A Russian night in St. Johann i.Pg, Austria.
The Gold Medals at the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth in the straight pool individuals have just been awarded. Maxim Dudanets (RUS) and Fedor Gorst (RUS) have taken the first titles in this year’s event.
The story of the Under 19’s final is quickly told. Maksim Dudanets had to deal with Michael Schneider (SUI). The Swiss was leading 8:3 when Dudanets got to the table and ran 84 balls, turning the scoreboard to 87:8 in his favor. That broke Schneider’s neck in the match. He did try to come back but he was probably in his chair for too long already. He could not get position on the balls and tried a safety shot. Dudanets called the 3-ball with a combination shot from the pack and ran the needed 13 balls to clearly win the final match with 100:13.
The finals in the Under 17’s was much closer. Defending Champion Daniel Maciol (POL) was almost there, leading 72:53 over Gorst. But then Gorst got to the table and started an amazing effort, running 22 balls to win the match and the Championship with 75:72. This is Gorst’s first title on a European level.
Final standings Straight Pool Under 19’s
- Maksim Dudanets (RUS)
- Michael Schneider (SUI)
- Vitaly Patsura (UKR)
Marsel Safiullin (RUS) - Krystian Cwikla (POL)
Adrijan Todic (SUI)
Andreas Madsen (DEN)
Dogukan Dogu (TNC)
Final standings Straight Pool Under 17’s
- Fedor Gorst (RUS)
- Daniel Maciol (POL)
- Federico Amendola (ITA)
Wiktor Zielinski (POL) - Tony Da Costa (FRA)
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)
Kaylash Persad (NED)
Hasan Emre Vural (NOR)
Medal table after 1 of 5 events
- Russia
- Poland
- Switzerland
- Italy
Ukraine
Earlier today, the first rounds of the 10-ball individuals have been played. The girls have entered the stage here in St. Johann. The only remaining medallist from last year in the girl’s division is Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). She opened her tournament appearance with a convincing 5:0 victory over Vilde Mary Holme (NOR). In the same round, Jana Peters (GER) defeated Michelle Sandman (NOR) with the same result. Kristina Tkach (RUS) won her match over Agata Sidio (POL) with 5:1. Last year’s Champion’s sister Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) also took her first match with 5:2 over Dina Fatihova (RUS).
In the Under 17 category, defending Champion Maksim Dudanets (RUS) is not competing anymore since he reached the age limit and plays now in the Under 19’s. So, last year’s runner-up Eklent Kaci can be considered kind of a favorite player here. He played Kamil Szasor (POL) in his first match and the encounter turned out to become an epic thriler. At 5:5, both players exchanged brilliant safety shots with Szasor being the player with the first chance to clear the table. But he ran out of position and played safety again. Kaci was able to provide several resafes himself but Szasor came up with a brilliant shot with three balls left on the table, forcing Kaci to commit a foul. That brought Szasor to the table with ball in hand and he ended the match 6:5 in his favor. Kaci then went to the loser’s side and defeated Sandro Volery (SUI) with 6:1 which booked him a ticket among the final 32 players in the 10-ball individuals Under 17’s.
In the Under 19’s, defending Champion Joshua Filler (GER) has not been announced by the German Federation. Therefore, only last year’s U17 Gold Medallist Maksim Dudanets and U19 Bronze Medallist Vitaly Patsura (UKR) could be spotted as favorites. Of course, there were also other known names in the field such as Andreas Madsen (DEN), Raphael Wahl (GER) and Cyriel Ledoux (NED). In fact, Wahl and Ledoux met in the winner’s qualification round and the match was very high class. Being 5:6 down, Wahl was at the table with 3 balls left. Wahl missed an easy 10-ball and left a rail-first-shot to Ledoux. The Dutch player took the risk and pocketed the 10-ball, winning that match with 7:5.
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with the first round of the team competition. In the afternoon, the 10-ball individuals will continue.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 24 tables in HiRes quality are providing you with all the action of the event. You do not miss out one single match! Join today!
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.epconline.eu.
The event will is hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.