At the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth, the matches have started. Straight pool is the discipline and the Under 17’s and Under 19’s are on their way. In the category Under 17, defending Champion Fedor Gorst (RUS) made a statement and defeated Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) 75:50.
The match between 16-year-old Gorst and 14-year-old Pehlivanovic was actually the clash of two current Champions. Gorst is defending the title in straight pool and 10-ball while Pehlivanovic holds it in 8-ball. So it was a pretty unfortunate draw for the two. Pehlivanovic had already defeated Krzysztof Kaczmarek (POL) in the first round with 75:37 while Gorst as defending Champion had a walk-over and was ready for his first appearance here in Tirana.
Pehlivanovic executed the opening shot a bit negligent and left a direct shot for Gorst. He instantly received a cruel penalty for that. The defending Champion made use of the chance given to him and started his first visit at the table with 46 balls. In a race to 75, that manifested a massive lead for Gorst. Leading 46:0, Gorst allowed Pehlivanovic to the table for the first time. Pehlivanovic tried to turn the match into a safety battle. He managed to break the rhythm of Gorst and achieved to score 42 points before he missed a shot. Then Gorst got to 60:42 before he let Pehlivanovic after the table again. Having the rough start in mind, Pehlivanovic really made a good effort to turn the match into an interesting encounter. What looked like a clear affair in the beginning turned out to become a thrilling match. Trailing 50:61, Pehlivanovic missed an easy break shot. If he would have made that ball he would have had a good chance to level the match. But instead he missed it and gave Gorst the chance to win the match with the amount of balls remaining on the table. Gorst had no mercy with Pehlivanovic and easily ran the table, winning the match with 75:50. This victory puts Gorst through to the single elimination round of the final 32 players while Pehlivanovic will play the loser’s qualification round against Roberto Bregu (ALB).
Other remarkable results from the first rounds in the Under 17 division include Wiktor Zielinski (POL) winning 75:61 over Kestutis Zadeikis (LIT).
In the Under 19’s, defending Champion Maksim Dudanets (RUS) had a clear victory over Ladislav Hajsman (CZE). Hajsman, who earlier defeated Adem Ulugun (TNC) 100:42 did not find any means against strong Dudanets. The final result of 100:47 in favor of the defending Champion is absolutely justified. In an all-Polish clash that was determined by an unusual amount of errors from both players, Daniel Maciol remained the upper hand over current 9-ball Champion Krystian Cwikla with 100:89. Patrick Hofmann (GER) won 100:83 over last year’s silver medalist Michael Schneider (SUI). All winners from this round are through to the single elimination stage of the last 32 players. All loser need another victory to qualify for the same stage.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth will continue today with straight pool matches in the Under17 and Under 19 division.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.