Sanchez Ruiz, Gradisnik, Larsson & Sevastyanov Take 8-Ball Golds

THE 8-BALL MEDALS were determined on Saturday evening at the DYNAMIC BILLARD European Championships in Podčetrtek, as all four divisions were in action for the first time in the competition. After a couple of close encounters as well as a pair of runaway wins, the gold medals went to Spain, Slovenia, Sweden and Finland.

In the men’s division, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz of Spain won the coveted title following a hard-fought 8-6 victory over Mario He (Austria). It was the Spaniard’s second European Championship gold medal, following a 9-ball win in 2016, and a welcome return to the winner’s circle.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Sanchez. He got off to the worst possible start, losing his opening match against Joao Barbosa but then went undefeated through the rounds including wins over Sanjin Pehlivanovic (last 32), a revenge win over Barbosa in the last eight, and Joshua Filler in the semi-finals.

Sanchez Ruiz said, “It’s a special one for me as in 2016 I lost against Vitaly Patsura on the hill in the final so it’s something I’ve always wanted to win and I’m very happy with the performance. I never practice 8-ball; I just play it because it is the European Championship but 8-ball was always the real game in Spain so when I was young, I played just 8-ball so I think it’s something I’ve had with me the whole time.

“When you win something, your confidence gets much higher. Three years ago, I won a couple of Euro Tours in a row so my mental game changed so I’m really ready for the 9-ball event,” he concluded.

Bronze medals went to the Germany’s Joshua Filler and Jonas Souto (Spain).

Ana Gradisnik brought home the first gold medal for hosts Slovenia as she handily defeated Ukraine’s Darya Siranchuk by a 6-1 scoreline in the women’s draw. It was Gradisnik’s first-ever European Championship victory despite coming second best four occasions in the past.

“It’s very sweet given that I’ve been to the final a few times and lost every time and that hurts quite a lot. But now, somehow, I won at home which is very special. Having my husband and child here really takes the pressure off as what happens at the table stays there so when I finish, I have to be in a good mood as my baby can’t see me disappointed.

“I’ve won two Euro Tours but never the European Championships, so this is fantastic. 9 ball is my favourite discipline so let’s see what happens.”

The bronze medallists were Ina Kaplan (Germany) and Austria’s Sandra Baumgartner.

In the wheelchair division, it was Sweden’s Henrik Larsson who claimed his 15th European Championship gold medal as got the better of Matej Brajkovic, coming out a 5-1 winner. The 52-year-old from Malmo, won this division at the inaugural European Wheelchair Championships in 1999, and shows no signs of letting up as he continues his quest for medals.

Commented Larsson, “I’m probably strongest in 9 ball with the cue power but I got lucky today; Matej is one of my favourite players and I had the fortune in this match. I’m really happy that more players are coming into the game.

“Emil (Malinowski) beat me in the 10 ball semi-finals and then beat Matej in the final so I see this sport growing all over Europe. They’ll probably need a few more years before they kick our ass but it’s in the making!” he added.

The bronze medallists were Jouni Tahti of Finland and (Germany) and Vladimir Gjorgjieski, who claimed North Macedonia’s first ever European Championship medal.

The final event to complete was Under 23s and in the closest run of today’s four finals, 20-year-old Finn Arseny Sevastyanov, defeated Emil-Andre Gangflot (Norway) on the hill to claim the championship. It was second time lucky for Sevastyanov, who won silver in this same division in 2022.

Commented Arseny, “Myself and Emil have played so many times against each other and always he wins and I thought that maybe one day I would return and fight against him and win and it’s happened now. I fought a lot to keep in it, after a 4-2 lead there was never more than one rack in it but I made it somehow!”

The beaten semi-finalists and bronze medal winners were Dennis Laszkowski (Germany) and Dmytro Skorokhodov of Ukraine.

Play continues on Sunday 14th July with the start of the 9-ball division at 9.00.

Play can be followed on a daily basis on https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/

For viewers at home, Tables 1 & 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube. Table 1 will be on the Kozoom channel, while Table 2 will be available throughout on the EPBF platform. All other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.

Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@KozoomTV/streams

Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theepbf/streams

Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all-cue-sports