ANTALYA - The final rounds at the European Championship for national teams go to a high-level climax. The two fights in the semi finals are between Turkey and Denmark at 11.00 and between Spain and France at 13.00. The four matches are promising. Sayginer plays in the first round against Nelin, Coklu against Sörensen. The second semi-final goes between Sánchez and Bury and between Legazpi and Maréchal. Three of the semi-finalists came in the top four thanks to regular victories. The Turks, Semih Sayginer and Murat Naci Coklu, needed a jump-off against the Belgians Peter Ceulemans and Frédéric Mottet after the 1-1 in the match. The home team won the extension played in Scotch Double: 15-7.
The winning, 15th point of Murat Naci Coklu was a relief for the Turkish spectators, after they were missing their home players on the final day of the ladies championship. Sayginer and Coklu are now undoubtedly two big contenders for European gold. The four finalists are matching: three of those have a clear leader with Dani Sánchez, Jérémy Bury and Dion Nelin. The Turkish team has a top gun as well on two with Coklu, who was the match winner to reach the semi-finals by winning his game against the Belgians (against Frédéric Mottet 40-30). Peter Ceulemans showed his high class, beating Sayginer 40-35 in 25, thereby forcing the jump-off to 15 points, in which the Turks won convincingly.
The other three quarter-finals were won on two tables by Denmark, France and Spain. The first Danish team was led by Dion Nelin, who left Brian Knudsen far behind at 40-20 in 16. Jacob Sörensen had the better final rush against Lars Dunch: 40-36 in 30.
Jérémy Bury, with France, faced a strikingly ups-and-downs Nikos Polychronopoulos, who was the best player in the preliminaries. Bury started his attack early in the match with 10 in the fifth and led 23-4 in seven. His Greek opponent couldn't put up a real counter and lost 40-30 in 16. The second man for France, Gwendal Maréchal, played an excellent match against Antonatos: 40-27 in 25.
The last double winner came from the match between Spain and the Netherlands. The Southern Europeans were the better all the way on both tables: Dani Sánchez bested Dave Christiani 40-28 in 16, Ruben Legazpi, despite a strong start of his opponent with 8, beat Jean van Erp 40-29 in 17.
The proud Turkish referees at the European Championships