ANTALYA - Turkish billiards has already been blessed this year with Tayfun Tasdemir as the world champion, Turkish super duo Tasdemir/Sayginer at the Nations World championship and 17-year-old Burak Hashas as the World and European junior under-25 champion. Another new Turkish idol announced himself at the European championships this Friday: 28-year-old Berkay Karakurt beat both Dick Jaspers, the world number one and five-time world champion, and Torbjörn Blomdahl, the six-time world champion, in one single day. The Turks in the stands at the European championships in Antalya rewarded young Karakurt with thunderous applause after his glorious day. Tomorrow, Saturday at 12.00 Turkish time, Berkay Karakurt plays against Marco Zanetti for European gold. The Italian won in the semi-finals against Dani Sánchez, the dethroned defending champion at this European championship.
The European championship, where Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Eddy Merckx among others were eliminated in the run-up to the final day, thus is turning into an Italian/Turkish clash. That makes up somewhat for the Turks' elimination of Tasdemir, Sayginer, Coklu and Cenet, so that the arena will surely be filled up proud with fans this Saturday. For no doubt Berkay Karakurt is hoping to add even more lustre to his fantastic performance.
,,This was of course the very best day of my billiard life so far,'' Berkay beamed after his victories over Jaspers and Blomdahl. ’’Winning against two such big players was a dream. I am very happy and proud. It was a hard fight, but with the support of the fans, I managed to win. Many thanks for that to the people, it feels as a great support when I'm at the table.'' For the final, Berkay is already looking ahead: ''Marco Zanetti is a very difficult opponent, but I will do my best to win the final. I think I will play well with all the support from the fans. And I already must think about the summer: I will marry my girlfriend Gamze. And if I win, it will mean a lot for my career and my life.''
Berkay Karakurt comes from a real billiard family, lives in Bursa and is a member of Fbn Billiard Club. He won the European junior championship in Brandenburg in 2015 and made it to the quarter-finals at the senior European Championships in the Netherlands last year. The younger brother of Omer Karakurt, who also played in the preliminary rounds, won in the pre rounds against Greek Nikos Tremoulis and Austrian Claus Maurer, so he then got to compete with the 16 players from the world's top who were seeded automatically. In the knock-outs, Berkay was just stronger among the best 32 than Nikos Polychronopoulos (50-47 in 35) and one round later he eliminated Lütfi Cenet in a Turkish clash 50-44 in 37 innings.
It almost couldn't get any better for the young Turk, but the best was yet to come. On the Friday of the quarter-finals, Karakurt faced Dick Jaspers, the Dutchman among the top favorites. Berkay went to a great win, was in balance with Jaspers until 8-8 and 23-20, but then went on the attack, leading 33-21 and overpowering Jaspers 50-38 in 25 innings.
But still Berkay Karakurt's hunger was not satisfied. Swedish world player Torbjörn Blomdahl crossed his path in the semi-final: the match started for Karakurt with a small lead (11-8), which he extended to 24-10 after a run of ten in the eighth inning. The Swede's opposition actually seemed broken already, as after that it was Karakurt who continued to play extremely well with small runs and Blomdahl not getting a step closer. The score was 40-17 in 15, 45-17 and 49-21. Berkay could afford to miss three match balls first, before he reached the finish at 50-23 in 21 (2,380 on average) amidst many cheers from the fans.
Berkay Karakurt is now going for his first major gold at a European championship with all the top players. His opponent, Marco Zanetti, is a famous routine player, of course. Zanetti was already European champion twice, in 2013 and in 2017, when he beat Frédéric Caudron in a fantastic final.
But even now, the Italian, who just turned 61, is still among the world's best. He will almost certainly overtake Tayfun Tasdemir in third place in the world rankings after this European Championship and ranks among the world's all-time greats every time in the major tournaments.
At this European Championship, the Italian started with a win over Czech Adam Kozak (50-29 in 27), pulled off a phenomenal performance in the match against Jacob Haack Sörensen with a run of 21 and a win 50-21 in 20 (2,500), before beating the reigning European champion, Dani Sánchez, for a place in the final 50-41 in 29, after the two world's top players had remained in balance until 24-24 and 32-32. Zanetti had the best final shot with runs of 10 and 5.
The results of the eighth finals were:
Dani Sánchez-Ruben Legazpi 50-47 in 30
Eddy Merckx-Semih Sayginer 50-31 in 25
Thomas Andersen-Tayfun Tasdemir 50-45 in 29
Marco Zanetti-Jacob Haack Sörensen 50-21 i
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Roland Forthomme 50-35 in 31
Tolgahan Kiraz-Cédric Melnytschenko 50-33 in 27
Berkay Karakurt-Lütfi Cenet 50-44 in 37
Dick Jaspers-Jean Paul de Bruijn 50-42 in 23.
Marco Zanetti, on his way to his 3rd European title? (Picture Hervé Lacombe)
Berkay Karakurt, what a phenomenal day at the EC
Marco Zanetti starting his match with Jacob Haack Sörensen in which he scored a 21 run
Dani Sánchez, dethroned as the European champion, before his match with Ruben Legazpi
Quarter finals:
Dani Sánchez-Eddy Merckx 50-38 in 24
Marco Zanetti-Thomas Andersen 50-43 in 25
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Tolgahan Kiraz 50-28 in 26
Berkay Karakurt-Dick Jaspers 50-38 in 25.