LAUSANNE / BERLICUM - The European 3-cushion championship is coming to the Netherlands this year in an area that is orange coloured with big championships and other tournaments. In the middle of the summer and holiday period, from 1 to 4 July, the Beneluxtheater in Berlicum is the stage for Dick Jaspers, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Eddy Merckx, Marco Zanetti and many other top players from Europe. The total field counts 64 players, Jaspers is the title holder in his own country. This year, the other major tournaments in the Netherlands are the World Cup in Veghel, the World Championships for women and juniors.
The opportunity to organize this European championship came unexpectedly. "We signed up immediately, because we really wanted this tournament in our region," Harry Mathijssen from the World Cup and Masters organizations makes clear. KNBB chairman Garmt Kolhorn announced the news during the Masters final last Sunday. The European Championship was played for the first time in 1933, with 74 organizations until now. The 2020 edition is the 11th in the Netherlands, 9 times in history there was a Dutch winner of which Dick Jaspers five times in total.
Harry Mathijssen, Ad Smout and the BEN Foundation (Biljart Evenementen Nederland) are ready for a new challenge and promotion with the European Championship. ''Thanks to television broadcasting, which has increased spectacularly, we are on the right track in Dutch billiards. Moreover, there we have full stands for the major events. We already receive requests for VIP boxes at the European Championship. We just will have a slightly bigger arena with four match tables, and fewer seats in the stands. I estimate it at a capacity of around 300 spectators."
Harry Mathijssen made the first contact with Diane Wild of CEB during the World Cup in Korea and later in Sharm El Sheikh. ''We met all the cooperation from the KNBB, our Dutch federation, very quickly. They were supporting us and did the official request for the championship. And now we can start the preparation, which is a lot more intensive than the Masters for sure, because of the international participation. We are a bit unlucky to have the EC during the European Football Championship, but I do expect full stands. We are ready for the mission with our team."
The European federation CEB and its president Diane Wild entered into negotiations with the KNBB in December, after Harry Mathijssen had received the first signs of the championship being released.
Diane Wild reacted to some questions in a Kozoom interview.
The European championship would first be organized in France, is that right? Marseille was a candidate? Why was it given back?
Diane Wild: Yes, the championship was scheduled in France in April. Unfortunately, the French federation had difficulties with public authorities of several cities, because of the political agenda. Elections will be held in March and therefore it was not possible to get support. So we started to look for another venue and due to the very short deadline, we postponed the competition for 3 months. Various possibilities were studied and we are very happy that KNBB accepted the challenge and wants to organize the European championship in the beginning of July. I sincerely thank them.
For the Netherlands it will be a tough year on the international calendar. The World Cup, women's world championships and juniors. Now, with this European championship, the Netherlands has an even more prominent place as an organizing federation.
Diane Wild: I am very pleased with the KNBB's involvement in the organization of events. The KNBB is one of the largest national federations in terms of the number of players and clubs and now we can add, with pleasure, also as organizer.
Regarding the European championship: will Brandenburg continue for all European championships every two years?
Diane Wild: As decided at the previous board meeting, we are currently negotiating with the city of Brandenburg for the next edition in 2021. The decision will be made soon, but I am confident for the next edition in 2021. In that case, all European championships will be regrouped in Brandenburg for 2021. For the season 2021/2022, we are waiting for candidacy from the federations for organizing each of the European championships in all disciplines.
Will the schedule and format be still the same as always? 64 players, 16 seeded players, same pre-rounds, finals, points to make?
Diane Wild: Yes, the schedule and system remain as usual:
64 players (48+16 seeded).
16 groups of 3 (1st qualified), then direct knock-out.
Distance is to 30 points in the groups and 40 points in the final rounds.
Regarding the distance, CEB does not change the rules during the season, for next season, distance will be the same as UMB.
What is known for now concerning the list of seeded players and other players to register? What is the date to determine the seeded players?
Diane Wild: The list of 16 seeded will be compiled according to the CEB ranking when the registration is opened. That is 12 weeks before the start of the championship. The other registered players will be accepted according to CEB rules: first one for each federation and then others up to 48 considering the nations results of last EC. As the European championship starts on Wednesday 1 July, we should open registrations on Tuesday 7th of April.
The CEB board has undergone some mutations: who is the new sports director? Is that the sports leader for the European Championship in Berlicum?
Diane Wild: Yes, following the resignation of Pierre Reynaert as Secretary-General, we have reorganized the CEB board. Jean-Pierre Guiraud is the Secretary-General since 1st of January and Stefano Malacrita the new Sports Director. I am really happy to welcome Stefano to our board. The sports director is responsible for all matters relating to the competitions. We will later discuss in the board who will be responsible for the tournament at the European championship in Berlicum.
With so many events in the Netherlands, should there be a Dutch person in the CEB board?
Diane Wild: Why not, but there is no direct link between the number of UMB and CEB events and the nationality of the CEB board members. There will be general elections in 2021. The CEB federations will determine the composition of the board by voting.
Diane Wild at the last European championship
The organizer Harry Mathijssen and CEB president Diane Wild during their first meeting