DOUAI – The Coupe D’Europe for classic teams starts tomorrow (Thursday, April 16) in the reigning champion's billiards arena. The French team of Douai-Carvin, featuring the two Belgians Frédéric Caudron and Patrick Niessen and the Frenchman Pascal Dessaint, is the defending champion. Among the challengers are Douarnenez Valdys with Raymund Swertz, Gregory Le Deventec, and Marek Faus; DBC Bochum from Germany with Ludger Havlik, Michel van Silfhout, and John van der Stappen; De Hazelaar from the Netherlands with Jean Paul de Bruijn, Gert-Jan Veldhuizen, and Jordy Kanters; and WBA from Austria with Arnim Kahofer, Patrick Andre, and Michael Hikl.
The nine teams, divided into three groups of three players, will start the preliminary rounds Thursday. All matches will be broadcast live on Kozoom. The preliminary rounds are played on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The semi-finals and final are on Sunday. Three group winners and one best runner-up play the finals. In the groups, the three teams play a double round, so each team plays four matches.
In the preliminary rounds, the match lengths in the classic disciplines are 100, 150, and 200 for one cushion billiards, 47/2, and 71/2, respectively. Those lengths in the final rounds are 120, 200 and 250.
The tournament, from April 16 to 19, will be played at the Gothic Hall of Douai City, Salle Descartes d'IMT NORT EUROPE
CEB management: Jean Pierre Guiraud
Organization: Fédération Francaise de Billard
Participating teams:
Douai-Carvin (title holder)
Frédéric Caudron
Patrick Niessen
Pascal Dessaint
Alain Remond (reserve)
Douarnenez Valdys
Raymund Swertz
Gregory LeDeventec
Marek Faus
Louis Edelin (Reserve)
DBC Bochum
Ludger Havlik
Michel van Silfhout
John van der Stappen
Sven Daske (reserve)
Trisponte Billiard Club Athens
Nikolas Gerassimopoulos
Benoit Legrois
Panagiotis Kourtalis
Charalampos Kondylis (resere)
DDBU
Anders Henriksen
Brian Hansen
Then Nielsen
Thomas Holmerhoj (reserve)
BC Noorderkempen
Ronny Mathysen
Nico van Hanegem
Maarten Janssen
Robby Sonck (reserve)
The Hazel
Jean Paul de Bruijn
Gert-Jan Veldhuizen
Jordy Kanters
Eric Dericks (reserve)
Seccio Billar Foment Molins de Rei
Carles Tuset
Antoni Gutierrez
Jose Albert
Josep Ramon Molina (reserve)
WBA
Arnim Kahofer
Patrick Andre
Michael Hikl
Karl Makika (reserve)
Reserve teams:
Billard Club Osselien
ABC Merklinde
Group formats:
Group A: Douai-Carvin, Noorderkempen, Seccio Billar Foment
Group B: Douarnenez Valdys, DBC Bochum, Trisponto
Group C: WBA, De Hazelaar, DDBU