NEWS  04-04-06  European Championships – Gold and Silver



  Arena
 

For the first time since 1987, the European Championships were played in Germany. The responsible people in Brandenburg an der Havel had done everything possible in less than 5 months to make this event a high light in billiards history. Originally, the event was scheduled to be played in Rome, but for unknown reasons, the venue had been changed to Germany in November 2005.
The fist discipline was, as always, the 14.1 competition and not less than 108 participants fought for the title. Tne draw made me play against my room mate Christian Reimering (GER). Thanks to a 89 series at the beginning of the match, I laid the groundwork for my win and in four turns, I won 125-33. The second match against Roger Weyer (LUX) was very difficult. After 19 turns, I won my worst match 125-82, but I just wanted to forget about this bad match. In round 3 against Marcel Martens from the Netherlands, I won 125-57 in 8 turns and played much better. This win meant also that I was qualified for the round of the last 32 players.
My next opponent was Hubert Lopotko from Poland and in just 3 turns, I won 125-34, thanks to a 94 series. In the round of the last 16 players, I had to play once more a player from Poland. The match against Adam Ewald was not bad, but in spite of the 125-73 in 11 turns, I could not be satisfied with my performance. This was to change in my quarter-final against Dutchman Nick van den Berg. After the opening shot and a very difficult position in the second turn, I could run out the match 125-5 in the third turn (125 series). I had entered the semi-finals and had to play once more against my room mate Christian Reimering, who had gone the long way via the losers bracket. But this time, Christian had the better start and opened the match with a 71 series. I made use of his lost position and shot 83 balls. Then, we continued both with short series, until I finally won 150-128 in 11 turns. In the final, I had to face my old rival Oliver Ortmann (GER). I had to break and my opening shot was all but good. Ortmann made use of this opportunity and played a 91 series. I could pocket 37 balls, but then missed an easy shot and had to watch Ortmann play a 59 series to finally win the frist title of these Championships.
The two bronze medals went to Christian Reimering (GER) and Daryl Peach (GBR).
In the women’s competition, Jasmin Ouschan from Austria won 100-37 against my team mate from the BC Alsdorf, Janine Schwan (GER). Bronze medals went to Daniela Benz (GER) and Kynthia Orfanidis (NED).
 


Winner ceremony  14.1


"Betandwin" Staff

125 players competed then in the 8-ball competition. In round 1, I played Frenchman Stephane Cohen. We played with alternating break and I was trailing right from the start. At the end of the match, I could benefit from an error made by my opponent and I could run out the last table to book a tight 8-7 win. My second opponent was Cetin Aslan from Austria, who did not show too much resistance, so that I could win 8-1. He missed a lot of his opportunities and all I had to do was to make use of my opportunities. In the next round, I played the Danish junior player Bahram Lotfy. But I played very well and won 8-2 and was qualified for the KO bracket.
The draw made me play Vincent Facquet from France. After a tactical master performance, I won 8-4. In the round of the last 16 players, I had to play Marcus „Napoleon“ Chamat (SWE). Until 3-4, the match went back and forth. Then, a little bad spot on the table brought the decision. I had to hit the second last ball, which was located right before the middle pocket, rather thin to get a good position on my last ball. Since I had to play very lightly, it happened – although every player is very attentive for this kind of thing to happen. The course of the ball was altered, I did not touch the target ball and I had committed a foul. The Swede made use of this opportunity and won 8-4, since I made another mistake and had a black break. Rank 9 in my favourite discipline was all but a success. The gold medal went once more to Oliver Ortmann (GER) who won the final 10-8 against Aki Heiskanen (FIN). The bronze medals went to Marcus Chamat and defending champion Alex Lely (NED).
The women’s competition went again to Jasmin Ouschan (AUT), this time with a 8-5 against Daniela Benz (GER). The bronze medals went to the two Dutch players Tamara Rademakers and Estelle Bijnen.
In the wheel chair competition 8-ball, the title went to defending champion Jouni Tähti (FIN), who defeated once more Henrik Larsson (SWE) 5-4 in the final. The bronze medals went to Fred Dinsmore (IRL) and Roy Kimberley (GBR).


Ralf

The third and last discipline 9-Ball saw 125 players compete for the medals.
As last year’s runner-up, I had a walk-through in round 1. My first opponent was Zoran Zvilar (SCG), and after a clear 7-2 lead, I had to struggle to finally win 9-7. In the qualification round for the KO bracket, I played very well against Dutchman Gilliano Smit and won clearly 9-4.
The draw made me play against former junior European Champion Karol Skowerski (POL), not an easy draw, but I played very well again and won 9-4. In the round of the last 16 players, I was opposed to Markus Juva from Finland. In the first rack, I missed the 9 ball, but then I played a perfect match, won all the racks and scored an undisputed 9-1. In the quarter-final, it came again to the clash against Oliver Ortmann, the double champion at this competition. At the beginning, we both were nervous and missed a couple of opportunities. At 2-1, I had the opportunity to increase my lead, but a bad contact between cue ball and object ball made me lose my position. So I missed this 7 ball and Ortmann did not only equal the score, but took the lead for the first time in this match. He kept his lead since we both ran out the next 6 consecutive racks. At 6-7, I made a mistake and Ortmann increased his lead to 8-6. In the next rack, I benefited from a foul and came back to 7-8 . Then, I could equal the score upon my own break. In the decisive rack 17, Ortmann pocketed a ball upon his break. But then he missed his entry shot, but left me with a difficult position. I had to think for a few minutes and then opted for a rail shot and I executed this shot to perfection. I pocketed the next balls and played a great position for a 5 to 9 combination. But I had to play the 5 to the 9 via one rail and missed the shot. But I had a safety option, since the cue ball was hidden behind the 7 and the 8. Ortmann hit his rail shot on the 5, but left me with an easy position. II just had to play the 5 as a stop ball and a kiss shot from 7 to 9 and with my 9-8, I had entered the semi-finals. My opponent was now Imran Majid from Great Britain. Again, I played a great match and fully deserved to win 11-7. After this, Majid complained to the referee, because he did not agree with two decisions. When he had played a clear foul, he was wrong and I don’t know about the rack-up. When I had the break, the balls were always press.
For the third consecutive time, I had reached the 9-ball final at the European Championships. In 2004, I had lost to Thomas Engert (GER) 7-9, last year I lost 8-9 to Alex Lely (NED) after leading already 8-5. After this bitter defeat last year, I really wanted to score the title.
 


9 Ball Final: Souquet vs Tschudi
 

My opponent was Marco Tschudi (CH) who had crushed Dutchman Niels Feijen in the semi-final 11-4. I was highly concentrated and could benefit at an early stage from a mistake made by the Swiss to take a 3-0 lead. A bad safety allowed my opponent to score his first point. But then, I did not commit any more mistakes and increased my lead to 9-3. At 10-5 and after Tschudi had scored upon his break the 6-10, I had the first opportunity to win the match. Upon my break, I pocketed two balls and had position on the first object ball. I ran out the table without a problem and crowned my good performance in the final with an 11-6 success. This was my 34th title at European Championships, 20 titles in single copetitions (17 men- + 3 junior titles) and 14 titles with the team.
The women’s competition went to Line Kjörsvik (NOR) who defeated in the final Katrine Jensen (DAN) 9-6, after having eliminated the top player Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 9-4. The second bronze medal went to Louise Furberg (SWE).

In the wheel chair competition 9-ball, it came to a British final when Roy Kimberly won 7-5 against Matt Duffy. The bronze medals went to Karl Read (GBR) and Tankred Volkmer (GER).

The team competition is only played every second year and will be on the program only in 2007. A very successful competition from a German point of view, since we were the top nation with 3 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.


Winner ceremony 9 Ball


Interview with  Ralf


Ralf and Sabrina Fritz