9-ball individuals bring overall victory to Germany

The 9-ball titles in the individuals have been taken by Patrick Hofmann (GER), Wiktor Zielinski (POL) and Kristina Tkach (RUS).

What an unbelievable performance by Germany’s Patrick Hofmann. He bested Maksim Dudanets (RUS) in the final of the 9-ball Under 19’s 8:5 and won his 4th Gold Medal out of five possible at this year’s Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth. The only other Gold Medallist in that category is … Maksim Dudanets who took the glory in 10-ball. So the two toughest rivals from this week actually met in the final match. Additionally, the outcome would also most likely decide whose nation would win the overall medal count. No wonder, the encounter started thrilling and exciting and both players seemed to be a bit nervous. 4:4 was the score after eight racks. Then, Hofmann seemed to get momentum and overtook Dudanets who did not realize what happened to him. Hofmann surpassed him and rushed to the hill, taking a 7:5 lead. In rack 13, Dudanets was at the table and had a nice and possible layout in front of him. But he missed the 3-ball completely unnecessary and paved the way for Hofmann’s 4-peat this week. Whether it was nervousness or negligence by the likable Russian can only be guessed here. For a fact, Hofmann took his 4th title this week which probably makes him the MVP of the event.

Top eight finishers 9-ball Under 19

1. Patrick Hofmann (GER)

2. Maksim Dudanets (RUS)

3. Kostas Koukiadakis (GRE)

    Daniel Maciol (POL)

5. Krystian Cwikla (POL)

    Mark Mägi (EST)

    Kevin Schiller (GER)

    Michael Schneider (SUI)

The final match in the Under 17’s 9-ball division between Wiktor Zielinski and Kestutis Zadeikis (LIT) was not expected in many ways. While Zielinski is a regular in the latter stages of the event and has already collected five Bronze Medals in previous Championships, Zadeikis has only one Bronze Medal so far from Portoroz in 2014 in the 10-ball discipline. The odds were all in favor of Zielinski. His record here is also very impressive. But the match went along in its own fashion. Instead of Zielinski getting a quick start-to-finish victory, the way to glory turned out to be much more difficult for him. Zadeikis always kept the gap between the two contestants close and never let Zielinski get away with too many points in from of him. after eleven racks, the score was only 6:5 to Zielinski. But then he had the class and went for the rack, winning the match and the title with 7:5 over brave Zadeikis.

Top eight finishers 9-ball Under 17

1. Wiktor Zielinski (POL)

2. Kestutis Zadeikis (LIT)

3. Fedor Gorst (RUS)

    Luca Menn (GER)

5. Kasper Ostlund (SWE)

    Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)

    Uladzislau Shopik (BLR)

    Jan van Lierop (NED)

In the girls division, it was the expected final between the all-time rivals Kristina Tkach and Diana Khodjaeva (BEL). This year so far, Tkach did not let any room for anyone else in claiming a title in the girls division. So Khodjaeva wanted to get her this time at least. But things did not look promising for the Belgian in the early stage of the match. She was trailing 1:3 and 2:4 to Tkach. But she never gave up and hung in there and tried to use her chances if she was given any. And Tkach committed some mistakes. All this setup led to a hill-hill scenario with Khodjaeva breaking rack eleven. She had no ball down so Tkach got to the table. The Russian attempted to pocket the 1-ball which was lying at a very close angle to the pocket. She missed the 1-ball but in doing so, the cue ball struck the 9-ball and it was fluked in the corner pocket. That was a pretty bitter end for Khodjaeva in a really tight match and all her efforts did not pay off. However, Tkach prove her domination over the rest of the field one more time and is a very well deserved Champion.

Top six finishers 9-ball Girls

1. Kristina Tkach (RUS)

2. Diana Khodjaeva (BEL)

3. Pia Blaeser (GER)

    Palina Chernik (BLR)

5. Vilde-Mary D. Holme (NOR)

    Jana Peters (GER)

Final Medal table after 5 of 5 events