Burak Hashas (17), another great win in Europe

ANTALYA – The famous Turkish billiards talent Burak Hashas from Istanbul, who just turned 17, has added another great title to his record list. Besides being the best in the world (last year in the Netherlands), he is also the best in Europe now after winning the final against Austrian Nikolaus Kogelbauer. With his European title for players under 25, Hashas crowned the tournament in Antalya in front of his own audience. Hashas was also the reigning under-17 European champion and thus the under-21 world champion. He won the final in this championship, under-25, against Kogelbauer 40-20 in 28/27 innings.

Burak Hashas finished with 1,300 on average in the recent CEB's 1st GP Longoni Next-en last month. This time at the European Championship in Antalya, he finished with 1.383. The Turkish player won in the group stage against Christos Falangas with 1.578 and against Milan Ettel with 1.667. In the round of 16 against Frenchman Quentin Marcu, he played 1,428 and in the quarterfinals against Dimitrios Seleventas 1,142 and managed to catch the fast-starting Greek.

The semi-final against Sicilian Alessio d'Agata was very competitive. The Italian got off to a good start (15 points in 6), but again Burak Hashas managed to hit back. That was his strong weapon at this EC.

The precocious player is going to have a bright future in the world of three-tie. Burak will soon defend his title in Verderio, Italy, for his last European Under-17 Championship. He is not competing in the under-21 category.

Nikolaus Kogelbauer is number 2 with an average of 1.242, Alessio d'Agata and Seymen Ozbas share 3rd place with 1.155 and 1.160 average. Ozbas played the best match with 2,000 average. Maxime Panaia, 8th with 1,049, had the best series with 10.

The more or less expected final between the two Turks Burak Hashas and Seymen Ozbas was prevented on the last day of play by Nikolaus Kogelbauer. Almost, the even superior Hashas had also missed the final. The 17-year-old top talent, trained in Istanbul's two most famous billiards clubs, had to go to extremes to beat Italian Alessio D'Agata in a hard-fought semi-final.

The Italian had a glorious start with 15-11 in six innings and led 26-21 after 20 innings. With solid play, but without high runs, Hashas fought his way back into the match. He worked away a 29-21 margin, got to 30-28 and from then on seemed to attack: it was 34-30 for Hashas, but D'Agata took another lead with a small run. There were varying chances in the final phase. D'Agata missed twice in a row at 38-37 and was punished for it. Hashas finished the match 40-38 in 31 innings (averages 1,290/1,225, series Hashas 6, D'Agata 8).

The other semi-final, featuring Turk Seymen Ozbas as the best starter against Nikolaus Kogelbauer of Austria. The score was 13-5 for Ozbas, but then Kogelbauer took the initiative. The amiable Kogelbauer rallied to 23-19 in 17 innings, ran out with a run to 30-21 in 20 and decided the match brilliantly with 40-26 in 24. As a result, he finished with 1.666 average in that match and was the biggest rival for Burak Hashas on the stroke.

The most exciting match of the quarter-finals was between the same Nikolaus Kogelbauer and Dane Lukas Mortensen. The two players kept each other in balance until the final stage, where Kogelbauer eventually grabbed the win 40-39 in 33 innings. Alessio D'Agata was also the better in the final stage of his match against Marcos Morales, in which the Italian was the better with 40-36 in 24.

Burak Hashas settled with a formidable opponent in that last eight. Young Greek Dimitrios Seleventas dropped out in the closing stages of the match and was eliminated 40-32 in 35 innings. Seymen Ozbas was the better of Maxime Panaia, a seasoned Frenchman on the European stage. The Turk dominated the match and won 40-28 in 33 innings.

Maxime Panaia did get the highest run to his name with a 10 in his match against Greek Christos Falangas. Four players shone with a 9. Nikolaus Kogelbauer in the best 16 against Mustafa Oguz Ceylan, Marcos Morales in that round against Daniel Kristiansen. Maxime Panaia did well in the qualifiers with a 9 against Björn Jensen and Christos Falangas against Milan Ettel.

With 1.666 average, the best games were by Burak Hashas (30 in 18), Nikolaus Kogelbauer (twice) and Alessio D'Agata (40 in 24).

Burak Hashas, what a brilliant event again in hid 27th of age

Nikolaus Kogelbauer, a great number 2 in Europe