1-Cushion
CERVERA - The European championship has continued after two days of qualifying rounds with an exciting start today. The German Wolfgang Zenkner, who defends his title, was defeated by the Austrian Arnim Kahofer in a close finish (125-124 in 8 innings) in the first round of his group match. The A-group, in which these two players are classified, further comprises the Spaniards Jordi Gasso and Armando Moreno.
The top players in this championship perform for the first time after a pre-selection of two days. Tonight, eight matches will be played. The first qualifying rounds have been completed. The loss of the reigning champion was the big surprise of the day. The Swiss Gretillat Xavier, one of the other contenders, started with a win against Axel Büscher in eight innings.
The Frenchman Alain Remond had a promising start: he defeated his compatriot Patrick Dupont 125-41 in seven innings.
Patrick Dupont (Group A, 5.714 average), Alvaro Gomez (Group B, 4.444), Pascal Dessaint (Group C, 6.451), Ludger Havlik (Group D, 7.692), Nicolas Gerassimpoulos (Group E, 6.060), Armando Moreno (Group F, 4.000) and Axel Büscher (Group G, 4.000) were the winners of the previous qualifying round.
Topplayers like Esteve Mata, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Frederic Caudron will enter the arena this evening. The matches can be followed live on Kozoom.com for Premium Pass holders.