Zalewska, Tahti & Neuhausen Take Final EC Golds

POLAND’S OLIWIA ZALEWSKA won her third Dynamic Billard European Championships gold medal, this time in the Women’s 9-Ball, as she enjoyed a surprisingly easy win over Slovenian hope Ana Gradisnik, running out a 7-0 winner. The Polish girl had won the 8-ball title in Antalya last year.

Having not really showed in the other disciplines, Zalewska saved her best till last. She lost her first match in the 9 ball division but battled her way through the one-loss side to reach the single elimination last 16. Wins over Silvia Lopez Fibla (Spain) and Sweden’s My Nguyen left her a semi-final pairing against Spain’s dangerous Amalia Matas. A 7-0 win put her into the championship match which she cruised through for the gold.

“During the final, I wasn’t thinking about winning the title; I’m thinking about the game and my level of playing. Of course, I love this feeling of winning and yes, the whole of the time spent practising and the emotions that go into it are all a big part of this victory,” said Zalewska.

The gold medallist is the mother of an 18-month-old child and added, “I’m sorry my baby can’t be here with me and my husband but it would be too long to spend away from home so we will all enjoy this title when we get home.”

Final
Oliwia Zalewska (POL) 7 – 0 Ana Gradisnik (SLO)

Semi Finals
Oliwia Zalewska (POL) 7 – 0 Amalia Matas (ESP)
Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 7 – 4 Sara Rocha (POR)

IN THE WHEELCHAIR division Jouni Tahti made it an unbelievable 28th Dynamic Billard European Championship gold medal as he came from behind to outpace Ireland’s Fred Dinsmore, winning 7 – 6 in a battle royale. The Finn collected his first ever EC gold in 2002 and 20 years later, he is still the wheelchair games dominant force.

Dinsmore, who had already won bronze and silver in the 10-ball and 8 -ball respectively, looked on his way to a gold medal, holding a 6-3 lead but Tahti, showed why he is a serial gold medallist as he dug in and pipped the Irishman at the post.

Commented Tahti, “When I was 6-3 down, I didn’t give up as there is always hope and I knew I could turn it around. To win gold medals you often need to overcome very tough situations and I’m pleased I had what it took to achieve that. I’m really looking forward to defending my title in Tampere next year and I’ll be going all out for three gold medals in my home country.”

Final
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 7 – 6 Fred Dinsmore (IRE)

Semi Finals
Jouni Tahti (FIN) 7 – 5 David Beaumont (GBR)
Fred Dinsmore (IRE) 7 – 5 Henrik Larsson (SWE)

MORITZ NEUHAUSEN, the 2019 Under 17’s and 2021 Under19’s WPA World 9 Ball Champion, added another trophy to his cabinet as he won an all-German final 9-7 to take 9-ball gold at the Dynamic Billard European Championships. His opponent Luca Menn gave him a tough battle but it was Neuhausen who prevailed to add to his credentials as a potential new German superstar of the game.

Neuhausen, 21, had survived a gripping hill-hill thriller in his semi-final match against another star of the future in Norway’s Emil Andre Gangflot. There is an overflow of top young talent in Europe currently and Neuhausen may just be the pick of the bunch.

“That’s my first title in the Under 23 division. I had two titles previously, one in teams so I’m really happy with this win. I’ve won some big titles in my age group and hopefully I can take that forward into open tournaments but there’s a lot of space for improvement and I’ll keep working hard,” said Neuhausen.

Final
Moritz Neuhausen (GER) 9 – 7 Luca Menn (GER)

Semi Finals
Luca Menn (GER) 9 – 3 Haris Trtovac (SRB)
Moritz Neuhausen (GER) 9 – 8 Emil Andre Gangflot (NOR)

The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.

All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com

Results, live scoring and draw are available at
www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/