The destination of the three gold medals in the 10-ball division at the EPBF Predator European Pool Championships was decided at the Kalevi Hall in Tallin this evening, and there were victories for Konrad Juszczyszyn (Poland), North Cypriot Alara Ghaffari, and Sweden’s Henrik Larsson.
In the men’s final, Juszczyszyn took the opening rack and never relinquished the lead despite the best efforts of Stefan Kasper (Germany), as he ran out an 8-4 winner. The Pole had previously won gold in the 9-ball division at Veldhoven in 2018, and was a determined looking figure throughout the 10-ball event.
A quarter-final nerve-jangler, winning 8-7 against Emile-Andre Gangflot, set him up for today’s semi-final where he beat Juan Carlos Exposito 8-3. He took that form straight into the final match where Kasper awaited.
He said, “It’s an honour to be European Champion especially for me because last time was seven years ago so it’s special that I can do it after some years. There were a few tough moments in this tournament. For sure the quarter-final against Gangflot was a very tough match but I felt I could do everything in this game. I felt really good, almost perfect.
With the 8-ball and 9-ball, it’s better to play after you’ve won something but I just want to focus on every match. You have to remember there’s still Teams and for Poland that’s a very important tournament and then the next Euro Tour so that’s four tournaments coming,” he added.
Men’s medals:
Gold – Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)
Silver – Stefan Kasper (GER)
Bronze – Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP), Kristian Mrva (SVK)
There was something of an upset in the women’s event as young Turkish Cypriot Alara Ghaffari laid all before her. She put paid to the hopes of Jasmin Ouschan in the semi-final, in a match she never led until the final 10-ball dropped, before defeating Portugal’s Sara Rocha by 6-3 to bring home the gold medal.
The 20-year-old from Famagusta had previously won a gold, two silvers, and three bronze medals at the European Youth Championships, and she carried that promise across to the adults with some nerveless performances.
She said, “It feels amazing to be honest because when we came here, we knew that all players are good players – nobody is bad here and we’re trying our best. In this tournament I began to feel my game more when playing which is why I became successful.
Against Jasmin I just waited for her to make a mistake and then tried to play my game. Then I became more comfortable with my game and in the final, I just finished it. I was always nervous but felt calmer coming into the final because you don’t have any time for that. You just have to play your game. Now I feel a bit better because I did what I wanted and can look forward to the 8-ball and 9-ball.”
Women’s medals:
Gold – Alara Ghaffari (TNC)
Silver – Sara Rocha (POR)
Bronze – Ina Kaplan (GER), Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
Finally, the wheelchair division saw Sweden’s Henrik Larsson carry off his 16th European Championship gold medal as he got the better of David Slacek (Slovenia) with a 5-2 scoreline. There is a 26-year gap between Larsson’s first-ever gold and today’s triumph, which is testament to his longevity in the sport.
Larsson leads a busy life but still finds the time to put in the necessary practice to perform at the highest level and it paid dividends today.
He commented, “It feels great of course because a win is a win but we were both struggling a bit when you really want to get it all out there when you’re playing. But regardless, if things aren’t working, you just hang in there and do the best you can and that’s kind of what I did today.
Like Strickland phrased it once, I’m here to protect and preserve the game the way I found it and being the messenger trying to deliver a great game and when you’re struggling, you’re hurting because you’re not doing that but also, it’s a competition. It’s also business to promote pool and to be able to call yourself reigning European Champion, that means business. I’m going celebrate with another unhealthy pizza and a glass of wine maybe!”
Wheelchair medals:
Gold – Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Silver – David Slacek (SLO)
Bronze – Matej Brajkovic (SLO), Kim-Ronny Nygard (NOR)
Play commenced in the four 8-ball events earlier today with a single round of matches and restarts tomorrow (Thursday) at 9.00. A total of 193 athletes are competing across the four tournaments.
This year sees a new streaming platform for the Predator European Championship events. Tables 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
In addition, competing players are permitted to stream their own matches on outside tables to their public social media accounts.
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit:
www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
EPBF Sponsors
▸ Predator Group
▸ Iwan Simonis Billiard Cloth
▸ Aramith Billiard Balls
▸ Longoni Cues
▸ Kamui Brand
