Marcos Morales (19) new young star from Spain

AARHUS - 19-year-old Spaniard Marcos Morales from the Spanish billiards school in Murcia is the new European under-25 three-cushion champion. In the final this Sunday afternoon in Aarhus, Denmark, Morales beat 24-year-old Greek Dimitrios Seleventas 40-27 in 21/20 innings (1,904/1,350). Marcos Morales, born in Madrid, is one of the great new talents from the Spanish training school that has already produced so many great players, like in recent years David Martinez, David Zapata, Javier Palazón and Carlos Anguita, among others. The trainer/coach of those talents is Jose Antonio Carrasco. The young billiard players live, go to school and are trained in Los Alcázares on the coast near Murcia.

The new European champion already won a Next Gen European Federation championship last year and was now among the contenders at the European Under-25 Championship in Aarhus. There he faced competitors such as Greek Dimitrios Seleventas, Turks Seymen Ozbas, the world champion, and Denizcan Akkoca, Italian Alessio D'Agata and Frenchman Maxime Panaia, both of whom were for the last time allowed to compete under 25, and two German youngsters: 16-year-old Amir Ibraimov and 24-year-old Aygün Cin.

The best starters at the European Championships were Seleventas (with 2,000 in the preliminary rounds), Seymen Ozbas, Sergio Martinez, Nathan and Tangui Duriez and Alessio D'Agata.

The 16 players for the eighth finals battled out nice duels, in which Akkoca won vs Tangui Duriez, D'Agata vs Nathan Duriez, Aygün Cin vs Panaia, Morales vs Joris van ‘t Zelfden and Ozbas vs Luca Philipoom, among others.

Dimitrios Seleventas signed himself up as the big favorite with strong wins in the quarter-finals against Akkoca (40-31 in 30) and in the semi-finals against Amir Ibraimov with 40-25 in 29. Marcos Morales came through the quarter-finals against Seymen Ozbas in a superb battle (40-39 in 38/37) and through the semi-finals against Aygün Cin with 40-33 in 39 

In the eighth finals, Frenchman Duriez, Dutchmen Philipoom and Van ‘t Zelfden and Swede Svensson, among others, were eliminated.

Marcos Morales proved the strongest in the final against Seleventas with a quick lead, a run of 8 and eventually winning 40-27 in 21/20 and a superb average of 1,904 against 1,350.

The European under-17 and under-19 championships will be played in Los Alcazares in early April.

The final standings of the European under 25:

1. Marcos Morales 10-1,207-8
2. Dimitrios Seleventas 10-1,293-7
3. Amir Ibraimov 8-1,044-6
4. Aygün Cin 6-1,000-10
5. Alessio D'Agata 4-1,048-7
6. Seymen Ozbas 6-1,287-9
7. Denizcan Akkoca 4-0,992-6
8. Georgios Tsokantas 4-0.962-10
9. Luca Philipoom 2-0.880-5
10. Nathan Duriez 4-1,155-9
11. Emanuele Criscino 2-0.905-4
12. Tangui Duriez 2-1,062-8
13. Joris van ‘t Zelfden 2-0.988-8
14. Maxime Panaia 4-0.863-6.

The winner Marcos Morales