The European Junior’s Team once more won the Atlantic Challenge Cup against the US junior team. This year, the final result was 11:0 for team Europe.
The European contestants were having an away match this year. Due to the alternating rhythm of hosting the ACC, this year Las Vegas, NV, USA was the host city for the junior team challenge between Europe and USA. Europe was represented by Weronika Karwik (POL), Valeria Trushevskaya (RUS), Patrick Hofmann (GER), Fedor Gorst (RUS), Jan van Lierop (NED) and Wiktor Zielinski (POL). the team captain was the European Youth Sports Director Tomas Brikmanis (LIT). The US team consisted of Michelle Jang, April Larson, Justin Martin, Joey Tate, Shane Wolford and Kaiden Hunkins. The team captain was Allison Fisher.
The event was over after two days only with the best possible result for Europe. Not a single match was lost against the US kids. After day one, Europe had a score of 6:0 with only two matches that were close. The team match between Europe and the US was won 6:4 and the boys double between van Lierop/Hofmann vs Wolford/Hunkins even went hill/hill before team Europe was able to also put that point into their account.
Day two started with another frustrating result for the US selection. Zielinski smashed Kaiden 6:0 in the boys singles match. Then, Larson was up against Trushevskaya. That match also went hill/hill with the better end for Trushevskaya. When team Europe was up 10:0, the final match was played between van Lierop and Tate. Another hill/hill heartbreaker took place with van Lierop potting the final 9-ball of the event, sealing the whitewash for the US team this year.
The MVP trophies were awarded to April Larson and Valeria Trushevskaya.
Tomas Brikmanis stated after the event: „The US team had several chances in some matches but the tension and their nerves prevented them from winning. They missed several balls in an open position and allowed the European team to get ahead.“
Results Day 1
Europe v USA 6:4
Triples – Trushevskaya/van Lierop/Hofmann v Larson/Wolford/Hunkins 6:1
Triples – Karwik/Gorst/Zielinski v Jiang/Martin/Tate 6:3
Boys Doubles – van Lierop/Hofmann v Wolford/Hunkins 6:5
Girls Doubles – Karwik/Trushevskaya v Jiang/Larson 6:3
Boys Singles – Gorst v Wolford 6:2
Results Day 2
Boys Singles – Zielinski v Hunkins 6:0
Girls Singles – Trushevskaya v Larson 6:5
Mixed Doubles – Karwik/Hofmann v Jiang/Martin 6:3
Mixed Doubles – Trushevskaya/van Lierop v Larson/Hunkins 6:2
Boys Singles – van Lierop v Tate 6:5