The intercontinental tournament held in Poland is entering its decisive phase. The semi-final pairs were selected on Saturday. The final matches will be played on Sunday, July 28.
The final standings in the group are in! Europe B came first, having collected 93 points in all matches. Asia B came second, with 88 points. Asia A came third, while Africa and the Rest of the World came fourth. Americas and Europe A did not advance to Sunday’s finals.
How did it happen? The final shape of the table depended on Saturday’s results. In the first match, Asia A faced the Africa and Rest of the World team. The match ended with a score of 17:15 in favor of the Far and Middle East representatives. Africa won both Carom 3-Cushion matches, but lost both Pool 10-ball matches. In Heyball, both teams won four points, so the final result was decided by the Snooker matches: the Ladies’ clash were tied, while in the Men’s, Asia A won.
At noon, the match Asia B with Europe B began. After almost 2 hours of competition the score was 19:13 in favor of Europe. This result was decided by clear victories in Carom 3-Cushion and Snooker. In Pool 10-ball for the Europeans, Daniel Macioł scored 3 points, while for Asia – Seo Seoa. In Heyball the Asians were slightly better.
The afternoon session was opened by the Americas – Europe A match, which ended with a score of 17:15 for the Americans. In this match, both teams scored four points in almost every discipline, winning and losing one match each. And only in the 10-ball Pool did the Americas players proved to be slightly better, as Peruvian Gerson Martinez defeated Estonian Denis Grabe, and Argentinian Soledad Ayala drew with Portuguese Sara Rocha. The final score in this match ruined the Europeans’ chances for the knockout stage.
The fourth match of the day was Asia A vs. Europe B, which ended in a 16:16 draw. In Heyball and Carom 3-Cushion, both teams won four points. In Snooker, Asia A was better, gaining five points, allowing their opponents to win only three. However, in Pool 10-ball, the roles were reversed and Europe B won this discipline with a score of 5:3.
At the end of the day, the decisive match took place to decide who would advance to the final matches. Africa & Rest of the World had a chance to enter the knockout zone. All they had to do was win enough points from Asia B. Representatives of countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India won 19:13. Despite this, Africa & Rest of the World won enough points to advance. This happened thanks to the attitude of Guzin Mujde Karakasli, Amiri Amini, who scored points for Africa for the highest pool, and Nicola Illse Rossouw‘s draw, the African team in the general classification jumped over the Americas team by one point and advanced to the next phase of the games.
The semi-finalists have been decided. In Semi-Final 1, Europe B takes on Africa & Rest of the World at 10 am local time. In Semi-Final 2, Asia A takes on Asia B at 12 noon local time.
WCBS would like to thank its sponsors: Andy Cloth, Aramith, Joy, MIN Table, Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Poland, Rasson, and Wiraka for their great support, without which this event would not be possible.
In addition, we are happy about the partnership with the TVsports.pl, which is responsible for photos, press releases and PR measures. Furthermore, we would like to thank Polish Billiard Association and City of Kielce for their role in hosting this event.
For all important information about the schedule, the player list and the livestream, please visit the following link: https://wcbs.sport/wcbs-