THE FINALS OF the 8-ball division played out this afternoon at the 2022 Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Seniors and it was Reiner Wirsbitzki (Germany) and the Netherlands’ Melissa Rademakers who comfortably took home the gold medals. It was Wirsbitzki’s second medal of the championship’s following a silver in the 10-ball division, while Rademakers made it two golds out of two, following up on her victory in the Ladies’ 10-ball.
Wirsbitzki was up against Poland’s Roman Wasilewski, who was part of Poland’s gold medal-winning team the previous day. However, the Pole missed too many balls to sustain a challenge in the final as the German ultimately ran away with it.
Wirsbitzki got the final underway and selected the stripes after a successful break. With just the 10-ball left, the German ran out of position and his safety attempt left a ball on for Wasilewski who looked good for the run out. He missed on a long 2-ball though, and Wirsbitzki took advantage to open the scoring.
It was the same story in the next, as following a Wirsbitzki miss, the burly Pole made the same mistake as the first rack in missing his final ball. Wirsbitzki was happy to accept the gift and increased his lead to 2-0.
Back on the stripes, Wirsbitzki soon ran out of position, leaving the white too close to the 9-ball to affect a pot. He left the cue ball in the corner and Wasilewski couldn’t make the on ball. Coming back to the table, the German cleared up for a 3-0 lead.
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A missed 2-ball from Reiner got Wasilewski back to the table with both sets of balls available. He elected solids and looked good for the rack before missing the penultimate solid down the rail. It was another golden chance for Wirsbitzki and he took it to increase his lead to 4-0 in the race-to-seven match.
Reiner dropped a solid in off his break and chose stripes to continue his visit. They were nicely out in the open and he ran out to increase his lead. Wasilewski really needed something now and a good break gave him options. He took the solids and went through the balls. The 8-ball just about passed a stripe and he rolled it in to open his account, trailing 5-1.
Wirsbitzki scratched on the break to give Roman ball in-hand behind the headstring. He split an awkward cluster with his first shot but then missed the pink 4 to hand the table back to the German. With no hesitation, he ran out to put himself on the hill. Wasilewski took the solids off his break and he could ill-afford a single slip up. To his credit, he played the rack well to reduce his deficit to 6-2.
Three balls off the break, though, gave Wirsbitzki every chance to close the match out. However, a miscue, pocketing a 2/1 combination saw him lose position. There was an easy safety available which left Wasilewski in a very tight spot.
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His escape made contact with a stripe but it left the 4-ball on for his opponent and he grasped the opportunity. The final 8-ball was a slow roll into the centre pocket and Wisbitzki completed it for another German gold medal.
For Wisbitzki it was a successful defence of the title he won last year in Treviso, Italy. In fact, it was his fourth European seniors 8-ball gold, having also won way back in 2011.
Said Wisbitzki, “There were some very tight matches, 7-6, 7-6 so I’m very happy to win my second title in a row in 8-ball. I’ve been invited into the World 8-Ball Championship in Puerto Rico but I can’t go there in November so I hope that next year I can go there and play.
“It was very difficult as I played five matches today in 8-ball and now I must play two matches in 9-ball, it’s a little bit late, it’s complicated to play but I get it!” he added.
Bronze medals were won by Andrea Grosso of Italy and Portugal’s Henrique Correia.
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In the ladies’ division it was Melissa Rademakers who claimed her second gold of the event, having come out top in the 10-ball division earlier in the week. Following that triumph, Rademakers stated that 8-ball was her best discipline and so it proved as she ran undefeated through the field before beating GB’s Alexandra Cunha 5-1 in the championship match.
Commented Rademakers after her win, “I came here for the 8-ball, that was my main priority and I’m really, really happy that I won that. 10-ball, of course was nice but 8-ball, that’s my game. I had a big mouth before the tournament so I’m glad I did it well and now we go for No.3.
“They were very happy and very surprised back home after the 10-ball win. My dad passed away a few months ago and he was my coach and trainer so I did it for him; he must be very proud and it seems like everything falls into place.
“I tried to hold myself at the presentation ceremony but I had to think about him and he must be so proud,” she added.
She now goes for her third gold medal in the 9-ball division which gets underway on Friday morning.
Jum Zwijnenburg (The Netherlands) and Birgit Heidorn of Germany took the bronze medals. It was Heidorn’s second bronze of the championships.
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The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Seniors and Ladies comprises nine separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool for men and teams.
Play continues later today with action in the men’s’ 9-ball division.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
Results, live scoring and draws are available at www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/