On October 17-19, the LIBERO Gallery and the GKS Katowice Billiards section will host the third meeting of the Polish Billiards Association’s Pool Extraleague competition. The battle for the title of Team Champion of Poland will visit the capital of Upper Silesia for the first time!
A huge treat awaits all billiards enthusiasts. We will see stars of not only Polish but also world billiards at the pool table. The Extraleague teams are packed with world-class stars. Today, players from Poland belong to the elite and win medals at the most important events.
©Maciej Urban/Polish Billiards Association
The main title contender, the host team GKS Katowice, includes the World and European Champion Wojciech Szewczyk, who won the World Cup event in China a few weeks ago. Daniel Macioł, Wojtek‘s clubmate, is the fourth player in the WPA world rankings and at wo-time World Cup winner and European Champion. It is worth noting that at the beginning of October, this duo, along with Konrad Juszczyszyn from KB Royal Byto, won a bronze medal for Poland at the World Championships held in Indonesia! The GKS squad also features the Junior World Champion and winner of the last European Cup event, Dominik Jastrząb.
The ninetime Polish Champions FORTIS Bilard Kielce have European Champions Sebastian Batkowski and Mariusz Skoneczny, as well as the World Doubles Runner-up, Karol Skowerski, in their squad. In the STREFA Łódź team, players will include European Champions Mateusz Śniegocki and Tomasz Kapłan. The 2021 Polish Champions, Akademia Bilardowa Rokietnica, will feature European Champion Radosław Babica.
©Maciej Urban/Polish Billiards Association
Over three days, 12 matches will be played, which will conclude the regular season competition and determine the four teams that will play in the Grand Final for the title of Team Champion of Poland 2025. The only “certainties” to play in the finals are the players from Kielce, who have a perfect winning record and are already guaranteed a spot in the November FINAL 4, regardless of the remaining results.
The fight for the remaining three spots will be very fierce. Four teams have a chance, and “small points” (point difference/tie-breakers) may decide the final classification. The contenders for promotion in Katowice will play their matches against each other. The host team will start with a match against the bottom-placed Zakręcona Bila Poznań team. On the second day, they will play against the third-to-last team, Arkadia II Tczew. GKS is the clear favourite in these matches and should overcome their rivals. In the final round, a very difficult opponent awaits GKS, Strefa Łódź, which is also one of the medal contenders. This will be the highlight match of the round, which may decide the promotion of both teams to the Grand Final.
©Maciej Urban/Polish Billiards Association
The matches will be played from Friday to Sunday between 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM on a specially prepared stage on level 0 in the Libero Gallery in Katowice. All matches will be broadcast live on TVSPORTS.PL and re-broadcast on SPORTKLUB Polska. Admission to the matches is free.
GKS Katowice has prepared many surprises and attractions for fans and guests. A special additional table will be set up for games and billiards demonstrations performed by GKS Katowice players, starting already on Monday, October 13th. A great attraction awaits fans and guests on October 18th. At 5:00 PM, a billiards trick shot show will take place, performed by the 12-time World Champion Bogdan Wołkowski. There will be magic and spectacular shots that you won’t see in a traditional billiards match. The hosts assure that throughout the week, both billiards fans and those who are new to the pool table will find many attractions for themselves. We invite you to the Libero Gallery!
RESULTS: https://pzbil.pl/liga/bilardowa-ekstraklasa/info/
LIVE STREAM: https://www.tvsports.pl/
71 teams participate in the Polish Billiards League competition. Nine compete in the Extraleague, 10 in the 1st Polish Billiards League, and 52 teams compete in 9 groups of the 2nd Polish Billiards League. The organizer of the league competition is the Polish Billiards Association.
Partners: Marshal’s Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, ML Bilard, Mezz Cues, Aramith, Iwan Simonis, Clash Steel, RS Active, Galeria Echo, Galeria Libero Katowice, City of Kielce, GKS Katowice
Media Patrons: AzBilliards (USA), Pro9 (Great Britain), Alison CHANG (Taiwan), 77.billiards (Philippines), Wiadomosci Lodz.pl, TVP3 Poznań, Głos Wielkopolski, gloswielkopolski.pl, Poznań naszemiasto.pl, sp360.pl, PodlaskiSport.pl, Gazeta Tczewska, Tczewska.pl, WKatowicach.eu, Echo Dnia, Radio Kielce, TVP3 Kielce, Radio FAMA, Eska2, Telewizja Świętokrzyska, Radio eM Kielce, Radio Rekord, wKielcach, CKsport.pl, On Cue Podcast, Tczew.pl, TVsports.pl, SportKlub.