THERE WERE MORE gold medal deciders at the KAMUI European Youth Pool Championships in Slovenia as the closing stages of the 10-ball tournaments played out in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd. Merle Schmitz of Germany claimed the Girl’s title while Timothei Furko won an all-Slovakian showdown in the Under 17s. Walter Laikre took down the Under 19’s category, claiming his second European Championship gold.
The Swede, playing in his final Youth Championships, played his best to defeat Estonia’s Sander Tamm by 7-1. The Estonian was never at the races as Laikre applied the pressure throughout as he romped to victory. It was Laikre’s second European Championship gold after last year’s 8-ball triumph and he now has two more attempts to add to that.
Commented Laikre, “In the final, I felt great but I started a bit scrappy in this tournament and lost my first match but I got better and better with each match and in the final, I felt super confident. I had very high goals for this EC and so far, it’s going pretty good with a third place in straight pool and now the gold.
“To be honest, I’ll put this win behind me for now and focus on the next two disciplines and do my best there. Before last year, I’d lost three finals and really wanted to win my first gold, and after I’d won my first gold it was a big relief and there wasn’t really the same kind of pressure this year but of course, I had big goals,” he added.
Bronze medals were claimed by Magnus Maprang Dahlø of Norway and Portugal’s Ruben Gomes.
The Under 17’s Boys saw a European Championship first with an all-Slovakian final and it was Timothei Furko, playing in his fourth ECs, who claimed the gold medal. He defeated friend and team-mate Mark Szabo by 6-1 and was clearly elated in the moments following the match.
Commented Timothei, “It was a really hard tournament - I played six matches today and it was hard. Of course, it was more difficult playing Mark as he’s my friend and nobody wants a lose against a friend – that’s tough! But it’s incredible, I just feel so good!”
Onni Sirenius (Finland) and Wiktor Kaczmarek of Poland filled out the medal positions.
Finally, Germany’s Merle Schmitz defeated Rachelle Enfroy (France) in a terrific battle that went to the final game. Schmitz, who’s every shot was cheered by a big German contingent in the crowd, took a bronze in the same event last year and looked set for the gold this time out as she led 4-1 in the race to five match. Enfroy, though, dug in as she clawed the deficit back but Schmitz, who looked determined throughout, was able to close it out for the title.
She said, “I was very excited to win this and I’m happy that I won. Well, I was so nervous at the end and I don’t know what I thought but I won and I’m super-happy! Every time I sank a ball they clapped and I really enjoyed that!”
The bronze medallists were Emily Winzinger and Lea-Marie Bockstegers, both from Germany.
Play continues tomorrow at 8.30 with 8-ball matches in all three divisions.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 at the Kamui European Youth Pool Championships are streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel -https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
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