Frédéric Caudron is back on top of the European 1-Cushion-throne. After his wins in 2013 and 2015 the Belgian made the hat-trick and received the gold medal at the European Billiards Championships in Brandenburg an der Havel/Germany.The final against Jean-Paul de Bruijn (Netherlands) was a very close match until the score of 65:63 in favor of Caudron. The 49 year old then managed to make the necessary 55 points to win by a score of 120:63. He only needed six innings and his opponent had no chance to tie the score as he already had completed his sixth inning as well. Raymund Swertz (Netherlands) and Raul Cuenca from Spain received the bronze medal at the awards ceremony on Tuesday evening. In the semis Swertz had little chance against Caudron as he finished the match in the second inning after 118 in the first run.
Today Michelangelo Aniello from Italy had also the chance for the hat-trick in 5-Pins-Billiards but he lost his quarterfinal in five sets against his fellow countryman Daniel Ricardo Lopez. The players from Italy dominated the event as usual, seven of them made it to the quarters and when it came to the semifinal Azzurri was the only one left. Lopez stopped Crocefisso Maggio in a thrilling match. In the fifth and final set Lopez was a little luckier and won 60:58. Meanwhile Matteo Gualemi eliminated David Martinelli with 3:0-sets. Later the final saw also Gualemi with a two set lead as Lopez had a great comeback to tie the score. He had a slight advantage in the final set but then it was Gualemi who scored very high two times. In the end that was good enough to win the set and the European title. Best non-Italian was Finn Mortensen from Denmark who lost in the quarterfinal against the later winner.
Sam van Etten was the declared favorite in Libre U21. He was already dominating the group stages and today he continued. In the semifinals the Dutch made the necessary 300 points in the first inning and in the final he needed just two more for the final score of 300:17. Stef van Hees from Belgium beat Anders Henriksen (Denmark) in the semifinal but didn’t get a chance in the final. Simon Blondeel from Germany won the second bronze medal for the host nation but in his semifinal against van Etten he could only sit and watch.
The new European Champion in 3-Cushions for players under 17 is Maxime Panaia (France). His final against Alessio D’Agata from Italy was dramatic. After 26 innings the score was 30:30 and a few extra innings were needed. In the end Panaia scored more points and won the gold medal. The semifinal which was played earlier today was a little easier for Panaia as he had no problem in beating Dogukan Corbaci from Turkey. The match of D’Agata and Ivan Mayor from Spain was a little closer with a score of 30:23.
The 3-Cushions-Tournament on the small table continued today with the group stages. Favorite Eddy Merckx from Belgium played twice already (two wins) while others only completed one match. Keep an eye on Omer Karakurt from Turkey who won the gold medal U21 in 2013 and finished third in 2015’s men’s division. Today he played one match with an average of 6,250 and the other one with 4,166.
Last but not least half of the 1st round-groups Cadre 47/2 have been completed. Raul Cuenca from Spain played outstanding in his group with an average of 133,33 points per inning. In the same group the German hope Thomas Nockemann won his first match but later had no chance against Cuenca who finished the game in the first inning. Everybody in Germany is now watching for Sven Daske’s second match against Raymund Swertz (Netherlands). After Daske’s loss in the first game he will need a clear win against the winner of 2013.
You can follow the action live on www.kozoom.com. You can also check out the EC media site, you will find the latest pictures along with reports in three languages. You can download the programme, the time table and much more.
http://www.germantour.net/karambol_em_brandenburg_2017_media_tool.asp?id=49 Livestream: www.kozoom.com
Results: http://competition.kozoom.com/en/home/3637/chain/2/
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