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GKS Katowice is the Polish Pool Team Champion 2025!
Last weekend, the Final4 of the Pool Extraleague was played in the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, with teams from Katowice, Kielce, Tczew, and Łódź participating. The star-studded favourite did not disappoint.

Nine rounds resulted in the four best teams of the Pool Extraleague regular season advancing to the Final4. On Friday, the best teams in the country proceeded to the semi-final double-matches. At this stage, the following teams faced each other:

Fortis Bilard Kielce – Strefa Łódź
GKS Katowice – Europool Arkadia Tczew

The first semi-final saw a clash between the Kielce team, the best squad of the regular season, who had not yet experienced defeat, and Strefa Łódź, a team that fought for a spot in the top four until the very end. This double-match provided considerable excitement for the fans present at Galeria Echo Kielce. In the first encounter, Strefa won 12:10, while in the second confrontation, the 9-time Polish champions triumphed 12:9. Since the result of the double-match was 1:1, a pool penalty shootout was needed to decide the fate of this rivalry. The Kielce players kept their cool better, winning the shootout 8:6 after three rounds. Thus, Fortis advanced to the gold medal match, while the Łódź team was left to play for 3rd place.

"Read More..." for the details.

Unfortunately, the second rivalry did not provide as much excitement. GKS Katowice, whose line-up includes World Champion Wojciech Szewczyk, as well as Daniel Macioł (World Ranking No. 2, two-time World Cup winner), gave Europool Arkadia Tczew no chance, as predicted. The first match ended 12:3, and the second 12:4 in favour of "Gieksa" (GKS Katowice's nickname). In defence of the Tczew team, it must be added that they arrived in Kielce without an important player, the injured Wadim Papiż.

Ultimately, the championship title was to be decided between Fortis Kielce and GKS Katowice, while the fight for bronze was contested by Strefa Łódź and Europool Arkadia Tczew. These battles took place on Saturday, November 8th.

Match for 3rd Place

This time, the Tczew players certainly did not disappoint, as they created a very exciting spectacle with Strefa Łódź, lasting the full distance of 23 frames. After two sessions, Europool Arkadia was leading decisively by five points, but during the third session, the Łódź players, namely Mateusz Śniegocki and Tomasz Kapłan, managed to reduce the lead to zero. Strefa Łódź narrowly overtook Tczew, winning 12:11, and thus achieving a historic bronze medal.

"We had different moments, we didn't always play well, so we are even happier that we managed to return to the fight for the bronze. This speaks very well of our team, because we are able to win even when things are not going our way. Of course, we wanted to play in the final. We didn't succeed, but we achieved our main goal, which was to win a medal," says Śniegocki, the leader of the team from Łódź.

The Final with a Dramatic Ending

Everyone who watched the final double-match between Fortis Bilard Kielce and GKS Katowice learned just how unpredictable sport can be. In the first Saturday clash, the decorated Kielce players played very well and were rewarded with a 12:7 victory. After such a first match, "Gieksa" decided to make a few changes, which paid off during the second confrontation. Both teams, spurred on by the high turnout of fans at the pool table located in Galeria Echo Kielce, created an unforgettable spectacle on Saturday afternoon that will certainly remain in memory for years to come.

The Kielce team started the second match poorly, losing the first session 1:4. But that didn't break them; the next session, played by the Skowerski-Batkowski duo, saw them recoup their losses and more. Before the third session of this match, the scoreboard showed 8:6 in favour of the team from the Świętokrzyskie region.

The final change was a true sports rollercoaster. Eventually, the teams reached a score of 11:11, and the fate of the championship match was decided by the result of just one frame. The Kielce players were at the table and had an easy layout to finish, but Mariusz Skoneczny committed a curious foul. The hosts stumbled on the final straight, which the Katowice players took advantage of. "Gieksa's" victory meant only one thing – a penalty shootout. This definitely did not go according to Fortis's plan. GKS played the shootout much better, winning 7:4, and thus claiming the Polish Championship.

"I feel like I played at two hundred percent of what I can currently present, and yet it wasn't enough for gold. I won't hide the fact that this is probably one of the most painful defeats in my career. The circumstances that led to the penalty shootout knocked us off our feet. Unfortunately, we failed to rally and perform well in the shootout," states Sebastian Batkowski from Fortis Bilard Kielce.

"The pressure was enormous, and we won by the thinnest possible margin," notes Wojciech Szewczyk from GKS Katowice. "The match was almost over, yet it revived, leading to penalties, which were also a terrible case of nerves on both sides. I am glad that I can experience these moments with my teammates. I am very proud of them and thank them," he adds.

Seventy-one teams participate in the Polish Billiards League competition. Nine compete in the Extraleague, 10 in the 1st Polish Billiards League, while 52 teams compete in 9 groups of the 2nd Polish Billiards League. The Polish Billiards Association is the organizer of the league competitions.

Partners: Marshal's Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, ML Bilard, Mezz Cues, Aramith, Iwan Simonis, Clash Steel, RS Active, Galeria Echo, Galeria Libero Katowice, City Hall of Katowice.

Media Patrons: AzBilliards (USA), Pro9 (Great Britain), Alison CHANG (Taiwan), 77.billiards (Philippines), Wiadomosci-Lodz.pl, TVP3 Poznań, Głos Wielkopolski, gloswielkopolski.pl, Poznań naszemiasto.pl, sp360.pl, PodlaskiSport.pl, Gazeta Tczewska, Tczewska.pl, WKatowicach.eu, Echo Dnia, Radio Kielce, TVP3 Kielce, Radio FAMA, Eska2, Telewizja Świętokrzyska, Radio eM Kielce, Radio Rekord, wKielcach, CKsport.pl, On Cue Podcast, Tczew.pl.

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