THE FINAL DISCIPLINE of the 2023 Dynamic Billard European Youth Pool Championships was played out this afternoon in Podčetrtek, Slovenia as the final gold medals went to Germany, twice, and Sweden in the 9 ball.
Dennis Laskowski finally claimed the top spot after winning two silvers, Felix Vogel added to his gold in the 8 ball and Linnea Hjalmarstrom also made herself a double gold-medallist.
The U19 final was something of a classic which went down to a decider and it was Laszkowski who denied Dominic Jastrzab a second gold medal of the games in a match that had everything. The Polish cueist had beaten Laszkowski earlier in the week in the final of the 10 ball. As it was, Laszkowski took the opener against the break and increased that lead after creating a nice open table from his powerful break shot.
In the next, Jastrzab had no available pot on the 1 ball and the two exchanged table-length safeties before a super-tight effort from Laszkowski put his opponent in deep trouble. Smartly, Jastrzab played a deliberate foul which took the 2 ball out of commission. Dennis, though played another tight safety with ball in hand and although Jastrzab escaped, the 1 ball was out in the open.
Laszkowski had a narrow cut on the 2 ball and fatally left it hanging.
Given his position, Dominik really needed to take advantage and he did just that completing a difficult run out to move the score to 1-2.
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A cracking break from Laszkowski set him up for another run out and it was soon 3-1. Jastrzab knew he really had to stay with Laszkowski to have a hope and he delivered a tidy break and run to reduce the scores to 2-3.
A reliable break shot was Laszkowski‘s key to closing the match out and he delivered another one to set up a run out opportunity. Aided by a fortunate fluke on the 8 ball, he moved the score to 4-2. Two balls down in the next and a shot on the 1 ball was just what Jastrzab needed and from that position he completed the table to hang onto Laszkowski‘s coat-tails.
A softer break from Laszkowski didn’t yield the best result but he was still at the table and made some tough pots to stay there and complete the rack to restore his two-rack lead. A snooker from Jastrzab following his break forced the foul from his opponent and needing no encouragement, the Polish youngster ran out to get to 4-5.
After some safety, a loose shot from Laszkowski on the 2 ball left it on for Dominik and he made the most of it to level the score at 5-5 with the breaking sequence in his favour. Jastrzab had no luck from the break in the next as the 6 ball obscured the shot on the 1. He decided to push out and Laszkowski put him back in to a table length jump shot which he executed superbly, gaining perfect position on the 3 ball. Which created a rack-winning opportunity.
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There was similar misfortune from Dennis in the next as he made an illegal break with no ball potted and only two past the headstring.
Jastrzab put him back in and Laszkowski pushed out. They went back and forth with safety play but is was Dominik who was the first to crack as his one rail escape saw the cue ball scratch. Laskowski made no mistakes as he cleared to level the match at 6-6.
Jastrzab stayed at the table following his break and though he lost position, he continued courtesy of some superb potting. His luck ran out though, as the 7 ball caught the point of the centre pocket en route to the corner. That left two balls for Laszkowski who pocketed them to leave himself breaking for the match at 7-6.
It was illegal, though and it put Jastrzab back in to a situation where a single mistake could end his hopes. He played with great composure to take the match into the deciding rack. Jastrzab delivered the final break of the match and heart-breakingly the cue ball was knocked into the top left pocket. by the pink 5. With ball-in-hand it was Laszkowski‘s to lose but he held himself together with great fortitude to claim his first gold medal of the Championships in the final discipline.
Commented Dennis, “I’ve had two very tough losses where I had the feeling that it wasn’t meant to be and then I think I put my head together and I think the luck was on my side so I could win. I’m extremely happy about it, it feels amazing.
“It was a very good final from Dominik in the 10 ball as well as today in the 9 ball. So it feels unbelievable that I beat him like that. A bit lucky in the end but I think I deserved it.”
U19 Medals
Gold – Dennis Laszkowski (GER)
Silver – Dominic Jastrzab (POL)
Bronze – Mykola Moroz (UKR)
Silvan Starkermann (SUI)
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The Championships got even better for Germany’s Felix Vogel, who added to the gold medal he won in the 8 ball division as he came through a ding-dong battle against Sweden’s Walter Laikre to become 9 ball champion.
The race-to-7 match swung in both directions as Vogel took an early 2-0 lead before Laikre pegged him back to 2-2 before taking 3-2 and then 4-3 leads. Vogel though, wasn’t done as he levelled the match and then took a 5-4 lead. Laikre dug in and got it to 5-5 before Vogel accelerated to the line for a fine victory.
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Vogel said, “I came back strong from that hill-hill loss to Maks Benko in the 10 ball. It gave me more motivation and I’m not so mad about it, just happy that I was able to take the other gold medals. I was happy with my game in the last few days. At the start in the straight pool and
10 ball it wasn’t as good as I expected but I got better and better.”
U17 Medals
Gold – Felix Vogel (GER)
Silver – Walter Laikre (SWE)
Bronze – Riku Romppanen (FIN)
Alessio Bonansinga (ITA)
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Linnea Hjalmarstrom capped a wonderful visit to the European Championships as she took the gold medal, defeating Turkish Cypriot Alara Ghaffari 6-2 to take her second gold medal added to a bronze in the 8 ball. Ghaffari was also going for her second gold medal having won in the 8 ball title on Monday but was never at the races as her opponent lead throughout the match.
Commented Linnea, “It’s amazing! I didn’t really think this would happen but I knew it could but me doing this at my third European Championships is just a dream come true. I really wanted revenge on her and I knew she had a bit more momentum than me because she won the 8 ball on Monday and I was really happy to beat her. She’s a really good player and I’m really happy for her success this week.”
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Girls Medals
Gold – Linnea Hjalmarstrom (SWE)
Silver – Alara Ghaffari (TC)
Bronze – Izabella Jonska (POL)
Lena Primus (AUT)
Schedule, results, live scoring and draws are available at www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/