Winners Crowned in European Championships

Winners Crowned in European ChampionshipsBy InsidePOOL StaffLely Takes Two in The NetherlandsAlex Lely did his best to make his home country of The Netherlands proud, and he did it on his home turf. After capturing the 8-ball title earlier in the week, Lely marched through the 9-ball field as well, defeating Germany's Ralf Souquet in the finals. Lely started off the second week with a solid performance over Poland's Radoslaw Babica in the 8-ball's semifinals. After going down 1-0, Lely worked the score to 3-2 in his favor. Babica took the next game to tie the match up, but Lely went on a tear, winning four straight to earn the victory 7-3.
His final-match opponent was another Pole, Tomasz Kaplan, who also won his semifinal match 8-3 over Matjaz Erculj. However, while the winner dominated both semifinal matches, the final was anything but. Kaplan won the lag, but he was unable to capitalize, as Lely took the first rack for the early lead. The two players fought back and forth, with the score reaching 3 apiece. They continued to trade games until the match reached hill-hill, and it was truly either man's to win. Kaplan broke but he scratched, leaving Lely a chance to run out and take home the win. After scouring over the table, Lely nails one ball at a time, eventually sinking the 8 and walking away with the win.But his fortunes didn't stop there, as he dominated the 9-ball bracket, too. However, as the field dwindled down, the matches got even tougher. The final 32 players faced a single-elimination bracket, and many of the matches were tight. Lely survived a hill-hill battle against Jarodslav Polach and then managed a 9-7 decision over Holland's Niels Feijen.In the quarterfinals, there of the four matches were relative blowouts, as Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen, and Ralf Souquet all breezed through. But Lely had to hold off Rico Diks in a 9-7 thriller. The semifinal matches allowed a glimpse into what would be a hard-fought final match. Souquet faced Finland's Immonen and squeaked out a 9-7 win, while Lely and Hohmann went to hill-hill. But Lely once again survived, which set up the climax in the finals.Lely and Souquet battled right down to the wire, and the hometown favorite once again came through, sweeping the 8- and 9-ball events in his home country of The Netherlands.The 8-ball finals in the wheelchair division wrapped up at the European Championships in Veldhoven, The Netherlands.
Tähti, Naeff Earn Titles
Defending champion Jouni Tähti once again proved his toughness, as he took his second title in a row.Right from start, Tähti's play labeled him as a definite contender. After defeating Roy Kimberley 5-1, Tähti, who hails from Ireland, took on Sweden's Henrik Larsson in the finals.Larsson had advanced by ousting Ireland's Fred Dinsmore in the semifinals 5-4, and he kept up his momentum by taking the first game of the finals against Tähti. But he couldn't hold onto the lead, as Tähti immediately struck back. The two players traded games back and forth until the match reached 4-3 in favor of Tähti, and in the eighth rack, Larsson's error allowed Tähti to run out the rack for the 5-3 win. The women's 8-ball division saw thrilling play in the final few matches of the event. Belgium's Wendy Jans was an early favorite to take the title, but Christine Naeff made a surprising run to come through with the victory.Both semifinal matches were fun to watch as one went to the wire, while the other was a masterful shutout victory. Jans and Germany's Daniela Benz went game for game until Jans pulled out the 6-5 win, and Switzerland's Naeff sliced through Great Britain's Kim Shaw for an impressive 6-0 victory.The final match was intense right from the start, and as Naeff slowly gained the upperhand, it was evident that the 23-year-old Jans was getting frustrated. In the fourth rack, Jans asked the referee to re-rack twice, but it didn't help, as she still ended up scratching.With Naeff up 5-2 heading into the eighth rack, Jans again scratched off the break, and Naeff calmly but coolly sank each of her balls. When she reached the 8 ball, she took a deap breath and sank it to claim the title.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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