BRANDENBURG - What will the new day bring us at the European championship... The artistic boys enter the arena, the nation teams have started off the tournament, the balk-line players are on their way to the finals. Three days before the end of a huge event, looking forward to the battle for the last medals.
,,Good morning, my little chaoot, had a good sleep?’’ The message on my desk is written by the coffee girl, a friendly lady who always looks with a smile at the huge mess of papers on and around my laptop.
She knows it already from the Kozoom boys in my team. ,,He is our writer, our interviewer and a famous creator of mess, so keep an eye on him.'' And she knows it all after all these days, she doesn’t care and has become a good friend. ,,Wollen Sie noch ein Kafee?'' And sometimes: I will bring chocolate for you?
The Stahlpalast, adjacent to a football stadium where supporters on Wednesday evening (with lots of beer) were cheering their team, has been more than a week the stronghold of billiard players. They walk in and out, to play, to watch from the stands, to take some ,,Fleisch, Gemüse und Getränke'', at the bar or in the tent outside. And if there is some time in between, they take the car or tram to the city center.
The idyllic restaurant on the Havel, in the center of Brandenburg, this week is a stopping place for billiard players, organizers and supporters. They have a quick meal between the matches, are served by the gorgeous, blonde Nicole (German, but with French ancestors) and talk about... what are you thinking: billiards of course.
In the billiard room itself, nobody has an overview when they play at twenty tables. In the various disciplines.
Small table, match table, three cushion, 5 pins, balk-line, everyone runs around. The Kozoom cameras register all twenty tables to serve what thousands of viewers want to see.
The stage is the domain of the team. Behind it, in a small room, is the tournament director, with ten people, that record the results, announce the matches, make the schedule and make sure that the time table is maintained.
The Egyptian Farouk Barki, sportsdirector of the UMB and since the conference this weekend resigned as a board member of the CEB, rewarded for his huge job as an honorary member, is walking from the billiard room to the office every now and then. He is struggling with a sore knee. ,,I take a handful of painkillers every day, that keeps me going.''
Bennie Deegens, the new vice president in the CEB, is in charge in the role of coordinator. He is a kind of source of information for everyone, but also drags whole days with paper back and forth.
Behind the three cushion table are Omar from Egypt and his Turkish assistant Orgul. Heiko Wolter and his German colleagues are in charge of all other disciplines. And how busy they are: there's always some time for a helping hand.
Three days to go.
There is such a thing as negotiating fatigue, these days, but everyone remains very enthusiastic and friendly in the Stahlpalast.
Today is day seven: with the big names of three cushion, the artists of the artistic billiards and magicians on the balk-lines.
,,I will come and have a look'', Nicole of restaurant Totó promised us. I must warn the players: keep your eyes on the table when she strides into the room with her sparkling appearance….