BRANDENBURG AN DER HAVEL - The European billiards championship in Brandenburg an der Havel highlights all the disciplines of billiard sport from 25 April to 5 May. The mega-tournament combines all the popular disciplines in one championship. In total, over 500 athletes from 21 different countries are in the battles for the coveted European titles in the eleven days marathon in the Stahlpalast. All games are broadcast live on kozoom.com. The overall leading is in the hands of CEB chairman Diane Wild. The general sports director and competition leader is Jean-Pierre Guiraud.
Kozoom reporter Frits Bakker provides the previews of all disciplines during the championship.
Today part 2:
The European championship balk-line 71/2 will be on Friday April 26th and Saturday the 27th.
The European championship balk-line 47/2 is from Sunday April 28th to Tuesday the 30th.
BRANDENBURG - The classic disciplines at the European championship will kick-off on Friday April 26th with the 71/2 balk-line discipline. The Spaniard Raul Cuenca will be defending his title in a field with many big names. The 24 finalists are divided into 8 groups of 3, the group winners are placed for the quarters. The group matches are played to 150 points on April 26, from the quarterfinals the matches are on Saturday April 27. The championship in 47/2 will be played from Sunday, April 28th to Tuesday the 30th with 24 players to start in eight groups of three players. Eddy Leppens is the title holder. The Dutch players Sam van Etten and Raymund Swertz are the main contenders for gold after their performances at the last Europe Cup.
The winners earn 2,000 euros, the numbers two and three on the podium 1,000 and 750 euros.
Big name players such as Eddy Leppens, Dave Christiani and Anrim Kahofer, who are known as World Cup players in three cushion, are at the start in the field of the balk-line 47/2. Among the major contenders in the classic disciplines are Raul Cuenca, Xavier Gretillat, Esteve Mata, Willy Gérimont, Marek Faus and Thomas Nockemann. The French delegation consists of many renowned classic players.
Raul Cuenca crowned himself to the medal king two years ago at the Europeans. The now 39-year-old Spaniard from Sueca won the 71/2 and was on the podium for the 47/2 and one cushion. Eddy Leppens won the gold medal in the 47/2 after a high tension final against Raymund Swertz. Both finalists finished the 250 points in one inning. Leppens then won the shoot-out and took his first European title.
The group format for 71/2:
Group A:
Raul Cuenca (Sp)
Sven Daske (Germ)
Adam Baca (Cz)
Group B:
Marek Faus (Cz)
Pascal Dessaint (Fr)
Kostas Antonopoulos (Gr)
Group C:
Arnim Kahofer (Aus)
Esteve Mata (Sp)
David Jacquet (Fr)
Group D:
Nikolas Gerassimopoulos (Gr)
Eddy Leppens (Bel)
Xavier Gretillat (Zw)
Group E:
Dave Christiani (Nl)
Benoit Deziles Legros (Fra)
Anders Hendriksen (Den)
Group F:
Jean-Francois Florent (Fr)
Adam Kozak (Cz)
Sam van Etten (Nl)
Group G:
Raymund Swertz (Nl)
Thomas Nockemann (Ger)
Willy Gérimont (Fr)
Group H:
Michel van Silfhout (Nl)
Janis Ziogas (Sw)
Otto Lipscher (Hon).
The first games are on Friday, April 26th starting at 9:00am and Saturday the 27th the quarterfinals start at 9:00am. The final is at 7:00pm.
The group format for the 47/2:
Group A:
Raymund Swertz (Nl)
David Jacquet (Fr)
Raul Cuenca (Sp)
Group B:
Eddy Leppens (Bel)
Anders Hendriksen (Den)
Jean-Francois Florent (Fr)
Group C:
Marek Faus (Cz)
Benoit Deziles Legros (Fra)
Kostas Antonopoulos (Gr)
Group D:
Xavier Gretillat (Sw)
Patrick Dupont (Fr)
Arnd Riedel (Ger)
Group E:
Nikolaos Gerassimopoulos (Gr)
Adam Kozak (Cz)
Pascal Dessaint (Fr)
Group F:
Willy Gérimont (Fr)
Carlos Marques (Lux)
Markus Melerski (Ger)
Group G:
Arnim Kahofer (Aus)
Sam van Etten (Nl)
Pierre Martory (Fr)
Group H:
Michel van Silfhout (Nl)
Sven Daske (Ger)
Esteve Mata (Sp).
The first matches in the preliminaries are on Sunday, April 28 at 9:00am. The quarterfinals start on Monday, April 29 at 12:30pm. The final will be Tuesday, April 30 at 10:30am.
Eddy Leppens took his first Europese title two years ago