Europe edge the USA on the first day of the Atlantic Challenge Cup

Jul 2, 2015

Europe take the lead over USA in today’s first matches 2-1 and can sleep easy now the first nerves are over. Playing in front of the cameras and in a setting that is unfamiliar for most of these young players, it was a nervy start for both teams.
In the first match of the day, both teams had all players involved playing one rack each in a race to six. It was Europe who took the first match with a convincing win 6-3 after wins for Maxim Dudanets, Kristina Tkach, Marharyta Fefilava & Daniel Tangudd with the latter two players winning both their matches.
The second match saw a team of three playing the same format and this time the USA team flew out of the blocks. The team, consisting of Nick Evans, Drake Niepoetter & Taylor Hansen took a 2-0 lead, then went 3-1 up after Nick Evans beat Patryk Statkiewicz. Nick again won his next match to put USA on the hill and it was down to Drake Niepoetter to gain the point for USA by beating the strong Raphael Wahl and level the overall score 1-1.

 
This left a nail biter of a conclusion for the day as one of these teams would go to bed with a lead and a good night’s rest. With the match all square at 3-3, it had hill-hill written all over it until suddenly, team Europe found another gear. Wins for Maxim Dudanets, Daniel Tangudd put Europe on the hill and it was Marharyta Fefilava's victory over April Larson that sealed the victory and ensured Europe start day two with a slender lead.
A link can be found through the official Atlantic Challenge Cup web pages http://www.x-patspoolleagues.com/#!atlantic-challenge-cup/c5ay along with the match schedule and results.
The event features the best six junior players (four boys and two girls) from Europe and America in a competition to see who will have the bragging rights across the Atlantic.
The event takes place at Patricks Canadian Tavern in Rankweil, Austria from the 1st to the 4th of July, 2015. The official match table is supplied by Dynamic Billard and the official cloth is Iwan Simonis 860. Saluc will supply the Aramith TV Pro-Cup balls for the inaugural staging of the Atlantic Challenge Cup.
The Atlantic Challenge Cup is organized by the EPBF/IBPF in cooperation with the BCA/BEF.