ITA). Karin Michl (GER) overpowered Ann-Sofie L�fgren (SWE) with 5:1 and will now encounter teammate Hildegard Kasper (GER) who defeated Monika Oeschger (SUI) with 5:0. In the winner�s qualification round, Ulrika Andersson (SWE) will meet Patrizia Ingest (ITA) while Monika Jarecki (GER) and Susanne Wessel (GER) will play the other match.

In the seniors division, defending Champion Sanne Azar outplayed Csaba Nagy (HUN) 7:3 and advanced to the single elimination round of the last 32 players which will be played today at 16:30 local time. Sandor Tot (HUN), newly crowned European Champion in seniors 10-ball, won a heartbreaker with 7:5 over strong Kostas Konnaris (CYP). Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER) made unexpected short work of �Fabulous� Fabio Petroni (ITA) and sent him to the loser�s side with 7:1. Angelo Salzano (ITA) wrestled Dino Ceramic (BIH) down with 7:6. Gianluca Boni (ITA) got the better of Jim Telfer (NED) with 7:3.

THURSDAY 11 AUGUST 2016 - PM REPORT

Sandor Tot and Susanne Wessel
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Wessel and Tot reach out for 10-ball Gold

Susanne Wessel (GER) and Sandor Tot (HUN) have just won the Gold Medals in the 10-ball individuals at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies in Tirana, Albania.

Sandor Tot stormed off like a hurricane in the senior�s final. He took a quick 3:0 lead over Azar, being like at times. When he fell out of position, he came up with good safeties and he did not allow Azar to get in his game at all. So the Swedish had to somehow force himself into the match. He achieved that in the 4th rack which he broke and ran at high speed. Tot gave him the right answer and did the same in the next rack, pocketing a difficult 10-ball to make the score 4:1. Rack six saw Azar making two misses in a row but coming out lucky since he never left a shot for Tot. The Hungarian attempted a safety shot and completely missed the 1-ball. So Azar got to the table with ball in hand. To everyone�s surprise, Azar already missed the second shot again. He seemed to be completely demoralized. But also Tot showed nerves. He snookered himself on the 5-ball. So he tried to leave a tough shot for his opponent but Sanne Azar made that shot and stole that rack back from Tot. After that rack, Azar took a time-out and tried to compose himself and let Tot stew in the arena, thinking about his mistake. But it did not work as Azar had hoped. Tot snatched the next rack and made the score 5:2. Only two more racks to reach out for glory for Tot. But Azar took the next rack and at 5:3, Tot came up dry with his break shot. However, Azar could not benefit form it. Obviously he was struggling with the pace that Tot put to the match. Tot got on the hill with 6:3. In the 10th rack, Tot as well as Azar missed shots but Tot was the luckier player. He got the knuckles of the pockets when he needed them and finally snatched the rack and the match from Azar, winning the title with 7:3.

Semi-final results:
Sandor Tot (HUN) v Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) 7:4
Sanne Azar (SWE) v Jimmy Worung (NED) 7:4
Top Eight 10-ball Seniors:
1. Sandor Tot (HUN)
2. Sanne Azar (SWE)
3. Vegar Kristiansen (NOR)
Jimmy Worung (NED)
5. Frank Forster (GER)
Manuel Pereira (POR)
Fabio Petroni (ITA)
Jesper Schmidt (DEN)

The final match in the ladies division was a one-person-show by German Susanne Wessel. She simply overran Cristina Moscetti (ITA) 5:1. Moscetti never had a real chance and was only able to open her account when Wessel was already on the hill. Being 0:4 down in a final race to 5, it is almost impossible to come back. Wessel allowed Moscetti to prevent the whitewash from happening and gave her one rack before she closed the book on the final match and won the Gold Medal 5:1.

Semi-final results:
Cristina Moscetti (ITA) v Karin Michl (GER) 5:4
Susanne Wessel (GER) v Ulrika Andersson (SWE) 5:3

Top Six 10-ball Ladies:
1. Susanne Wessel (GER)
2. Cristina Moscetti (ITA)
3. Ulrika Andersson (SWE)
Karin Michl (GER)
5. Barbara Bolfelli (ITA)
Monika Jarecki (GER)

The Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches of the 8-ball individuals seniors winner�s qualification round.

THURSDAY 11 AUGUST 2016 - AM REPORT

Marcel Schaerer (top left) and Jim Telfer
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Telfer rides the winning wave over Schaerer

Jim Telfer (NED) subdued Marcel Schaerer (SUI) 7:2 in the first winner�s round of the 8-ball individuals at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies in Tirana, Albania.

Telfer started the match with his break shot but had no ball down. So Schaerer had the first chance to win a rack since all balls were widely spread. But he snookered himself on his last colored ball and committed a foul so Telfer ran the table and drew first blood. In the next rack, Telfer almost committed the same mistake as Schaerer earlier. He pocketed all striped balls but fell out of position for the 8-ball. He attempted to pocket it over one rail into the side pocket but he failed. Now Schaerer got to the table with all the solids nicely spread out for him. But he missed his second shot already and Telfer made the 8-ball to take a 20 lead over Schaerer. As the match went on, things continued as in the first two racks. Telfer simply made less mistakes than his opponent which finally and consequently brought him the 7:2 victory over the Swiss player.

Other remarkable results include defending Champion Sanne Azar (SWE) winning his first match 7:1 over Jorgen Nilsen (NOR). In the next round, Azar will go up against Csaba Nagy (HUN). Nagy took down Davy Piergiovanni (ITA) 7:2 in the first round and then squeezed past Stefan Ericsson (SWE) by a whisker with 7:6. The draw this year is pretty tough for Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER). His first two matches were no challenge to him. He clobbered Onur Abdik (TUR) 7:1 and Tero Kaivonen (FIN) also 7:1. But his next opponent will probably give him more resistance. He will have to deal with Fabio Petroni (ITA), experienced senior player from Italy. Petroni overmastered Dag-Joran Aralden (NOR) 7:4 in his first match.

In the ladies division, Ulrika Andersson (SWE) wasted no time with Monika Oeschger (SUI). 5:0 was the final result in favor of Andersson who will go against defending Champion Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) in the next round. Patrizia Ingest (ITA) got the better of Karin Michl (GER), winning the match 5:2. Ann-Sofie L�fgren (SWE) showed nor mercy with Anne Nieminen (FIN), sending her to the loser�s side with a clear 5:1.

This afternoon at 17:00 local time, the semi-finals of the 10-ball individuals will be played with the final matches scheduled for 19:00 today.

WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST 2016 - PM REPORT

Enrique Correia (POR)
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Defending Champion Correia takes no prisoners

At the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Ladies in Tirana, Albania, Henrique Correia (POR) won his first two matches in 10-ball and advanced to the round of the final 16 players single elimination.

In his first match today in the single elimination round of the last 64 players, Correia dealt with Murat-Can Bedir (TUR). Correia was clearly dominating the match and ousted the Turkish clearly with 7:2. Then, Correia went on to take down Gabor Erdelyi (HUN). Though the Hungarian provided a bit more of a challenge for the defending Champion, Correia again wasted no time and eliminated Erdelyi 7:4. He will now face Jesper Schmidt (DEN) in his next match at 16:30 local time. That match could become a challenge for Correia since Schmidt has also won quite convincingly over two tough opponents today. The first one was Antonio Neves (POR) 7:5. Then he defeated Kostas Konnaris (CYP), yesterday�s Bronze Medallist, by a whisker with 7:6.

Other remarkable results from today include Jimmy Worung (NED) winning 7:3 over Marcel Schaerer (SUI), the 7:2 over Giorgio Margola (ITA). If Worung wins his next match with Stefan Ericsson (SWE) he will have to deal with the winner of the match between Correia and Schmidt. Jim Teller (NED) is also still a hot candidate in the race for the senior�s 10-ball title. He is facing Sanne Azar (SWE) in the round of the final 16 players.

In the ladies division, defending Champion Cristina Moscetti (ITA) is through to the semi-final. She pipped Ann-Sofie L�fgren (SWE) barely with 5:4, then took on Monika Jarecki (GER) with 5:3. The second player who made her way through the winner�s side is Sweden�s Ulrika Andersson. She overpowered Patrizia Ingest (ITA) 5:3, the whitewashed Hildegard Kasper (GER) 5:0 and proceeded to cream Karin Michl (GER), last year�s runner-up with 5:2. On the loser�s side, Susanne Wessel (GER) will play Jarecki for a seat in the semis while Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) will play for the same spot against Karin Michl.

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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