FOLLOWING A LONG day’s play and a late finish, the destination of the medals was determined in the 10-ball division at the 2024 DYNAMIC BILLARD European Seniors Championships. Taking place at the Xanadu Resort Hotel in Belek, there was another gold for Portugal as Manuel Pereira claimed the 55-plus title, while Melissa Kuys-Rademakers (Ladies) and Norman Bakker (45-plus) both emerged victorious for the Netherlands.
In the featured match, it was both players’ first European Championships in the senior ranks as Miguel Silva (Portugal) got the match underway against Dutchman Norman Bakker. It was a nervy opener with a couple of misses as Silva composed himself to run out.
The second followed a similar pattern but this time it was Bakker who cleared to level the match.
The third game was a drawn-out affair with plenty of misses and plenty of safeties as both players struggled to settle. In the end, it was Bakker who got it over the line to lead at 2-1.
There was more safety in the next but the game turned with three balls left as Bakker snatched at the 8-ball to leave an elementary clearance for Siva to level things.
Following a convoluted opening spell, Bakker attempted a table-length bank on the 8-ball, which missed to leave an open table for Silva. He looked to have done enough but missed a straight 10 to hand the lead to Bakker at 3-2.
A miss on the 2-ball from Silva, allowed Bakker back to the table following his dry break. He too missed on the 4-ball but redeemed the situation with a tidy snooker, but Silva‘s jump shot was equal to it. The Portuguese then put some good shots together to clear the table for 3-3.
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Silva hooked himself on the 3-ball in the next and his one rail escape left it on for Bakker. The Dutchman came with his best stuff of the match to run out and restore his lead at 4-3. There was more quality from Bakker in the next game and he opened up a two-rack margin for the first time in the match.
A scratch on the break from Silva gave his opponent further opportunities and with the balls positioned nicely, Bakker once again showed what he was capable of as he cleared the table to reach the hill.
The tenth game went back-and-forth as neither player could assert themselves. It hinged on a missed 4-ball by Bakker which was left hanging over the pocket and Silva accepted the opportunity to get one back at 6-4 and stay in the match.
On the precipice of defeat, Silva played his best rack of the match to get within one of Bakker at 6-5 but a solid break from Bakker gave him a chance as the balls spread evenly on the table. To his great credit, he held it together superbly to claim the 10-ball gold medal.
Commented Norman, “This is my first time at the European Championships. I tried to qualify a while back but didn’t manage it so a gold was fantastic! We both made mistakes and were both fatigued so it was who got the rolls, right? Melissa got gold as well so it was a good day for us!”
Medals – 45-Plus 10-Ball
Gold – Norman Bakker (NED)
Silver – Miguel Silva (POR)
Bronze – Michele Monaco (ITA)
Ferdi Ozdemir (TUR)
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Manuel Pereira successfully defended his 55-plus 10-ball title in an all-Portuguese final as he defeated Henrique Correia by 7-4. It was Pereira’s third seniors individual title while Correia claimed a silver to go with the gold he won in the opening 14.1 event. Pereira got off to a fast start leading 5-1 before his opponent came back into it, but that early lead proved to be too much in the end.
“Beating Henrique is always tough to do and to do it in the final was extra special,” said Pereira, who can now try and top the silver he won last year in the 8-ball division.
Medals – 55-Plus 10-Ball
Gold – Manuel Pereira (POR)
Silver – Henrique Correia (POR)
Bronze – Peter De Vries (NED)
Mauro Vialetto (ITA)
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Dutch veteran Melissa Kuys-Rademakers racked up another seniors gold medal as she enjoyed a 5-1 win over Germany’s Christine Steinlage in the 10-ball division. Having missed last year’s Championships, Melissa claimed her third gold medal having won both 10-ball and 8-ball titles in 2022.
She said, “I love to play 10-ball. At first, I thought that it wasn’t my best game but there are a lot of tactics and now I kind of like it! Two years ago, I also won the 8-ball and it’s my favourite discipline so I’m hungry for that one and I don’t have 9-ball yet. It’s not my best game but I’ll go for that one too!”
Medals – Ladies 10-Ball
Gold – Melissa Kuys-Rademakers (NED)
Silver – Christine Steinlage (GER)
Bronze – Cristina Moscetti (ITA)
Tiina Nakari (FIN)
Play continues on Friday, culminating in the Teams final in the evening.