DAY 9:
The time of the Grand Finale of this mega event arrived. Today the last medals were awarded in the European Championship 5 Pins National Teams. The two Italian teams met in the final. Italy 1 was the favorite one with a first class line up of champions: Andrea Quarta, Michelangelo Aniello, Achille Mignolo, Santi Caratozzolo and Camilo Gomez. Italy 2 line up, not to be underestimated, was led by Paolo Marcolin with the young Emanuel Cucchiara, Alessandro Mascia and Fabio Mura. The Expo of Calangianus was full of spectators ready to enjoy an high level show in the discipline of 5 Pins.
The first game played was the single between Quarta and Mascia. No way for the Sardinian athlete to keep the rhythm of Quarta who won by 120-87. The second single was an interesting match, the present against the future: the freshly crowned European Champion against the current U21 European Champion. Aniello against Cucchiara. The result of this match was a suprise and kept alive the tension, the pression on the opponents, and the hopes for Italy 2 team. Emanuel played an amazing billiard and put in serious difficulties the more expert Aniello. The final score was in favor of Cucchiara: 120-103. In the double match Italy 1 (Caratozzolo-Mignolo) won against Italy 2 (Marcolin-Mura) by 120-95. The relay was once again needed to decide the winner and the European Champion team. Italy 1 started strongly with 28 points ahead at the end of the first fraction. At the end of the second fraction the point gap was not so different: 103-75. 152-128 was the score at the end of the third fraction. Despite the efforts of Italy 2 team members this advantage was secured and mantained all along the match and was never in danger.
The final score of 200-174 gave to the Italy 1 team the gold medal, silver medal for Italy 2. Bronze medals for Swiss and Belgium.
Watch here the complete match.
The medals ranking in this multiple event is dominated by Italy that took all the gold medals available , as could have been easily forecasted. The second place is for Denmark.
Italy: 5 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze.
Denmark: 2 silver, 2 bronze.
Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Swiss: 1 bronze.
Italy 1
Italy 2
Swiss
DAY 8:
The quarter finals and semifinals of the European Championship 5 Pins National Teams were played today.
Only one quarter final didn't require a relay to decide the winner: Italy 1 won Denmark 1 by 3-0.
The other 3 quarters final were decided by the relay.
Swiss won San Marino by 4-1, Belgium won Germany by 3-2 and Italy 2 won Denmark 2 by 3-2.
In the afternoon the semifinals were clear and ready to play:
Swiss - Italy 1
Belgium - Italy 2
The first to reach the final was the Italy 2 team after a clear victory by 3-0 against Belgium.
In the second semifinal Swiss won the first single creating some tension in the match, while the Italians won the second single and the double. A relay was again required but it came out to be a one way match: Italy 1 won 200-84.
The final scheduled for tomorrow will be an all Italian affair: Italy 1 vs Italy 2. Swiss and Belgium take home a bronze medal.
Semifinal: Italy 1 - Swiss
Semifinal double: Italy 2 - Belgium (Memmi, Debaes, Mura, Marcolin)
Swiss - San Marino
Germany - Belgium
Ita 2 - Den 2
Ita 1 - Den 1 (Gomez - Kristoffersen)
DAY 7:
Today the qualifying groups of the National Teams championship concluded, determining the 5 group winners and the 3 best runners up that are advancing in the quarter finals.
Group A: Italy 1 won with 2 victories and 9 set points, Denmark 2 is runner up (1 victory, 6 set points)
Group B: Germany won not losing a single set: 2 match won, 10 set points. San Marino is runner up (1 victory, 5 set points)
Group C:Italy 2 won with full score. 2 match won, 10 set points. France is runner up: 1 win, 4 set points.
Group D: Swiss won without a set loss. 2 wins, 10 set points. Austria 1 is runner up: 1 win 4 set points.
Group E: Denmark 1 won: 2 wins and 8 set points. Belgium is runner up: 1 win and 7 set points.
Belgium, Denmark 2 and San Marino are the best seconds qualified because of the highest number of set points.
Last 8 ranking according to group ranking, match points, set points, average.
1 SWISS
2 ITALY 2
3 GERMANY
4 ITALY 1
5 DENMARK 1
6 BELGIUM
7 DENMARK 2
8 SAN MARINO
Quarters final (scheduled for tomorrow morning starting from 10.00):
Swiss - San Marino
Italy 1 - Denmark 1
Germany - Belgium
Italy 2 - Denmark 2
Full results here.
Italy 2
Germany
Italy 1 and Denmark 2
DAY 6:
Today's program included the first rounds of the qualification groups of the last championship scheduled in Calangianus: the European Championship 5 Pins National Teams and in the evening the final match of the Individual championship between Michelangelo Aniello and the defending champion and reigning World Champion Andrea Quarta. The qualification groups of the team championship will go on tomorrow.
In the big match of the evening we could witness an high level and very exciting match between two champions that together stored 8 European titles in their palmares (now 9): Aniello is 3 times European Champion and Quarta 5 times.
Quarta started very strongly winning the first 2 sets by 60-40, the final seemed to be a very short one and Aniello looked a little bit out of his focus. After a short break Aniello found a better feeling and fought back winning by few points the next 2 sets, actually he made again a great comeback as he did in quarter finals. The gold was therefore at stake in the last 60 points set. Both scored exceptional points one after the other never losing contact to the opponent but this time it seemed it was Quarta to miss a bit of his precision. Even the last thrilling set was decided by a very few points of difference at the end of the set: Aniello finally won by 60-52 taking home his fourth European gold medal. Silver for Andrea Quarta (Italy), bronze medals for Achille Mignolo (Italy) and Max Gabel (Germany).
Tomorrow the team competition will continue with the conclusion of the qualification groups of the national team championship to decide the last 8.
Andrea Quarta, Michelangelo Aniello, Achille Mignolo and Max Gabel.
DAY 5:
The main show today was about the quarters final and semifinals of the European Championship 5 Pins Individual. Six Italians fought for 3 spots in the semifinals while the last place was at stake between Erling Sjorup (Denmark) and Max Gabel (Germany). All matches were played at an high technical level.
The first one to advance to the podium zone was Andrea Quarta in the first match of the day. He didn't give any hope to the young Camilo Gomez closing the match with a clear 3-0 score.
In the second quarter final Achille Mignolo played very well and outplayed Paolo Marcolin by 3-1.
The third one was a very exciting match. Santi Caratozzolo won the first two sets but then suffered the strong comeback by Michelangelo Aniello who won the 3 next consecutive sets and thus the match.
The fourth quarter finals was also an interesting show. The Danish won first set then the German won two sets and again the Danish one. Finally it was Max Gabel to take last set and the last available spot on the podium.
The semifinals were played late in the afternoon:
Andrea Quarta vs Achille Mignolo
Michelangelo Aniello vs Max Gabel
Quarta and Mignolo performed a thrilling match for the joy of the audience. Mignolo played again very well winning the first set. Quarta replied winning the two following set and Mignolo won the fourth set for a 2-2 draw. Last set was therefore the decisive one and Quarta made it clear that he was there to win. Final score 3-2 in favor of the defending champion.
Gabel tried to resist to the Italian, he was very close to win the first set but lost it for 2 points. Then Aniello took the lead by 2-0 and finally won the third set as well for a clear 3-0.
The final will be one of the most classical match between two athletes with a huge national and international palmares. Andrea Quarta and Michelangelo Aniello.
Max Gabel and Achille Mignolo will take home a bronze medal.
Andrea Quarta (IT)
Achille Mignolo (IT)
DAY 4:
The first half of the day was dedicated to the last round of qualification groups of the European Championship 5 Pins Individual. All groups results are available here.
The 16 group winners and 16 runners up that are advancing to the KO rounds of last 32 are now decided (find here the LAST 32 tree).
All the 8 Italians won their group and advanced to the Last 32. Among them Camilo Gomez, who is on top of the qualification ranking, and the two young CEB wild cards: Emanuel Cucchiara (number 4) and Federico Diciolla (number 16). Among the other group winners we can find 4 out of the 5 participating Danish, the best represented team after Italy: Erling Sjørup is number two in the qualification ranking. Then 1 athlete each for Germany, France, Czech Republic and Belgium won their group as well. Still 10 out of the 11 participating federations are in the game. The Last 32 round and the Last 16 round are on the scene this afternoon.
In the afternoon the Last 32 KO round showed a large majority of clear victories by 3-0. Exceptions were the French clash between Duvernoy and Lematre (3-2), Italian Mignolo had to fight with German La Rocca to win (3-2), German Maltzahn won at the last 2 points against Belgian Debaes (3-2). All Italians (8) and all Danish (4) advanced to the last 16 round together with 2 French and 2 German.
In the Last 16 the climax is warming up. The two young Italians CEB wild cards have been eliminated by their older and more expert compatriot Marcolin and Gomez, but not without fighting (both 3-1). The other Italian top guns also won their matches so Andrea Quarta (the Title Holder), Mignolo, Caratozzolo and Aniello survived to next round. German Max Gabel won Danish Kasper Kristoffersen by 3-1 and, in the extremely tense Danish match between Erling Sjørup and Tejs Tafdrup, it was the first to get the last available ticket to the quarter finals winning by 3-2.
The quarter finals field is now decided, the matches are scheduled for tomorrow, one after the other starting from 10.00:
10:00 Camilo Gomez - Andrea Quarta
12:00 Achille Mignolo - Paolo Marcolin
14:00 Santi Caratozzolo - Michelangelo Aniello
16:00 Max Gabel - Erling Sjørup
Semifinals will follow at 18:00 and 20:00.
All results here.
Max Gabel (DE)
Michelangelo Aniello (IT)
Camilo Gomez (IT)
Erling Sjørup (DK)
Emanuel Cucchiara (IT)
DAY 3:
The third daily session started in the morning with the semifinals of the CEB Grand Prix 5 Pins Double Mixed Genders. The semifinals resulting from the yesterday's qualification groups were two national clashes: Italy and Denmark, showing once again the improving in the 5 Pins discipline in Denmark.
Both semifinals were quality matches: The Italian team 2 with the Ladies Champion Daniela Romiti and Michelangelo Aniello won over Italy 1 (Francesca Marino and Camilo Gomez) by 120-108. On the other semifinal it was the Denmark 1 team with the new Ladies vice-champion Charlotte Koefoed and Kasper Kristoffersen to outplay the Denmark team 2 (Marianne Mortensen, Thomas JæGER) by 120-84.
The final for the gold was a one way match: Aniello and Romiti (Italy 2) largely won Koefoed and Kristoffersen by 120-26 taking the gold of the first ever CEB Grand Prix Double Mixed. Silver for Danish team 1. Bronze for Italy 1 and Denmark 2.
The daily program is going on in the afternoon with the first two rounds of the qualification groups of the EC 5 Pins Individual. Last round is scheduled for tomorrow morning, then the first KO rounds will follow in the afternoon.
DAY 2:
In the daily session the first European Championship to go into the archives is the Biathlon for National Teams. There was not a shortage of surprises. In the semifinals the two Italian teams won their respective matches against Denmark 1 and Netherlands 1. The semifinal Italy2 - Denmark1 was a thrilling one: Erling Sjorup won the 3C fraction against Emilio Sciacca by 25-23 and Kasper Kristoffersen played very well against Andrea Quarta, the final score was 200-199 in favor of the Italians. The all Italian final was incredibly exciting as well: Michelangelo Aniello and Marco Zanetti had to face Quarta and Sciacca. Sciacca produced a world class 3-cushion fraction closing in 8 innings and a run of 15 (25-8) against Marco Zanetti. Helped by some unexpected mistakes by his opponent, Aniello fought back the initial disadvantage of 100-32 in the 5 Pins fraction reducing the 70 points gap to a substantial draw when only 40 points were missing to the finish line. Then it was Quarta to find his way and finally win the match by 200-184. Gold medal for the Quarta/Sciacca team, silver for Aniello/Zanetti and bronze medals for the Denmark 1 team (Kristoffersen-Sjorup) and Netherlands 1 team (Meusen-Wolf).
In the afternoon another Championship reached the end: the European Championship 5 Pins Ladies. The Italian Daniela Romiti successfully defended her Title won last year in Antalya, but it was not an easy task. First she had to win over her compatriot Paola Meazzi in the semifinals by 3-1. Then in the final she had to fight an exciting match against the Danish Charlotte Koefoed who showed a great shape winning the semifinal against one more Italian: Lucia Biondolillo. In the final, after an initial 1-1, Daniela got her victory winning by very few points the last two thrilling and balanced sets close to the finish line. Bronze medals thus went to Biondolillo and Meazzi.
The schedule in the afternoon continued with the first medal ceremony and then the qualification groups of the third tournament of this event: the Grand Prix 5-Pins Double Mixed Genders.
This Grand Prix was dominated by Italian and Danish teams. The winner of group A is the Denmark 2 team (Mortensen, Jaeger), runner up is the Italy 2 team (Romiti, Aniello). The rank of group B is the opposite: Italy 1 (Marino, Gomez) is the winner, Denmark 1 (Koefoed, Kristoffersen) is the runner up.
The semifinals will be two national affairs:
Italy 1 vs Italy 2
Denmark 2 vs Denmark 1
The final will follow, and in the afternoon the qualification groups of the EC 5 Pins Individual will start.
DAY 1:
Today the qualification rounds of the first two EC played in Calangianus were played thus the semifinalists of the EC 5 Pins Ladies and the EC Biathlon National Teams are decided. The semifinals and finals of both championships will take place tomorrow morning. After that, in the afternoon, it will be the time of the CEB Grand Prix 5 Pins Double Mixed Gender to start with the qualification groups.
For the EC Ladies the Italians won all the three groups: Daniela Romiti, Paola Meazzi and Lucia Biondolillo got their ticket to the semifinals. The best second qualified is Charlotte Koefoed from Denmark:
1. Lucia Biondolillo (IT)
2. Daniela Romiti (IT)
3. Paola Meazzi (IT)
4. Charlotte Koefoed (DK)
Semifinals EC Ladies:
Biondolillo - Koefoed
Romiti - Meazzi
For the EC Biathlon the two Italian Teams (Zanetti-Aniello and Sciacca-Quarta) and the Danish team 1 (Kristoffersen-Sjourup) won their group. Best second qualified to semifinals is the Netherlands 1 team (Wolf-Meusen):
1. Italy 1 (Zanetti-Aniello)
2. Italy 2 (Sciacca-Quarta)
3. Denmark 1 (Sjorup-Kristoffersen)
4. Netherlands 1 (Meusen-Wolf)
Semifinals:
Italy 2 - Denmark 1
Italy 1 - Netherlands 1
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Balls are running in the first day of this event in Calangianus, Sardinia (Italy).
Today the qualification groups for the EC 5 Pins Ladies and the EC Biathlon National Teams are on the scene.
Find out the results on the dedicated info page:
GP 5 Pins Double Mixed Genders
YouTube Live streaming: Billiard Channel
Daily updates will follow on this page.
Photos: FISBB, MarcoLadu, CEB
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