BURSA - The strong Turkish three cushion team Gaziantepspor, with among others Frédéric Caudron, Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu, Can Capak and Gökhan Salman has won the team championship in Turkey after a win in the final against Mecidiyeköy Spor. The tournament was played at the Ataturk sports center in Bursa, where last week's World Cup was organized. Giazantepspor and Mecidiyeköy represent Turkey in the European pre-selection.
The new Turkish champion played seven matches, won six and played a one draw. The results of the four Giazantepspor players in the final match: Frédéric Caudron 40-21 in 14 innings, Can Capak 40-25 in 24, Murat Naci Coklu 25-37 in 22 and Tayfun Tasdemir 33-27 in 20. When the final was decided, the last two matches were stopped.
The tournament was played in the qualifying rounds with 28 teams in groups of four and from the knockout round to 40 caroms. The line-up of the losing finalist:
Birol Uymaz, Ahmet Bayatlı, Selim Ozden, Ilhan Úrkút.
The semi-finals were between Mecidiyeköy and Sakarya Universitesi (Hakan Incekara, Savas Bulut, Murat Celik, Tolgahan Kiraz. Gaziantepspor defeated Etasis (Ahmet Alp, Hamit Akkaya, Furkan Senel, Yavuz Güngördü).
The team with Adnan Yüksel, Cenet, Yılmaz Özcan and Emrullah Basegmez cancelled participation because too low prize money.