The titles have been awarded at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair athletes in Vale do Lobo, Portugal. Niels Feijen (NED), Caroline Roos (SWE) and Fred Dinsmore (IRE) won their respective division.
The men’s final
Niels Feijen had to deal with Karol Skowerski (POL). The match was as close as expected. Skowerski and Feijen had equal chances and the match went ahead a bit slow. For that reason, the tournament direction decided to have a shot clock on the match at 4:4. The match went along and at 6:5 to Feijen, he ran a dry break from Skowerski. That brought him 7:5 lead. Skowerski pulled one rack back, but Feijen snatched the needed point in the 14th rack, winning the match and the title with 8:6.
The women’s final
Caroline Roos has never won a Gold Medal at European Championships in individuals so far. Her opponent, Line Kjoersvik (NOR) has a massive record of 28 Medals in total out of which 6 were Gold Medals. So the odds looked better for Kjoersvik. She had taken out the Khodjaeva sisters (BEL) and Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) for her seat in the final match today. Roos defeated Hubrtova (CZE), Antonijevic (CRO) and Czuprynska (POL) for her ticket in the Championship match. The final then took an unexpected turn. After three racks, the score was 3:0 for Roos. She was already half way there before Kjoersvik was even able to open her account. The point for 3:1 was answered by Roos with snatching two more racks, taking a 5:1 lead. That was almost it. Kjoersvik managed to win one more rack before Roos closed the book on that final match and won with 6:2, taking her first European Gold Medal in the individuals.
The wheelchair final
Fred Dinsmore was the clear favorite over Daniel Luton (GBR) who must be considered to be the underdog in the final match. Dinsmore dominated from the very beginning and Luton could not find any suitable means to stop Dinsmore from expanding his lead. 5:2 was the clear end result in favor of Dinsmore who won his fifth Gold Medal on European wheelchair level.
Top eight men:
| 1. | Niels Feijen (NED) |
| 2. | Karol Skowerski (POL) |
| 3. | Jani Uski (FIN) |
| Serge Das (BEL) | |
| 5. | Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) |
| Albin Ouschan (AUT) | |
| Alexander Kazakis (GRE) | |
| Ivo Aarts (NED) |
Top eight women:
| 1. | Caroline Roos (SWE) |
| 2. | Line Kjoersvik (NOR) |
| 3. | Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) |
| Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) | |
| 5. | Zrinka Antonijevic (CRO) |
| Kristina Schagan (GER) | |
| Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) | |
| Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) |
Top eight Wheelchair:
| 1. | Fred Dinsmore (IRE) |
| 2. | Daniel Luton (GBR) |
| 3. | Tony Southern (GBR) |
| Kurt Deklerck (BEL) |
Semi-final results:
Jani Uski (FIN) v Niels Feijen 2:8
Serge Das (BEL) v Karol Skowerski 4:8
Caroline Roos v Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) 6:2
Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) v Line Kjoersvik 3:6
Tony Southern (GBR) v Daniel Luton 3:5
Kurt Deklerck (BEL) v Fred Dinsmore 4:5
Remarkable results from earlier today include Albin Ouschan (AUT) defeating Ralf Souquet (GER) in the round of the final 32 players with 8:5. In the same round, Niels Feijen wiped the floor with Denis Grabe (EST), winning 8:1.
In the round of the last 16 players, Zrinka Antonijevic (CRO) smashed Kristina Tkach (RUS) with 6:0. Line Kjoersvik won the match with Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) with 6:3. The „dark horse” of the men’s 8-ball event was probably Jani Uski (FIN). He ousted defending Champion Nick van den Berg (NED) completely surprising with 8:5. Serge Das ended Tomasz Kaplan‘s (POL) hopes for a medal in 8-ball with 8:6 in the same round. Alexander Kazakis (GRE) showed no mercy for the „Czech Attack” Roman Hybler, winning 8:0 over the Czech.
Diana Khodjaeva managed to defeat exceptional pool player from Austria Jasmin Ouschan with 6:3.
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with men’s and women’s 9-ball matches..
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. 24 tables in HiRes quality are providing you with all the action of the event. You do not miss out one single match! Join today!
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.epconline.eu.
The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.