TILBURG - The Dutch billiard federation is hosting six young European billiard talents these days. They are invited to spend three days' training at the Cues&Darts billiard centre in Tilburg, where they receive technical trainings, tips and instructions from Jean Paul de Bruijn and Huub Wilkowski.
The six players come from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Portugal. Amir Ibraimov (15), the youngest of two brothers from Germany, is one of the great young talents, who finished second at the last World Championship for juniors. He shows himself very pleased with the Dutch invitation.
Amir: ’’The European federation is doing a lot for our development and apart from the Grand Prix tournaments, we are now getting this three-day training camp. The trainers, top players themselves, give tips and hints, for example how we can play certain positions differently and better. It is hugely instructive in addition to the training we get at home.''
For the six players, who receive two long training sessions a day, other activities have also been organized in between, such as go-karting, laser gaming and a pool tournament.
The billiard players (pictured) on the training trip are Joris van 't Zelfden, Luca Philipoom, Amir Ibraimov, Goncalo Santos, Tangui Duriez and Toon Bollansee (with trainer Jean Paul de Bruijn on the right).