LEUVEN - The French team at the European championship three-cushion for young players under 17 entered the final rounds with all three players. Maxime Panaia qualified as best of eight players with six match points and 1.224 average. The other French players are Rémi Chenay, Panaia's opponent in the quarterfinals and Enzo Riquart, the French youth champion free game.
The Belgian Dylan Parent, who had started with a loss and a draw, played a magnificent last game in the group, het beat the Spaniard Mayor (20-9 in 9, 2.222 average) and therefore went along to the final round with three points and 1.115 average.
Simon Blondeel finished on top in Group B with four points and 0.879 ahead of Parent and Chenay. Panaia won Group A followed by D'Agata. Enzo Riquart finished first in Group C with four points and 0.740.
Seeded players:
Group A: Panaia (1.224) and D'Agata (1.019)
Group B: Blondeel (0.879), Parent (1.115) and Chenay (0.779)
Group C: Riquart (0.740), Kogelbauer (0.652), Ettel (0.928)
The matches in the quarterfinals:
Panaia-Chenay
D'Agata-Riquart
Blondeel-Parent
Kogelbauer-Ettel.
Maxime Panaia, the number one in the preliminaries