ANTALYA – The European gold follows exactly eight days after silver on the world stage. Eighteen-year-old Amir Ibraimov, one of the main talents in three cushion ever, won his first major title this Monday afternoon at the European Under-25 three-cushion championship. The young, slender German climbed to the top of the podium after defeating 24-year-old Austrian Nikolaus Kogelbauer 40-29 in 25 innings in the final. The victory marks a wonderful moment in his career. "I was already so happy with the silver we won with Germany in Viersen, now I have my first gold, my first major title. What a fantastic achievement, I surely wil enjoy it. My father is here, my friends, I played in the final against one of my great friends."
"The feeling leaves me speechless," said the new champion barely ten minutes after the final, after embracing German national coach Christian Rudolph and receiving congratulations from numerous billiards players.
Amir Ibraimov, not even a full-fledged professional billiards player, only 18 and a student five days a week, was on a high toward gold, but he won't continue his career any differently after these successful weeks. The German student from Duisburg, who lives in a family with a billiards-playing father and brother, thanks his great talent to natural aptitude, mental strength, and the drive to practice in the evenings after school. Success at this European championship didn't come out of the blue. Ibraimov started the preliminary rounds with a loss to Dutchman Joris van 't Zelfde. "I played poorly, didn't feel the billiards at all, and knew it would be difficult to get back into shape."
The luxury of Germany's silver medal in the shadow of World Cup winner Vietnam apparently kept Amir from scoring high in his first match at this European championship. "The pressure played a role, because a lot of people came to watch me. I felt that when I started here. They wanted to see the player who had just won World championship silver, but they saw a player struggling with himself."
The talks he had with his father and the national coach after that match gave him back his confidence. Young Ibraimov, just 18, regained his rhythm, qualified for the knockouts, and then defeated Alptekin Canozkan, a strong Greek, 40-38 in 32 matches. Then, in the quarterfinals, Luis Pinto 40-12 in 20. Finally, in the semi finals, he defeated Abdullah Kaya 40-31 in 29, and for gold, in the final, Nikolaus Kogelbauer 40-29 in 25 innings.
"The end of the World championships in Viersen was maddening, because winning in such an ambiance, and in my own country, was crazy. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish it off because the power was a bit off in that last match."
Amir Ibraimov was already used to winning. In his young career, he had already been runner-up twice at a European championship and a World under-21 championship, and won two Longoni Next tournaments. That's not even counting the ten German titles in various categories.
Young Ibraimov is now taking two days off (relaxing) and then preparing for the Nations event, where he'll play with Tobias Bouerdick. It's another challenge for the under-25 champion, who shared the podium early in the Turkish evening with Nikolaus Kogelbauer, Abdullah Kaya, and Daniel Sainz-Pardo.
The final standings at the European under-25 championship:
- Amir Ibraimov 10-1,250-8
- Nikolaus Kogelbauer 8-1.111-7
- Daniel Sainz-Pardo 6-0.982-8
- Abdullah Kaya 6-1.207-8
- Toni Garcia 2-0.904-8
- Georgios Tsokantas 4-0.824-9
- Luis Pinto 6-0.888-6
- Aygün Cin 4-0.786-5
- Alptekin Canozkan 4-1.209-7
- Seymen Ozbas 3-1.144-8
- Lukas Mortensen 4-1.242-8
- Sergio Martinez 2-0.927-11
- Toon Bollansee 2-0.871-4
- Dimitrios Seleventas 4-1,150-8
- Joris van ’t Zelfden 4-0,909-4
- Nathan Duriez 4-0,821-5
The new champion is on fire: Amir Ibraimovic
The two final players with the two referees: Nikolaus Kogelbauer and Amir Ibraimov